Quattro Pro
| Company type | Software |
|---|---|
| Industry | Computer software |
| Predecessor | Surpass |
| Founded | 1988 |
| Founder | Borland |
| Headquarters | United States |
Area served | Worldwide |
| Products | Spreadsheet application software |
| Owner | Alludo |
| Website | www |
Quattro Pro is a spreadsheet application initially created by Borland and currently distributed by Alludo, mainly as a component of the Alludo WordPerfect Office suite.
Characteristics
Quattro Pro traditionally utilized keyboard shortcuts reminiscent of those found in Lotus 1-2-3. While often recognized as the pioneer of tabbed sheet interfaces, this feature actually appeared first in Boeing Calc. The software runs on the Windows operating system. For an extended period, Quattro Pro distinguished itself by accommodating up to one million rows and 18,276 columns per worksheet, exceeding Microsoft Excel’s limits before 2007, which were capped at 65,536 rows and 256 columns. Despite this technical superiority, Quattro Pro has consistently trailed behind Excel in market share since approximately 1996.
During its development phase, version 1.0 bore the codename "Buddha," with the ambition to surpass Lotus's dominant market position. Initially released in 1988 under the name Quattro—Italian for "four," symbolizing advancement beyond "1-2-3"—the product was rebranded as Quattro Pro in 1990.
Since version 9, Quattro Pro spreadsheet files typically carry the .qpw extension. Earlier releases used .wb3 (versions 7 and 8), .wb2 (version 6), .wb1 (version 5), while DOS editions employed .wq2 and .wq1 file formats.
Origins
The first Borland Quattro spreadsheet was a DOS-based program developed by three Eastern European programmers, including Hungarian Lajos Frank, who later joined Microsoft. In 1985, a PC Week article erroneously claimed Borland was working on a spreadsheet product. This prompted Philippe Kahn and Spencer Leyton to joke about creating a rival to Lotus 1-2-3. Consequently, Kahn contacted Robert Stein of Andromeda Software, leading to a collaboration to produce the original Quattro.
The software was written using assembly language and Turbo C by Adam Bosworth, Lajos Frank, and Chuck Batterman. It received acclaim for its advanced DOS graphics capabilities. Subsequently, Borland acquired "Surpass," developed in Modula-2, and recruited its principal programmers—Bob Warfield, Dave Anderson, Weikuo Liaw, Bob Richardson, and Tod Landis—to transform Surpass into Quattro Pro alongside Borland’s existing team. Warfield later rose to become Borland’s Vice President of R&D; all these developers eventually left the company.
Quattro Pro debuted in late 1989 amid difficulties caused by the Loma Prieta earthquake, which inflicted significant damage on Borland’s headquarters. The disaster forced employees to move computers outside to complete final quality assurance testing and prepare for production.
Lawsuit
Although Quattro Pro is sometimes credited with pioneering the tabbed notebook interface, earlier spreadsheet programs such as Boeing Calc had already implemented tabs and three-dimensional references prior to its release.
Quattro Pro was at the heart of a notable legal dispute where Lotus alleged that Quattro had unlawfully replicated its 1-2-3 menu structure. Borland included these menus to maintain keystroke compatibility and allow Lotus macros to function. Borland contended that functional elements cannot be copyrighted—drawing an analogy to cars sharing operational similarities without ownership claims over their functions. While the district court ruled in favor of Lotus, the appellate court reversed this decision, determining that the menus were functional and thus not subject to copyright protection. The U.S. Supreme Court ended in a 4–4 tie, upholding the appellate court’s ruling—a legal win for Borland but leaving broader questions about software behavior copyright unsettled.
By the time the lawsuit concluded, Borland had already sold Quattro Pro to Novell six months before the final verdict.
Quattro Pro for Windows
Originally developed as a DOS application, Quattro Pro underwent a full redevelopment to create Quattro Pro for Windows (QPW). Both QPW and Borland Paradox for Windows were built upon Borland’s internal object-oriented user interface pilot initiative, aligning with the company’s transition to C++. The initial codebase was written in C using object-oriented macros but shifted to C++ once Borland released its Turbo C++ compiler.
The development team, comprising nearly 20 engineers and led by Charlie Anderson, included key contributors such as Istvan Cseri, Weikuo Liaw, and Murray Low. The object model was influenced by NeXT’s architecture and adapted by Cseri. Liaw and Spencer were responsible for crafting the assembly-coded spreadsheet engine, while Low played a pivotal role in designing the user interface.
Known internally as "Thor," QPW introduced two significant advancements: multi-page spreadsheets with interconnected cells and the pioneering use of a right-click attribute menu (property pane) within a Windows application. These features, initially showcased in Paradox by Phillipe Kahn, eventually set new industry standards.
