Lotus 1-2-3 is a discontinued
spreadsheet program from
Lotus Software
Lotus Software (called Lotus Development Corporation before its acquisition by IBM) was an American software company based in Massachusetts; it was "offloaded" to India's HCL Technologies in 2018.
Lotus is most commonly known for the Lotus 1- ...
(later part of
IBM). It was the first
killer application
In marketing terminology, a killer application (commonly shortened to killer app) is any computer program or software that is so necessary or desirable that it proves the core value of some larger technology, such as computer hardware, a video gam ...
of the
IBM PC
The IBM Personal Computer (model 5150, commonly known as the IBM PC) is the first microcomputer released in the IBM PC model line and the basis for the IBM PC compatible de facto standard. Released on August 12, 1981, it was created by a team ...
, was hugely popular in the 1980s, and significantly contributed to the success of
IBM PC-compatibles in the business market.
The first spreadsheet,
VisiCalc
VisiCalc (for "visible calculator") is the first spreadsheet computer program for personal computers, originally released for Apple II by VisiCorp on 17 October 1979. It is often considered the application that turned the microcomputer from a h ...
, had helped launch the
Apple II
The Apple II (stylized as ) is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products. It was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak; Jerry Manock developed the design of Apple II's foam-mol ...
as one of the earliest personal computers in business use. With IBM's entry into the market, VisiCalc was slow to respond, and when they did, they launched what was essentially a straight port of their existing system despite the greatly expanded hardware capabilities. Lotus's solution was marketed as a three-in-one integrated solution: it handled spreadsheet calculations,
database functionality, and graphical charts, hence the name "1-2-3", though how much database capability the product actually had was debatable, given the sparse memory left over after launching 1-2-3. It quickly overtook VisiCalc, as well as
Multiplan
Multiplan is spreadsheet program developed by Microsoft and introduced in 1982 as a competitor to VisiCalc.
Multiplan was released first for computers running CP/M; it was developed using a Microsoft proprietary p-code C compiler as part of a ...
and
SuperCalc, the two VisiCalc competitors.
Lotus 1-2-3 was the spreadsheet standard throughout the 1980s and into the 1990s, part of an unofficial set of three stand-alone office automation products that included
dBase
dBase (also stylized dBASE) was one of the first database management systems for microcomputers and the most successful in its day. The dBase system includes the core database engine, a query system, a forms engine, and a programming langua ...
and
WordPerfect, to build a complete business platform. With the acceptance of
Windows 3.0, the market for desktop software grew even more. None of the major spreadsheet developers had seriously considered the
graphical user interface (GUI) to supplement their
DOS
DOS is shorthand for the MS-DOS and IBM PC DOS family of operating systems.
DOS may also refer to:
Computing
* Data over signalling (DoS), multiplexing data onto a signalling channel
* Denial-of-service attack (DoS), an attack on a communicati ...
offerings, and so they responded slowly to
Microsoft's own GUI-based products
Excel
ExCeL London (an abbreviation for Exhibition Centre London) is an exhibition centre, international convention centre and former hospital in the Custom House area of Newham, East London. It is situated on a site on the northern quay of the Roy ...
and
Word. Lotus was surpassed by Microsoft in the early 1990s, and never recovered.
IBM purchased Lotus in 1995, and continued to sell Lotus offerings, only officially ending sales in 2013.
History
VisiCalc
VisiCalc
VisiCalc (for "visible calculator") is the first spreadsheet computer program for personal computers, originally released for Apple II by VisiCorp on 17 October 1979. It is often considered the application that turned the microcomputer from a h ...
was launched in 1979 on the
Apple II
The Apple II (stylized as ) is an 8-bit home computer and one of the world's first highly successful mass-produced microcomputer products. It was designed primarily by Steve Wozniak; Jerry Manock developed the design of Apple II's foam-mol ...
and immediately became a best-seller. Compared to earlier programs, VisiCalc allowed one to easily construct free-form calculation systems for practically any purpose, the limitations being primarily related to the memory and speed of the computer. The application was so compelling that there were numerous stories of people buying Apple II machines to run the program (see article
Killer application
In marketing terminology, a killer application (commonly shortened to killer app) is any computer program or software that is so necessary or desirable that it proves the core value of some larger technology, such as computer hardware, a video gam ...
). VisiCalc's runaway success on the Apple led to direct
bug compatible ports to other platforms, including the
Atari 8-bit family
The Atari 8-bit family is a series of 8-bit home computers introduced by Atari, Inc. in 1979 as the Atari 400 and Atari 800. The series was successively upgraded to Atari 1200XL , Atari 600XL, Atari 800XL, Atari 65XE, Atari 130XE, Atari 800XE, ...
