Editing Lotus 1-2-3 (section)

{{Short description|Spreadsheet software}}
{{More citations needed|date=May 2023}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2020}}
{{Infobox software
| name = Lotus 1-2-3
| logo = Lotus1-2-3 R2 logo.svg
| screenshot = Lotus-123-3.0-MSDOS.png
| caption = Lotus 1-2-3 Release 3.0 running on MS-DOS
| collapsible = 
| developer = [[Lotus Software]]
| released = {{Start date and age|df=yes|1983|1|26}}
| latest release version = 9.8.2
| latest release date = {{Start date and age|2002}}
| discontinued = Yes
| programming language = [[x86 assembly language]], [[C (programming language)|C]]
| operating system = [[DOS]], [[Microsoft Windows|Windows]], [[OS/2]], [[classic Mac OS]], [[MVS]], [[VM (operating system)|VM/CMS]], [[OpenVMS]], [[PC-98]], [[Unix]], [[Linux]]
| genre = [[Spreadsheet]]
| license = [[Proprietary software|Proprietary]]
}}

'''Lotus 1-2-3''' is a discontinued [[spreadsheet]] program from [[Lotus Software]] (later part of [[IBM]]). It was the first [[killer application]] of the [[IBM Personal Computer|IBM PC]], was hugely popular in the 1980s, and significantly contributed to the success of [[IBM PC compatible|IBM PC-compatibles]] in the business market.<ref>{{Citation |url=http://www.crn.com/it-channel/18818026 |title=Whatever Happened To Lotus 1-2-3? |author-first=Barbara |author-last=Darrow |newspaper=CRN |date=2002-02-01 |access-date=2007-10-31 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090109203535/http://www.crn.com/it-channel/18818026 |archive-date=9 January 2009}}.</ref>

The first spreadsheet, [[VisiCalc]], had helped launch the [[Apple II]] 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]] and [[SuperCalc]], the two VisiCalc competitors.

Lotus 1-2-3 was the [[state of the art|state-of-the-art]] spreadsheet and the standard throughout the 1980s and into the early 1990s, part of an unofficial set of three stand-alone office automation products that included [[dBase]] and [[WordPerfect]], to build a complete business platform. Lotus Software had their own [[word processor]] named [[Lotus Manuscript]], which was to some extent acclaimed in [[academia]], but did not catch the interest of the business, nor the [[consumer|consumer market]]. With the acceptance of [[Windows 3.0]] in 1990, 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]] offerings, and so they responded slowly to [[Microsoft]]'s own GUI-based products [[Microsoft Excel|Excel]] and [[Microsoft Word|Word]]. Lotus was surpassed by Microsoft in the early 1990s, and never recovered. IBM purchased Lotus in 1995, and continued to sell Lotus offerings,<ref>{{cite journal |author-last=Power |author-first=D. J. |title=A Brief History of Spreadsheets |website=DSSResources.com |date=2004-08-30 |volume=3 |issue=6 |url=http://www.dssresources.com/history/sshistory.html}}</ref> only officially ending sales in 2013.<ref name=11june2013lotus123/>