QPW stood out as one of the earliest large-scale Windows applications developed in C++, testing the limits of Borland’s compiler. Despite encountering technical uncertainties—such as an unproven object model, novel UI concepts, and compiler performance challenges—the software delivered performance and capabilities on par with Lotus 1-2-3 and Excel.
Although there was an attempt to create a unified object model shared by QPW and Paradox, this approach was ultimately abandoned. Upon its September 1992 launch, QPW was initially bundled with the DOS version at $495, which caused confusion among customers. It was soon reissued as a standalone product priced at $129 and received favorable reviews. Subsequent price cuts to $49 significantly boosted sales.
Development efforts continued under Joe Ammirato with a refreshed engineering team including Bret Gillis and Peter Weyzen. To enhance QPW’s functionality, Borland acquired DataPivot from Brio Technology, with Colin Glassey from Brio assisting in the integration process. Following team consolidations, QPW 5 was released to synchronize version numbers with the DOS edition and achieved respectable sales despite intensifying competition from Microsoft Office.
Under Steven Boye’s leadership, Version 6 development shifted focus toward tighter integration with WordPerfect as a strategic move against Microsoft Word and Excel dominance. Its release coincided with Windows 95, requiring substantial UI modifications.
Novell purchased WordPerfect Corporation along with Quattro Pro’s source code from Borland to directly contend with Microsoft’s market position. Although Version 6 included efforts to harmonize WordPerfect and QPW interfaces, full integration was not realized.
Novell later accused Microsoft of deliberately sabotaging WordPerfect and Quattro Pro to maintain its Windows monopoly; this antitrust lawsuit reached the US Supreme Court but did not prevent Microsoft’s actions in 2008.
Novell's exit
The launch of Windows 95 in August 1995 marked a critical juncture for Novell’s challenge against Microsoft. Coinciding with the new operating system release, Microsoft introduced updated versions of Word and Excel, which severely impacted sales of Novell PerfectOffice and Lotus products. Within three months, Novell announced intentions to divest its applications division, eventually selling it to Corel. By mid-1996, Microsoft had secured approximately 95% of the business software market. As of 2005, Microsoft continues to dominate business applications on Windows platforms, although Quattro Pro and WordPerfect remain actively maintained and available.
File formats
Quattro Pro supports multiple file extensions such as WB1, WB2, WB3, wq1, and wq2. Desktop programs like Collabora Online, LibreOffice, and Apache OpenOffice are capable of opening certain formats (WB2, wq1, wq2) and converting them into OpenDocument or alternative file types. Microsoft ceased compatibility with Quattro Pro file formats following the release of Office 2007.
Reception
According to a 1990 poll conducted by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants, 10% of participants identified Quattro as their preferred spreadsheet tool—making it the second most popular choice after 1-2-3, which held 62%. Additionally, 4% utilized Quattro for database functions, while 11% applied it for graphic purposes.
Version history
- 1989: Quattro Pro 1.0
- 1991: Quattro Pro 2.0
- 1991: Quattro Pro 3.0 for DOS
- 1992: Quattro Pro 4.0 for DOS
- 1992: Quattro Pro for Windows 1.0 (also included in Borland Office for Windows, 1993)
- 1993: Quattro Pro for Windows 5.0 (also part of Borland Office 2.0 for Windows)
- 1994: Quattro Pro for Windows 6.0 (integrated in Novell PerfectOffice 3.0)
- 1996: Quattro Pro 7 (featured in Corel WordPerfect Suite 7)
- 1998: Quattro Pro 8 (included with Corel WordPerfect Suite 8)
- 2000: Quattro Pro 9 (distributed as part of Corel WordPerfect Office 2000)
- 2002: Quattro Pro 10 (within Corel WordPerfect Office 2002)
- 2003: Quattro Pro 11 (bundled in Corel WordPerfect Office 11)
- 2004: Quattro Pro 12 (part of Corel WordPerfect Office 12)
- 2006: Quattro Pro X3 (included in Corel WordPerfect Office X3)
- 2008: Quattro Pro X4 (offered with Corel WordPerfect Office X4)
- 2010: Quattro Pro X5 (part of Corel WordPerfect Office X5)
- 2012: Quattro Pro X6 (within Corel WordPerfect Office X6)
- 2014: Quattro Pro X7 (included in Corel WordPerfect Office X7)
- 2016: Quattro Pro X8 (distributed as part of Corel WordPerfect Office X8)
- 2018: Quattro Pro X9 (bundled with Corel WordPerfect Office X9)
- 2020: Quattro Pro 2020 (part of Corel WordPerfect Office 2020)