,
Commodore PET
The Commodore PET is a line of personal computers produced starting in 1977 by Commodore International. A single all-in-one case combines a MOS Technology 6502 microprocessor, Commodore BASIC in read-only memory, keyboard, monochrome monitor, ...
and many others. This included the
IBM PC
The IBM Personal Computer (model 5150, commonly known as the IBM PC) is the first microcomputer released in the IBM PC model line and the basis for the IBM PC compatible de facto standard. Released on August 12, 1981, it was created by a team ...
when it launched in 1981, where it quickly became another best-seller, with an estimated 300,000 sales in the first six months on the market.
There were well-known problems with VisiCalc, and several competitors appeared to address some of these issues. One early example was 1980's
SuperCalc, which solved the problem of
circular reference
A circular reference is a series of references where the last object references the first, resulting in a closed loop.
In language
A circular reference is not to be confused with the logical fallacy of a circular argument. Although a circula ...
s, while a slightly later example was
Microsoft Multiplan
Multiplan is spreadsheet program developed by Microsoft and introduced in 1982 as a competitor to VisiCalc.
Multiplan was released first for computers running CP/M; it was developed using a Microsoft proprietary p-code C compiler as part of a ...
from 1981, which offered larger sheets and other improvements. In spite of these, and others, VisiCalc continued to outsell them all.
Beginnings
The Lotus Development Corporation was founded by
Mitchell Kapor, a friend of the developers of
VisiCalc
VisiCalc (for "visible calculator") is the first spreadsheet computer program for personal computers, originally released for Apple II by VisiCorp on 17 October 1979. It is often considered the application that turned the microcomputer from a h ...
. 1-2-3 was originally written by
Jonathan Sachs, who had written two spreadsheet programs previously while working at
Concentric Data Systems, Inc. To aid its growth both in the UK and possibly elsewhere, Lotus 1-2-3 became the very first computer software to use television consumer advertising.
Kapor was primarily a marketing guru. His ability to develop his product to appeal to non-technical users was one secret to its rapid success. Unlike many technologists, Kapor relied on focus group feedback to make his user instructions more user-friendly. One example: the instructions that came with the floppy disc read: "Remove the protective cover and insert disc into computer." A few focus group participants tried to rip-off the stiff plastic envelope of disc carrier. Kapor's recognition that techno-speak instructions needed to be translated to normative English was a strong contributor to the product's popularity.
Lotus 1-2-3 was released on 26 January 1983, and immediately overtook Visicalc in sales. Unlike Microsoft
Multiplan
Multiplan is spreadsheet program developed by Microsoft and introduced in 1982 as a competitor to VisiCalc.
Multiplan was released first for computers running CP/M; it was developed using a Microsoft proprietary p-code C compiler as part of a ...
, it stayed very close to the model of VisiCalc, including the "A1" letter and number cell notation, and slash-menu structure. It was cleanly programmed, relatively bug-free, gained speed from being written completely in
x86
x86 (also known as 80x86 or the 8086 family) is a family of complex instruction set computer (CISC) instruction set architectures initially developed by Intel based on the Intel 8086 microprocessor and its 8088 variant. The 8086 was introd ...
assembly language
In computer programming, assembly language (or assembler language, or symbolic machine code), often referred to simply as Assembly and commonly abbreviated as ASM or asm, is any low-level programming language with a very strong correspondence be ...
(this remained the case for all DOS versions until 3.0, when Lotus switched to
C) and wrote directly to video memory rather than use the slow DOS and/or BIOS text output functions.
Among other novelties that Lotus introduced was a graph maker that could display several forms of graphs (including pie charts, bar graphics, or line charts) but required the user to have a graphics card. At this early stage, the only video boards available for the PC were IBM's
Color/Graphics Adapter and
Monochrome Display and Printer Adapter, the latter not supporting any graphics. However, because the two video boards used different RAM and port addresses, both could be installed in the same machine and so Lotus took advantage of this by supporting a "split" screen mode whereby the user could display the worksheet portion of 1-2-3 on the sharper monochrome video and the graphics on the CGA display.
The initial release of 1-2-3 supported only three video setups:
CGA,
MDA (in which case the graph maker was not available) or dual-monitor mode. However, a few months later support was added for Hercules Computer Technology's
Hercules Graphics Adapter which was a clone of the MDA that allowed bitmap mode. The ability to have high-resolution text and graphics capabilities (at the expense of color) proved extremely popular and Lotus 1-2-3 is credited with popularizing the Hercules graphics card.
Subsequent releases of Lotus 1-2-3 supported more video standards as time went on, including EGA, AT&T/Olivetti, and VGA. Significantly, support for the PCjr/Tandy modes was never added and users of those machines were limited to CGA graphics.
