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Barbara F. Ryan, Thomas A. Ryan, Jr., and Brian L. Joiner created Minitab in 1972 at the Pennsylvania State University to teach statistics. Now, Minitab Inc. owns the proprietary software. Academia and industry widely employ Minitab 4. The intuitive point‐and‐click design and spreadsheet‐like interface allow users to analyze data with little learning curve. Minitab feels like Excel, but with many more advanced features. This greatly reduces the Minitab learning curve compared to more flexible programming environments.

Minitab offers import tools and a comprehensive set of statistical capabilities. Minitab's features include basic statistics, ANOVA, fixed and mixed models, regression analyses, measurement systems analysis, and graphics including contour and rotating 3D plots. A full feature list resides at http://www.minitab.com/en‐us/products/minitab/features‐list/. For advanced users, a command‐line editor exists. Within the editor, users may customize macros (functions).

Minitab serves its user base well and will continue to be viable in the future. For teaching academics, Minitab provides near immediate access to many statistical methods and graphics. For industry, Minitab offers tools to produce standardized analyses and reports with little training. However, Minitab's flexibility and big data capabilities are limited.