1) The default date format for Excel is "21-Mar" when I enter date
recognized data. This is unusable for me, I need the year displayed. How do I
change the default date format to display the year.

2) With default also, Excel sometimes requires "=" in equations and
sometimes not; i.e., if I enter a '-' it converts the cell to an equation.
How do i stop this so that it only makes equations when I enter '='.

3) How do I get help on Excel inconsistancies like the above in Excel
documentation anywhere?

mjk