The early versions of 1-2-3 also had a key disk copy protection. While the program was hard disk installable, the user had to insert the original floppy disk when starting 1-2-3 up. This protection scheme was easily cracked and a minor inconvenience for home users, but proved a serious nuisance in an office setting. Starting with Release 3.0, Lotus no longer used copy protection. However, it was then necessary to "initialize" the System disk with one's name and company name so as to customize the copy of the program. Release 2.2 and higher had this requirement. This was an irreversible process unless one had made an exact copy of the original disk so as to be able to change names to transfer the program to someone else.
The reliance on the specific hardware of the IBM PC led to 1-2-3 being utilized as one of the two
stress test applications, along with
Microsoft Flight Simulator
''Microsoft Flight Simulator'' is a series of amateur flight simulator programs for Microsoft Windows operating systems, and earlier for MS-DOS and Classic Mac OS. It was an early product in the Microsoft application portfolio and differed si ...
, for true 100% compatibility when
PC clones appeared in the early 1980s.
1-2-3 required two disk drives and at least 192K of memory, which made it incompatible with the
IBM PCjr
The IBM PCjr (pronounced "PC junior") was a home computer produced and marketed by IBM from March 1984 to May 1985, intended as a lower-cost variant of the IBM PC with hardware capabilities better suited for video games, in order to compete mor ...
; Lotus produced a version for the PCjr that was on two cartridges but otherwise identical.
By early 1984 the software was a
killer app
In marketing terminology, a killer application (commonly shortened to killer app) is any computer program or software that is so necessary or desirable that it proves the core value of some larger technology, such as computer hardware, a video gam ...
for the IBM PC and compatibles, while hurting sales of computers that could not run it. "They're looking for 1-2-3. Boy, are they looking for 1-2-3!" ''InfoWorld'' wrote. Noting that computer purchasers did not want PC compatibility as much as compatibility with certain PC software, the magazine suggested "let's tell it like it is. Let's not say 'PC compatible,' or even 'MS-DOS compatible.' Instead, let's say '1-2-3 compatible.'"
PC clones' advertising did often prominently state that they were compatible with 1-2-3. An Apple II software company promised that its spreadsheet had "the power of 1-2-3".
Because spreadsheets use large amounts of memory, 1‐2‐3 helped popularize greater RAM capacities in PCs, and especially the advent of
expanded memory
In DOS memory management, expanded memory is a system of bank switching that provided additional memory to DOS programs beyond the limit of conventional memory (640 KiB).
''Expanded memory'' is an umbrella term for several incompatible te ...
, which allowed greater than 640k to be accessed.
Rivals
Lotus 1-2-3 inspired imitators, the first of which was Mosaic Software's "The Twin", written in the fall of 1985 largely in the
C language
C (''pronounced like the letter c'') is a general-purpose computer programming language. It was created in the 1970s by Dennis Ritchie, and remains very widely used and influential. By design, C's features cleanly reflect the capabilities of ...
, followed by VP-Planner, which was backed by
Adam Osborne. These were able to not only read 1-2-3 files, but also execute many or most macro programs by incorporating the same command structure. Copyright law had first been understood to only cover the source code of a program. After the success of lawsuits which claimed that the very "
look and feel
In software design, the look and feel of a graphical user interface comprises aspects of its design, including elements such as colors, shapes, layout, and typefaces (the "look"), as well as the behavior of dynamic elements such as buttons, boxes ...
" of a program were covered, Lotus sought to ban any program which had a compatible command and menu structure. Program commands had not been considered to be covered before, but the commands of 1-2-3 were embedded in the words of the menu displayed on the screen. 1-2-3 won its 3-year long court battle against Paperback Software International and Mosaic Software Inc. in 1990. However, when it sued
Borland
Borland Software Corporation was a computer technology company founded in 1983 by Niels Jensen, Ole Henriksen, Mogens Glad and Philippe Kahn. Its main business was the development and sale of software development and software deployment product ...
over its
Quattro Pro
Quattro Pro is a spreadsheet program developed by Borland and now sold by Corel, most often as part of Corel's WordPerfect Office suite.
Characteristics
Historically, Quattro Pro used keyboard commands close to those of Lotus 1-2-3. While it ...
spreadsheet in ''
Lotus v. Borland'', a 6-year battle that ended at the Supreme Court in 1996, the final ruling appeared to support narrowing the applicability of copyright law to software; this is because the lower court's decision that it was not a copyright violation to merely have a compatible command menu or language was upheld, but only via stalemate.
In 1995, the First Circuit found that command menus are an uncopyrightable "method of operation" under section 102(b) of the
Copyright Act. The 1-2-3 menu structure (example, slash File Erase) was itself an advanced version of single letter menus introduced in
VisiCalc
VisiCalc (for "visible calculator") is the first spreadsheet computer program for personal computers, originally released for Apple II by VisiCorp on 17 October 1979. It is often considered the application that turned the microcomputer from a h ...
