SuperCalc

VisiCalc was the first spreadsheet program, but at first was not available for the CP/M operating system. SuperCalc was created to serve that market.{{cite news | url=https://books.google.com/books?id=JT0EAAAAMBAJ&lpg=PA3&ots=UIUJBsfNdl&pg=RA1-PA30#v=onepage&f=false | title=SuperCalc Spread-Sheet Simulator from Sorcim Corp. | work=InfoWorld | date=1981-10-05 | accessdate=1 January 2015 | author=Barry, Tim | pages=30}} Alongside WordStar, it was one of the CP/M applications bundled with the Osborne 1 portable computer. It quickly became popular{{citation needed|date=February 2016}} and was ported to MS-DOS in 1982.

An improvement over VisiCalc (though using much the same command structure using the slash key), SuperCalc was one of the first spreadsheet programs capable of iteratively solving circular references (cells that depend on each other's results). It would be over 10 years after the introduction of SuperCalc before this feature was implemented in Microsoft Excel, although in Lotus 1-2-3, manual programming of iterative logic could also be used to solve this issue. According to the SuperCalc product manager, iterative calculations were added when Sorcim changed from binary-coded decimal to binary math. Since the precision of the two math packages was different, some IF statements resolved differently, and iterative calculations helped solve this problem.Wally Feigenson's Blog http://feigenson.us/blog/?p=10 {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111008163633/http://feigenson.us/blog/?p=10 |date=October 8, 2011 }}

Versions of SuperCalc were later released for the Apple II, IBM PC compatibles running MS-DOS, and, after Sorcim was bought by CA Technologies in 1985, for Microsoft Windows (under the name CA-SuperCalc). SuperCalc was CA Technologies' first personal computer product.{{Cite web|url=https://www.pcmag.com/encyclopedia/term/52227/supercalc|title=SuperCalc Definition from PC Magazine Encyclopedia|website=www.pcmag.com|access-date=2019-10-27}} The MS-DOS versions were more popular with many users than the market-leading Lotus 1-2-3, because it was distributed without copy protection,{{cite magazine|title=SuperCalc 4 Is Serious Competition for Lotus 1-2-3|magazine=InfoWorld |first=Rolf |last=Kallenbach |page=35|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=Zi8EAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA35|via=Google Books|date = 11 August 1986 |volume=8 |issue=32 |publisher=Infoworld Magazine|access-date=July 7, 2016}} as well as being priced lower.

By the release of version 3 in March 1987, a million users were claimed.C+VG magazine "Extra Bits", issue 65, page 96 http://www.worldofspectrum.org/showmag.cgi?mag=C+VG/Issue065/Pages/CVG06500096.jpg {{Dead link|date=February 2016}} New versions were published into the early 1990s, after which Microsoft Excel dominated the spreadsheet market.

In 1993, the Ministry of Railway of Russia signed an agreement with CA Technologies after a Russian employee illegally used SuperCalc for government purposes.{{Cite news|first=Robert |last=Farish |url=http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/science-russian-piracy-in-a-sea-of-software-illegal-copying-of-programs-has-long-been-accepted-in-1491564.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220525/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/science-russian-piracy-in-a-sea-of-software-illegal-copying-of-programs-has-long-been-accepted-in-1491564.html |archive-date=2022-05-25 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|title=Science: Russian piracy in a sea of software: Illegal copying of|date=13 June 1993|newspaper=The Independent|language=en|access-date=2019-10-27}}

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.{{r|barry19811005}} The magazine in 1986 said that SuperCalc 4 for DOS was "neck and neck with Lotus ... a serious corporate spreadsheet alternative". It approved of its upward and downward compatibility with the previous version, unlike Lotus, and ability to solve to a desired result. InfoWorld concluded that "SuperCalc 4 tackles the toughest competitor of them all on its own terms ... a very equal battle".{{r|:0}}

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.{{Cite magazine |last=Pournelle |first=Jerry |date=May 1982 |title=Supercalc, Spelling Programs, BASIC Compilers, and Home-Grown Accounting |url=https://archive.org/details/eu_BYTE-1982-05_OCR/page/n227/mode/1up?view=theater |access-date=2024-12-28 |magazine=BYTE |page=226}}

A 1990 American Institute of Certified Public Accountants member survey found that 3% of respondents used SuperCalc as their spreadsheet, and 3% for graphics.{{Cite report |url=https://egrove.olemiss.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1563&context=aicpa_guides |title=1990 AICPA survey of computer usage |author-link=American Institute of Certified Public Accountants |year=1990 |id=561 |access-date=2025-04-30}}

• 1980: SuperCalc
• SuperCalc 2, which featured a novelty: Split screen with formulas on one side, and graphs on the other{{Cite news|url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/news/ct-xpm-1985-09-15-8503020656-story.html|title=SUPERCALC TO THE RESCUE FOR SPREADSHEETS|last=McWilliams|first=Peter |agency=Universal Press Syndicate|newspaper=Chicago Tribune |date=15 September 1985|language=en-US|access-date=2019-10-27}}
• 1986: SuperCalc 4, evaluated #2 on the spreadsheets market after Excel,{{Cite magazine |url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_Sj0EAAAAMBAJ|title=Spreadsheets|last=Walkenbach|first=John |date=9 November 1987|magazine=InfoWorld |pages=53–65|publisher=InfoWorld Media Group, Inc.|language=en |issue=45 |volume=9}} with introduction of automatic construction of macros{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1986/09/16/science/personal-computers-new-supercalc-offered-as-a-rival-to-lotus.html|title=Personal Computers; New Supercalc Offered as a Rival to Lotus|last=Sandberg-Diment|first=Erik|date=1986-09-16|work=The New York Times|access-date=2019-10-27|language=en-US|issn=0362-4331|url-access=subscription}}
• 1989: SuperCalc 5

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• [https://museum.syssrc.com/artifact/exhibits/807/ SuperCalc 1.00] running on an IBM PC Model 5150 at the System Source Computer Museum.

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Category:Spreadsheet software

Category:Microcomputer software

Category:CP/M software

Category:DOS software

Category:Presentation software for Windows

Category:1980 software

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