Data Desk

Data Desk was developed in 1985 by Paul F. Velleman, a statistics professor at Cornell University who had studied exploratory data analysis with John Tukey. Data Desk was released in 1986 for the Macintosh. It provided most standard statistical methods accessed through its own desktop interface.

In 1997, Data Desk was released for Windows, and included a General Linear Model (GLM), multivariate statistics, and nonlinear curve fitting. DD/XL is an add-in for Microsoft Excel that adds Data Desk Functionality directly to the Spreadsheet

Data Desk's developer, Data Description, pioneered linked graphic displays including a 3-D rotating plot and graphical slider control of parameters. It has also developed proprietary technology for computer-based multimedia instruction and currently provides contract data analysis services.

In an undated statement on their webside, Data Description announced that the company was being dissolved and all sales, trial downloads and dpgrades had ceased.

MacUser in November 1988 rated Data Desk Professional 4.5 mice out of 5. Approving of its features, user interface, and "rarely seen better" documentation, the magazine concluded "You can find less expensive packages, but ... you'll get what you pay for".^[1]

Macworld reviewed DD/XL on December 1, 2000 with a 4.5 out of 5.^[2]

InfoWorld reviewed Data Desk 6.0 and said "DataDesk Plus is by far the best Windows package for in-depth data exploration". Also, DataDesk Plus is easily the best Windows statistics package for teaching statistics" ^[3]

Macworld reviewed Data Desk in October 1997, and gave it 9.1 out of 10, and a 5 star rating.

• Data visualization