. When the case came before the Supreme Court, the justices would end up deadlocked 4-4. This meant that Borland had emerged victorious, but the extent to which copyright law would be applicable to computer software went unaddressed and undefined.
Decline
Microsoft's early spreadsheet Multiplan eventually gave way to
Excel
ExCeL London (an abbreviation for Exhibition Centre London) is an exhibition centre, international convention centre and former hospital in the Custom House area of Newham, East London. It is situated on a site on the northern quay of the Roy ...
, which debuted on the Macintosh in 1985. It arrived on PCs with the release of Windows 2.x in 1987, but as Windows was not yet popular, it posed no serious threat to Lotus's stranglehold on spreadsheet sales. However, Lotus suffered technical setbacks in this period. Version 3 of Lotus 1-2-3, fully converted from its original macro assembler to the more portable
C language
C (''pronounced like the letter c'') is a general-purpose computer programming language. It was created in the 1970s by Dennis Ritchie, and remains very widely used and influential. By design, C's features cleanly reflect the capabilities of ...
, was delayed by more than a year as the totally new 1-2-3 had to be made portable across platforms and fully compatible with existing macro sets and file formats. The inability to fit the larger code size of compiled C into lower-powered machines forced the company to split its spreadsheet offerings, with 1-2-3 release 3 only for higher-end machines, and a new version 2.2, based on the 2.01 assembler code base, available for PCs without extended memory. By the time these versions were released in 1989, Microsoft had eroded much of Lotus's market share.
During the early 1990s, Windows grew in popularity, and along with it, Excel, which gradually displaced Lotus from its leading position. A planned total revamp of 1-2-3 for Windows fell apart, and all that the company could manage, was a Windows adaptation of their existing spreadsheet with no changes except using a graphical interface. Additionally, several versions of 1-2-3 had different features and slightly different interfaces.
Lotus 1-2-3's intended successor,
Lotus Symphony, was Lotus's entry into the anticipated "
integrated software
Integrated software is a software for personal computers that combines the most commonly used functions of many productivity software programs into one application.
The integrated software genre has been largely overshadowed by fully functional o ...
" market. It intended to expand the rudimentary all-in-one 1-2-3 into a fully-fledged spreadsheet, graph, database and word processor for DOS, but none of the integrated packages ever really succeeded. Lotus 1-2-3 migrated to the Windows platform, as part of
Lotus SmartSuite
Lotus may refer to:
Plants
*Lotus (plant), various botanical taxa commonly known as lotus, particularly:
** ''Lotus'' (genus), a genus of terrestrial plants in the family Fabaceae
**Lotus flower, a symbolically important aquatic Asian plant also ...
.
IBM's continued development and marketing of
Lotus SmartSuite
Lotus may refer to:
Plants
*Lotus (plant), various botanical taxa commonly known as lotus, particularly:
** ''Lotus'' (genus), a genus of terrestrial plants in the family Fabaceae
**Lotus flower, a symbolically important aquatic Asian plant also ...
and
OS/2
OS/2 (Operating System/2) is a series of computer operating systems, initially created by Microsoft and IBM under the leadership of IBM software designer Ed Iacobucci. As a result of a feud between the two companies over how to position OS/2 re ...
during the 1990s placed it in direct competition with
Microsoft Office and
Microsoft Windows, respectively. As a result, Microsoft "punished the IBM PC Company with higher prices, a late license for
Windows 95
Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows 9x family of operating systems. The first operating system in the 9x family, it is the successor to Windows 3.1x, and was released to manufactur ...
, and the withholding of technical and marketing support." Microsoft did not grant IBM the
OEM rights for Windows 95 until 15 minutes prior to the release of Windows 95 on 24 August 1995. Because of this uncertainty, IBM machines were sold without Windows 95, while
Compaq
Compaq Computer Corporation (sometimes abbreviated to CQ prior to a 2007 rebranding) was an American information technology company founded in 1982 that developed, sold, and supported computers and related products and services. Compaq produced ...
,
HP, and other companies sold machines with Windows 95 from day one.
On 11 June 2013, IBM announced it would withdraw the Lotus brand: IBM Lotus 1-2-3 Millennium Edition V9.x, IBM Lotus SmartSuite 9.x V9.8.0, and Organizer V6.1.0. IBM stated, "Customers will no longer be able to receive support for these offerings after 30 September 2014. No service extensions will be offered. There will be no replacement programs."
User features
The name "1-2-3" stemmed from the product's integration of three main capabilities: along with its core spreadsheet functionality, 1-2-3 also offered integral charting/graphing and rudimentary database operations.
