SuperCalc

SuperCalc is a spreadsheet program published by Sorcim in 1980¹.

SuperCalc is a spreadsheet program published by Sorcim in 1980.

Reception

Testing a prerelease version of SuperCalc for CP/M, InfoWorld in 1981 approved of its screen update speed and 80x24 screen size, built-in help and ease of use, error handling. The magazine in 1984 approved of SuperCalc 3 for DOS's graphics addition and continuing backward compatibility and lack of copy protection, stating that the $395 price was "a bargain for this type of product". InfoWorld in 1986 said that SuperCalc 4 was "neck and neck with Lotus ... a serious corporate spreadsheet alternative". It again approved of its upward and downward compatibility with the previous version, unlike Lotus, and ability to solve to a desired result. The magazine concluded that "SuperCalc 4 tackles the toughest competitor of them all on its own terms ... a very equal battle". Jerry Pournelle of BYTE in 1982 praised Supercalc for CP/M's ease of use and documentation, and predicted that it "is destined to become a classic" like dBASE II, Spellguard, and WRITE. In a 1983 evaluation of eight spreadsheets for Heath/Zenith computers, Sextant stated that SuperCalc, like VisiCalc, caused people to buy computers to run it. The magazine approved of SuperCalc's speed and tutorial documentation, but criticized its inability to import or export data. Computer Intelligence estimated in 1987 that Computer Associates had 4% of the Fortune 1000 PC financial analysis market, behind Lotus's 85% and Microsoft's 6%. A 1990 American Institute of Certified Public Accountants member survey found that 3% of respondents used SuperCalc as their spreadsheet, and 3% for graphics.

References

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1355996123 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.