The best part of this tool was it's user interface which helped me to understand all its capabilities without any need for coding or scripting language like R..
So I can say that as far my field goes (Mathematics), there isn't anything in between mathematicas Mathmatica and excel when we compare these two tools using some mathematical functions such as'sum','difference'/subtraction etc., It also has facilities to create graphs just with simple commands from keyboard itself so no need for external programs are required here because you get everything about your graph at once right away! Also one thing i liked most over here was automatic detection if formula/equation gets out off topic while writing comment box, then automatically add space before beginning new line making equation look neat again!. If u wanna learn how math works behind-the scene use mathemathica!! There r lot many features available but sometimes may feel little bit confusing specially during first few days of usage since.