Data features included sorting data in any defined rectangle, by order of information in one or two columns in the rectangular area. Justifying text in a range into paragraphs allowed it to be used as a primitive word processor.
It had keyboard-driven pop-up menus as well as one-key commands, making it fast to operate. It was also user-friendly, introducing an early instance of
context-sensitive help accessed by the F1 key.
Macros in version one and add-ins (introduced in version 2.0) contributed much to 1-2-3's popularity, allowing dozens of outside vendors to sell macro packages and add-ins ranging from dedicated financial worksheets like
F9 to full-fledged
word processor
A word processor (WP) is a device or computer program that provides for input, editing, formatting, and output of text, often with some additional features.
Early word processors were stand-alone devices dedicated to the function, but current ...
s. In the single-tasking
MS-DOS
MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few op ...
, 1-2-3 was sometimes used as a complete office suite. All major graphics standards were supported; initially CGA and Hercules, and later EGA, AT&T, and VGA. Early versions used the
filename extension
A filename extension, file name extension or file extension is a suffix to the name of a computer file (e.g., .txt, .docx, .md). The extension indicates a characteristic of the file contents or its intended use. A filename extension is typically d ...
"WKS". In version 2.0, the extension changed first to "WK1", then "WK2". This later became "WK3" for version 3.0 and "WK4" for version 4.0.
Version 2 introduced macros with syntax and commands similar in complexity to an advanced
BASIC
BASIC (Beginners' All-purpose Symbolic Instruction Code) is a family of general-purpose, high-level programming languages designed for ease of use. The original version was created by John G. Kemeny and Thomas E. Kurtz at Dartmouth College ...
interpreter, as well as string variable expressions. Later versions supported multiple worksheets and were written in
C. The charting/graphing routines were written in
Forth by
Jeremy Sagan (son of
Carl Sagan
Carl Edward Sagan (; ; November 9, 1934December 20, 1996) was an American astronomer, planetary scientist, cosmologist, astrophysicist, astrobiologist, author, and science communicator. His best known scientific contribution is research on ex ...
) and the printing routines by Paul Funk (founder of
Funk Software
Funk Software was a US-based company that was acquired by Juniper Networks in 2005 for US$ 122 million. The company was founded in 1982 by Paul Funk, and was headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
The company first became well known in the ...
).
PC version history
DOS
Real Mode (8088+)
These editions of 1-2-3 for DOS were primarily written in
x86 assembly language
x86 assembly language is the name for the family of assembly languages which provide some level of backward compatibility with CPUs back to the Intel 8008 microprocessor, which was launched in April 1972. It is used to produce object code for t ...
.
* Release 1 was the first release for DOS-based PCs. Introduced in January 1983.
* Release 1A in April 1983
Officially supported
ASCII
ASCII ( ), abbreviated from American Standard Code for Information Interchange, is a character encoding standard for electronic communication. ASCII codes represent text in computers, telecommunications equipment, and other devices. Because of ...
, unofficially supported the IBM extended character set (but not LICS).
* Release 2 brought add-in support, better memory management and
expanded memory
In DOS memory management, expanded memory is a system of bank switching that provided additional memory to DOS programs beyond the limit of conventional memory (640 KiB).
''Expanded memory'' is an umbrella term for several incompatible te ...
support, supported
x87 math coprocessors, and introduced support for the
Lotus International Character Set (LICS).
[ (NB. By "Upper-level ASCII", the authors actually meant the 8-bit OEM character set.)] Introduced in September 1985.
The Japanese version Lotus 1-2-3 Release 2J for
NEC PC-98 computers was released on 1986-09-05.
* Release 2.01 in July 1986.
Introduced an option to switch between LICS and the IBM extended character set.
* The Japanese version Lotus 1-2-3 Release 2.1J for NEC PC-98 computers was released in October 1987. A version Lotus 1-2-3 Release 2.1J+ followed in February 1989.
* Release 2.2 brought improved speed, automated macro tools, and presentation-quality graphics. Introduced in 1989.
The Japanese version Lotus 1-2-3 Release 2.2J was released in February 1990.
* Release 2.3 brought
WYSIWYG
In computing, WYSIWYG ( ), an acronym for What You See Is What You Get, is a system in which editing software allows content to be edited in a form that resembles its appearance when printed or displayed as a finished product, such as a printed ...
editing to the 2.x line. Introduced in 1991.
The Japanese version Lotus 1-2-3 Release 2.3J was released in September 1991.
* Release 2.4 added icons and additional tools, and was the last release supporting 2D (only) spreadsheets. Introduced in 1992.
The Japanese version Lotus 1-2-3 Release 2.4J was released in September 1993.
