Lotus 1-2-3

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Lotus 1-2-3
Basic data

developer lotus
Publishing year 1983
Current  version 9.8 Fix Pack 6
(2008)
operating system Apple Macintosh , IBM OS / 2 , DOS , Microsoft Windows
programming language Assembly language
category Spreadsheet
License Proprietary
German speaking Yes
www.ibm.com/software/lotus/products/123/

Lotus 1-2-3 was spreadsheet software from Lotus Development Corporation , now an IBM company . The program was advertised with the slogan "calculates faster than you can say 1-2-3". Official support for the program by the manufacturer IBM ended on September 30, 2014.

history

The first version for the IBM PC was released on January 6, 1983. It ran under DOS and at that time contributed significantly to the success of the IBM PC. The numbers "1-2-3" stand for the functionality of the software: 1 = calculations, 2 = diagrams, 3 = database.

Initially, the program was based on Visicalc , but it eventually overtook it and became the market leader in spreadsheets. With 1-2-3, cell names and cell ranges were introduced for the first time.

In the mid-1980s, Lotus 1-2-3 R2 was the dominant spreadsheet application on the IBM PC. The successor R3 was also available for OS / 2 and could use extended memory under DOS. Versions for the UNIX derivatives IBM AIX, HP-UX, Sun Solaris or SCO UNIX were also available.

When graphical interfaces became more popular on the PC, versions for OS / 2 Presentation Manager and Windows were created, and in 1991 version 1.0 for the Macintosh as well. At the same time as Microsoft Windows 2.x was being developed, Microsoft developed the Microsoft Excel spreadsheet program and presented it together. Lotus was no longer able to catch up the associated development lead. In connection with Microsoft's OEM policy, 1-2-3 was then replaced by Microsoft Excel as the standard program.

The competitor Borland also developed a spreadsheet, which he named in reference to Lotus' 1-2-3 Quattro Pro (Quattro: Italian for "4").

Since 2002, however, further development has been limited to minor changes and bug fixes. On June 11, 2013, IBM canceled the product and stopped marketing. On October 1, 2014, support was also ended and the product officially discontinued.

Versions

Lotus 1-2-3 (DOS)
  • January 1983: Release 1
  • April 1983: Release 1A
  • September 1985: Release 2
  • July 1986: Release 2.01
  • March 1989: Release 3
  • 1989: Release 2.2
  • March 1990: Release 3.1
  • Release 3.1+
  • 1991: Release 2.3
  • 1992: Release 2.4
  • 1992: Release 3.4
  • 1992: 1-2-3 for Home
  • May 16, 1994: Release 4 for DOS
Lotus 1-2-3 for Sun
  • 1990: Release 1 (for SunOS 4.0)
Lotus 1-2-3 for UNIX System V
  • June 1990: Release 1 (SCO UNIX, SCO XENIX)
Lotus 1-2-3 for VAX / VMS
  • April 25, 1990: Release 1
Lotus 1-2-3 / M (for MVS)
  • March 1990: Release 1
Lotus 1-2-3 / G (OS / 2)
  • March 27, 1990: Release 1.0
  • 1991: Release 1.1
Lotus 1-2-3 (Windows)
  • 1991: Release 1 for Windows
  • June 1993: Release 4 for Windows
  • February 2, 1994: Release 4 for Windows: Multimedia Edition
  • August 8, 1994: Release 5 for Windows (SmartSuite 3.0 for Windows)
  • May 31, 2002: Release 9.7.x for Windows (Millennium Edition)
  • February 14, 2003: Release 9.8.x for Windows (Millennium Edition)
1-2-3 for Macintosh
  • 1991: Release 1.0
  • 1992: Release 1.1

File format

The files created with 1-2-3 receive the ending .123(in older versions as well .wks(version 1) .wk1, .wk2(Version 2) .wj1, .wj2(Japanese Version 2) .wk3(Version 3), .wj3(Japanese version 3), .wk4(version 4) , .wj4(Japanese version 4), .wk5(version 5)). Template files (so-called SmartMaster) have the file extension .12M.

The files are called 1-2-3 workbooks. A workbook can contain multiple worksheets (tables). A worksheet consists of 256 columns, each labeled from A (= 1) to IV (= 256), and 65536 rows (numbered from 1 to 65536). This means that 16,777,216 cells are available in a worksheet.

The file format itself is proprietary and cannot be easily read by other programs. With 1-2-3 you can read, edit and save many foreign formats (e.g. Microsoft Excel ).

Web links

  • Lotus 1-2-3. IBM software archived from the original on June 21, 2012 .;
  • Götz Hoffart: Lotus 1-2-3 V.1.0. In: Knubbelmac.de. (with screenshots).

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Andreas Sebayang: IBM's spreadsheet: Lotus 1-2-3 is at the end. In: golem.de . October 3, 2014, accessed January 31, 2020 .
  2. ^ Gregg Williams: Lotus Development Corporation's 1-2-3. In: byte . December 1982, pp. 182-198 , accessed on January 31, 2020 (English, reproduced on aresluna.org, September 22, 2004).
  3. ↑ Woody Leonhard: These competitors were overrun by Microsoft Office. In: pcwelt.de . December 14, 2019, accessed January 31, 2020 .