Editing Multiplan (section)

{{short description|Spreadsheet program}}
{{Infobox software
| name = Multiplan
| logo = 
| screenshot = [[Image:Multiplan dos.PNG|200px|Multiplan on MS-DOS]]<br><br>[[Image:C64 Multiplan.png|200px|Multiplan on the C64]]
| caption = Multiplan on MS-DOS (top) and Commodore 64
| developer = Doug Klunder<ref name="brodie">[http://www.memecentral.com/mylife.htm Microsoft: The Early Days] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080512153206/http://www.memecentral.com/mylife.htm |date=2008-05-12 }} from the personal website of [[Richard Brodie (programmer)|Richard Brodie]]</ref> of [[Microsoft]]<ref name="brodie"/>
| programming language = [[p-code machine|p-code]] [[C (programming language)|C]]
| released = {{Start date and age|1982|08}}<ref name="EIRPer">{{cite journal |author1=Laurie Flynn |author2=Rachel Parker |title=Extending Its Reach |journal=[[InfoWorld]] |date=August 7, 1989 |volume=11 |issue=32 |page=45 |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=vDAEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PT44 |access-date=June 1, 2020 |issn=0199-6649}}</ref>
| operating_system = [[CP/M]], [[Apple II]], [[Microbee]], [[Classic Mac OS]], [[MS-DOS]], [[Xenix]], [[Commodore 64]], [[Convergent Technologies Operating System|CTOS]], [[TI-99/4A]], [[TRS-80]], [[UNIX]], [[Thomson computers|Thomson]]
| genre = [[Spreadsheet]]
}}

[[File:Microsoft Multiplan floppy disk for Macintosh 20110429.jpg|thumb|Multiplan floppy disk for Macintosh]]

'''Multiplan''' is a [[spreadsheet]] program developed by [[Microsoft]] and introduced in 1982 as a competitor to [[VisiCalc]].

Multiplan was released first for [[computer]]s running [[CP/M]]; it was developed using a [[Microsoft]] proprietary [[p-code machine|p-code]] C compiler<ref name="brodie"/> as part of a [[Porting|portability]] strategy that facilitated ports to systems such as [[MS-DOS]], [[Xenix]], [[Commodore 64]] and [[Commodore 128|128]], [[TI-99/4A]] (on four 6K GROMs and a single 8K ROM), [[TRS-80 Model II|Radio Shack TRS-80 Model II]], [[TRS-80 Model 4]], [[TRS-80 Model 100]] (on ROM), [[Apple II]], [[AT&T UNIX PC]], and [[Burroughs B20]] series. The CP/M version also ran on the TRS-80 Model II and 4, [[Commodore 128]], and Apple II with a CP/M card. In France, Multiplan was also released for the [[Thomson computers]] in 1986 and same year on Japan for MSX compatible computers with name MSX-Plan.

Despite the release of [[Microsoft Chart]], a graphics companion program, Multiplan continued to be outsold by [[Lotus 1-2-3]]. Multiplan was replaced by [[Microsoft Excel]], which followed some years later on both the [[classic Mac OS|Apple Macintosh]] (1985) and [[Microsoft Windows]] (1987).

Although over a million copies were sold, Multiplan was not able to mount an effective challenge to Lotus 1-2-3. According to [[Bill Gates]], this was due to the excessive number of ports (there were approximately 100 different versions of Multiplan). He also believed that it was a mistake to release 8-bit versions instead of focusing on the newer 16-bit machines and as a result, "We decided to let [Lotus] have the character-based DOS market while we would instead focus on the next generation–graphical software on the Macintosh and Windows." {{Citation needed|reason=This quote is only available on wikipedia and sites that quote it. Also, the idea that Bill Gates pointed the finger at the excessive number of ports is nowhere in the references.|date=December 2022}}
Around 1983, during the development of the [[Windows 1.0|first release of Windows]], Microsoft had plans to make a [[Windows]] version. However the plans changed a year later.

A version was available for the [[Apple Lisa]] 2 running [[Microsoft]]/[[Santa Cruz Operation|SCO]] [[Xenix]] 3. It fit on one 400K microfloppy diskette.<ref>{{cite AV media |title=Photograph of Lisa Xenix Multiplan diskette |medium=Digital photography |language=en |url=https://i.postimg.cc/VLbyqzt9/xenix.png |access-date=2018-01-01 |format=JPEG |publisher=Postimg.com }}</ref>