* In July 1995, Lotus released Lotus 1-2-3 Release 2.5J for DOS.
Protected Mode (80286+)
These editions of 1-2-3 for DOS were primarily written in
C.
* Release 3 introduced the concept of 3D spreadsheets, utilized
extended memory
In DOS memory management, extended memory refers to memory above the first megabyte (220 bytes) of address space in an IBM PC or compatible with an 80286 or later processor. The term is mainly used under the DOS and Windows operating systems. D ...
, supported having multiple files open simultaneously, and required an 80286-based PC or higher. It also introduced support for the
Lotus Multi-Byte Character Set
The Lotus Multi-Byte Character Set (LMBCS) is a proprietary multi-byte character encoding originally conceived in 1988 at Lotus Development Corporation with input from Bob Balaban and others. Created around the same time and addressing some of the ...
(LMBCS).
Introduced in March 1989.
* Releases 3.1 and 3.1+
added WYSIWYG capabilities, the ability to swap to disk allowing for larger files (up to 64 MB), and could be run as a DOS program under
Windows 3.0 and OS/2. Introduced in 1990.
* Release 3.4 added icons, improved performance, and enhanced graph capabilities, making it functionally similar to Release 2.4. Introduced in 1992.
* Lotus 1-2-3 for Home, 1992
* Release 4 was the last release for DOS. More an upgrade to Release 3.4 than in line with Release 3 for Windows, it contains an improved interface and new features, including Version Manager, a spell checker, context-sensitive help, and cell comments. Introduced in May 1994.
OS/2
* Lotus 1-2-3/G Release 1. OS/2 text mode application introduced support for the
Lotus Multi-Byte Character Set
The Lotus Multi-Byte Character Set (LMBCS) is a proprietary multi-byte character encoding originally conceived in 1988 at Lotus Development Corporation with input from Bob Balaban and others. Created around the same time and addressing some of the ...
(LMBCS) together with the Release 3.0 for DOS in summer 1989.
* Release 1.1. Introduced in 1991.
* Release 2. Introduced in 1992.
* Release 2.1. Introduced in 1994.
Windows
Win16 (Windows 3.x)
* Lotus 1-2-3/W Release 1 was the first release for Windows, requiring
Windows 3.0 or higher, was 16-bit, and was functionally equivalent to Release 3.x for DOS. Introduced in 1991.
The Japanese version Lotus 1-2-3/Windows R1.0J was released on 1991-11-15.
* The version Lotus 1-2-3/Windows R1.1J was released on 1992-6-2.
* Release 4 was an extensive improvement that added
groupware capabilities, improved integration with
Lotus Notes
HCL Notes (formerly IBM Notes and Lotus Notes; see Branding below) and HCL Domino (formerly IBM Domino and Lotus Domino) are the client and server, respectively, of a collaborative client-server software platform formerly sold by IBM, now by ...
, advanced graphics, context-sensitive menus and icons, and in-cell editing. Introduced in June 1993.
A Japanese Lotus 1-2-3/Windows Release 4J was released 1993-07-16.
* Release 5 added additional groupware capabilities, chart maps, and improved database access. This was the last 16-bit version for
Windows 3.1x, and was available as part of SmartSuite 3.1, 4, and 4.5. Introduced in mid-1994. The Japanese version Lotus 1-2-3/Windows Release 5J was released on 1994-09-22.
Win32 (Windows 9x/NT)
* The ''97 Edition'' was the first 32-bit version, requiring
Windows 95
Windows 95 is a consumer-oriented operating system developed by Microsoft as part of its Windows 9x family of operating systems. The first operating system in the 9x family, it is the successor to Windows 3.1x, and was released to manufactur ...
or
Windows NT 4.0, and had a changed interface and support for LotusScript. Introduced in 1997.
The Japanese-language version Lotus 1-2-3 97J was released on 1997-04-11.
* The Japanese-language Lotus 1-2-3 98J was released on 1998-06-05, followed by Lotus 1-2-3 2000J on 1999-07-02, and by Lotus 1-2-3 2001J on 2001-07-27.
* The Millennium Edition (version 9.8) contained new functions, improved Y2K support, Internet support, and better Excel compatibility. This is the last version of 1-2-3 for any platform, and has received maintenance releases through Fixpack 2. Introduced in 2002.
Other operating systems
*
DeskMate Introduced in 1989, "Lotus Spreadsheet for DeskMate", which was not officially called "1-2-3", supported 1-2-3 version 2.x files, and used windows, on-screen symbols, pull-down menus, dialog boxes and other graphical tools, similar to Microsoft Windows. However, it did not support add-ins, macros, or expanded memory.
*
Unix A single version for
Unix System V
Unix System V (pronounced: "System Five") is one of the first commercial versions of the Unix operating system. It was originally developed by AT&T and first released in 1983. Four major versions of System V were released, numbered 1, 2, 3, ...
