Quattro Pro
Quattro Pro has always been the "Number 3" spreadsheet. The product was originally developed by Borland International. In 1994 it was sold to Novell and soon thereafter was sold to Corel.
Originally, Quattro Pro was modeled after 1-2-3. Current versions are modeled after Excel. This is not to say that Quattro Pro is simply a copy-cat product. It has quite a few unique features, and has a loyal following.
The table below lists some of the versions of Quattro Pro that you may encounter.
| Version | Released | Comments |
|---|---|---|
| Quattro 1 | 1987 | For DOS. Essentially a less expensive 1-2-3 clone with a few added features. |
| Quattro Pro 1 | 1989 | For DOS. Based on an obscure product called Surpass (which Borland purchased). Vastly improved, and better than 1-2-3 in just about every area. Included multi-sheet workbooks, support for multiple files in movable windows. |
| Quattro Pro 2 | 1990 | For DOS. Added 3-D charts and links to Paradox database files. |
| Quattro Pro 3 | 1991 | For DOS. Include an optional GUI and slide show feature. |
| Quattro Pro 4 | 1992 | For DOS. Included customizable toolbars and improved graphics. |
| Quattro Pro for Windows 1 | 1992 | The first Windows version. Very impressive. |
| Quattro Pro for Windows 5 | 1993 | Lots of improvements. At the time, macro features were tops. |
| Quattro Pro for Windows 6 | 1993 |
A few more improvements, such as QuickTemplates |
| Quattro Pro 8 | 1997 | Looks a lot more like Excel. Supports the PerfectScript language. |
| Quattro Pro 9 | 1999 | Part of WordPerfect Office 2000. Supports VBA. Up to 1,000,000 rows and 18,278 columns. I haven't used this product, but I've heard from several people who claim that it has many problems and is virtually unusable. |
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