I just looked at Excel.

I uninstalled Works so I can't check, but I am willing to bet that there is an option to import a Excel Spreadsheet. To find out go to the file menu and look to see if there is an option labeled "Import" if not select "Open" then in the dialog window that opens look to see if there is select window that lists different file types.

I would expect MICROSOFT WORKS will read an Excel file.

John could also save the file as a CSV file (comma delineated). If he sent you that file, almost any other spreadsheet you have should be able to read it.