/386 was released in 1990. It was certified for SCO
Xenix
Xenix is a discontinued version of the Unix operating system for various microcomputer platforms, licensed by Microsoft from AT&T Corporation in the late 1970s. The Santa Cruz Operation (SCO) later acquired exclusive rights to the software, and ...
2.3 and
SCO Unix
Xinuos OpenServer, previously SCO UNIX and SCO Open Desktop (SCO ODT), is a closed source computer operating system developed by Santa Cruz Operation (SCO), later acquired by SCO Group, and now owned by Xinuos. Early versions of OpenServer we ...
3.2.0, but also expected to work on AT&T's plain System V and on ISC's
386/ix.
*
Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which in ...
In 2022, Lotus 1-2-3 wa
portedto
Linux
Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, which in ...
by
Tavis Ormandy.
* SunOS / Solaris At least three releases for SPARC-based systems were published. Release 1.1 supported both
SunView and the
OpenWindows
OpenWindows is a discontinued desktop environment for Sun Microsystems workstations which combined SunView, NeWS, and X Window System protocols. OpenWindows was included in later releases of the SunOS 4 and Solaris operating systems, until its r ...
/
OPEN LOOK
OPEN LOOK (sometimes referred to as Open Look) is a graphical user interface (GUI) specification for UNIX workstations. It was originally defined in the late 1980s by Sun Microsystems and AT&T Corporation.
History
OPEN LOOK was created at ...
windowing systems. It also featured real-time update support. Introduced in 1991. Release 1.2 supported "Classic" in xterm, "Classic" in X Window, OPEN LOOK, and
OSF/Motif.
*
OpenVMS
OpenVMS, often referred to as just VMS, is a multi-user, multiprocessing and virtual memory-based operating system. It is designed to support time-sharing, batch processing, transaction processing and workstation applications. Customers using O ...
A character cell terminal version of Lotus 1-2-3 was available on OpenVMS.
* HP MS-DOS palmtop PCs A joint collaboration between
Hewlett Packard
The Hewlett-Packard Company, commonly shortened to Hewlett-Packard ( ) or HP, was an American multinational information technology company headquartered in Palo Alto, California. HP developed and provided a wide variety of hardware components ...
and Lotus, the
HP 95LX
The HP 95LX Palmtop PC (F1000A, F1010A), also known as ''project Jaguar'', was Hewlett Packard's first MS-DOS-based pocket computer, or personal digital assistant, introduced in April 1991 in collaboration with Lotus Development Corporation. ...
,
HP 100LX
The HP 200LX Palmtop PC (F1060A, F1061A, F1216A), also known as project ''Felix'', is a personal digital assistant introduced by Hewlett-Packard in August 1994. It was often called a Palmtop PC, and it was notable that it was, with some m ...
,
HP 200LX and
HP OmniGo 700LX (1991–1994) had ports of Lotus 1-2-3 R2.2 and R2.4 embedded in ROM.
*
Apple Macintosh
The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and software en ...
Lotus's first truly
WYSIWYG
In computing, WYSIWYG ( ), an acronym for What You See Is What You Get, is a system in which editing software allows content to be edited in a form that resembles its appearance when printed or displayed as a finished product, such as a printed ...
spreadsheet, taking full advantage of the
Mac OS
Two major famlies of Mac operating systems were developed by Apple Inc.
In 1984, Apple debuted the operating system that is now known as the Classic Mac OS, "Classic" Mac OS with its release of the System 1, original Macintosh System Software. ...
, had two releases: Release 1.0 debuted in 1991 and Release 1.1 was introduced the following year. Lotus 1-2-3 for Macintosh 1.0 received a 4 mice rating (out of 5) in the March 1992 issue of
MacUser
''MacUser'' was a monthly (formerly biweekly) computer magazine published by Dennis Publishing Ltd. and licensed by Felden in the UK. It ceased publication in 2015.
In 1985 Felix Dennis’ Dennis Publishing, the creators of MacUser in the UK, ...
, praising it for being the first spreadsheet on Macintosh to include in-cell editing instead of using the formula bar found in competing products, as well as other interface refinements. The user interface provided Macintosh users the advanced charting capabilities of the PC version with a Macintosh user interface, while also offering a "classic" keyboard driven user interface familiar to the users of the DOS version, giving it a mice rating (out of 5).
* In 1987, Lotus announced a mainframe version of Lotus 1-2-3, Lotus 1-2-3/M; 1-2-3/M was designed for use with
IBM 3270
The IBM 3270 is a family of block oriented display and printer computer terminals introduced by IBM in 1971
and normally used to communicate with IBM mainframes. The 3270 was the successor to the IBM 2260 display terminal. Due to the text ...
terminals and ran under both
VM/CMS
VM (often: VM/CMS) is a family of IBM virtual machine operating systems used on IBM mainframes System/370, System/390, zSeries, System z and compatible systems, including the Hercules emulator for personal computers.
