Do I need Excel Viewer to link to an Excel document?

We use v5.08. I have a PowerPoint slide copied as a picture into a document and use a hotspot rectangle to link to other pages/forms etc. in the database. However, I need to link to an MS Excel document. Do I need to embed Excel Viewer in my database? (I previously used a viewer in a database for CAD drawings.)
The real need is for the Excel viewer or some other software to be on the user's computer so that the file can be associated with the software and launched. If you want to make the viewer available for download, you could attach it in a separate page/document that you can link to so the user can download and install the reader.

This was first published in December 2003