The following version ...
and
MVS operating systems.
Lotus 1-2-3/M was jointly developed by IBM and Lotus, and exclusively sold by IBM.
File formats
Lotus 1-2-3 file formats use various
filename extension
A filename extension, file name extension or file extension is a suffix to the name of a computer file (e.g., .txt, .docx, .md). The extension indicates a characteristic of the file contents or its intended use. A filename extension is typically d ...
s including 123, wks, wk1, wk2, wk3, wk4, some of these may open in the desktop applications of
Collabora Online
Collabora Online is an open source online office suite that can be integrated with any web application, it is developed by Collabora Productivity, a division of Collabora. Collabora Online has LibreOffice at its core and allows for collaborat ...
,
LibreOffice
LibreOffice () is a free and open-source office productivity software suite, a project of The Document Foundation (TDF). It was forked in 2010 from OpenOffice.org, an open-sourced version of the earlier StarOffice. The LibreOffice suite cons ...
and
Apache OpenOffice
Apache OpenOffice (AOO) is an open-source office productivity software suite. It is one of the successor projects of OpenOffice.org and the designated successor of IBM Lotus Symphony. It is a close cousin of LibreOffice, Collabora Online and ...
, these can then be saved into the
OpenDocument
The Open Document Format for Office Applications (ODF), also known as OpenDocument, is an open file format for word processing documents, spreadsheets, presentations and graphics and using ZIP-compressed XML files. It was developed ...
format or other file formats.
Reception
After previewing ''1-2-3'' on the IBM PC in 1982, ''
BYTE
The byte is a unit of digital information that most commonly consists of eight bits. Historically, the byte was the number of bits used to encode a single character of text in a computer and for this reason it is the smallest addressable uni ...
'' called it "modestly revolutionary" for elegantly combining spreadsheet, database, and graphing functions. It praised the application's speed and ease of use, stating that with the built-in help screens and tutorial, "1-2-3 is one of the few pieces of software that can literally be used by anybody. You can buy 1-2-3 and
n IBM PCand be running the two together the same day".
''
PC Magazine
''PC Magazine'' (shortened as ''PCMag'') is an American computer magazine published by Ziff Davis. A print edition was published from 1982 to January 2009. Publication of online editions started in late 1994 and have continued to the present d ...
'' in 1983 called 1-2-3 "a powerful and impressive program ... as a spreadsheet, it's excellent", and attributed its very fast performance to being written in
assembly language
In computer programming, assembly language (or assembler language, or symbolic machine code), often referred to simply as Assembly and commonly abbreviated as ASM or asm, is any low-level programming language with a very strong correspondence be ...
.
See also
*
As-Easy-As
*
Comparison of office suites
The following tables compare general and technical information for a number of office suites:
General information
Office Suite names that are on a light purple background are discontinued.
OS support
The operating systems the office suites ...
*
Compose key sequence
A compose key (sometimes called multi key) is a key on a computer keyboard that indicates that the following (usually 2 or more) keystrokes trigger the insertion of an alternate character, typically a precomposed character or a symbol.
For insta ...
*
Reverse Polish Notation
Reverse Polish notation (RPN), also known as reverse Łukasiewicz notation, Polish postfix notation or simply postfix notation, is a mathematical notation in which operators ''follow'' their operands, in contrast to Polish notation (PN), in wh ...
(RPN in formulas)
*
Microsoft Works
Microsoft Works was a productivity software suite developed by Microsoft and sold from 1987 to 2009. Its core functionality included a word processor, a spreadsheet and a database management system. Later versions had a calendar application and ...
References
External links
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{{Authority control
1983 software
Discontinued software
DOS software
1-2-3 1-2-3; 1, 2, 3; or One, Two, Three may refer to:
Brands
* 1-2-3 (fuel station), in Norway
* Lotus 1-2-3, a computer spreadsheet program
* .123, a file extension used by Lotus 1-2-3
* Jell-O 1-2-3, a dessert
Film, TV and books
* ''One, Two, Thre ...
1-2-3 1-2-3; 1, 2, 3; or One, Two, Three may refer to:
Brands
* 1-2-3 (fuel station), in Norway
* Lotus 1-2-3, a computer spreadsheet program
* .123, a file extension used by Lotus 1-2-3
* Jell-O 1-2-3, a dessert
Film, TV and books
* ''One, Two, Thre ...
OS/2 software
Assembly language software
Spreadsheet software
Spreadsheet software for Windows