Mosaic Software The Twin Spreadsheet 1-2-3 clone
I'm Arthur Hu and I pretty much wrote an entire 1-2-3-like spreadsheet by myself and came up with the original 1-2-3 clone with a little extra time and a couple of extra people.
I'm Arthur Hu and I pretty much wrote an entire 1-2-3-like spreadsheet by myself and came up with the original 1-2-3 clone with a little extra time and a couple of extra people.
A long time ago I met a company that agreed to sell a BASIC graphics subroutine package called Softplot I wrote to control plotters and CRTs, but they didn't hire me until they asked if I could write a spreadsheet for their new integrated package. They were originally known as Graphic Software and were successful with the Chartman business graphics package for the IBM-PC in BASIC. I had graduated from MIT in 1980 (actually 1981 with a masters degree) and the biggest thing I had programmed was a 2D device-independent graphics package in FORTRAN but I said sure, why not. They were eventually renamed to Mosaic Software. It took me about a year but after looking over 1-2-3 which was introduced in 1983 and Multiplan I used the Lattice C language which they suggested and adapted a data abstraction scheme I had learned at MIT to use with PL/1. It was an objected oriented scheme before Objective C or C++ and the idea was to call a subroutine for the object with a pointer to the object in question and various parameters rather than deal with structures directly and that helped to simplify the project compared to Lotus 1-2-3 which was probably done in assembler, probably by one smart programmer as well.
Other programmers had already come with assembler routines to quickly paint characters on the screen which mapped to the memory so it would be as responsive as 1-2-3 which also directly modified display memory very quickly, much faster than you could with a normal data terminal attached to a minicomputer at 4800 characters per second. One of the interesting problems was natural recalculation order which looked like it need a recursive tree search of formulas to determine which ones to calculate first, but since it wasn't allowed if there were any circular or recursive references it wasn't really recursive so I could use a trick inspired by HP1000 FORTRAN where it store the subroutine location at start of the code. I could use space in the cell itself to store the return location for an iterative loop, which is probably what 1-2-3 did as they had extra space left over in their formulas. There wasn't enough memory and stack on a PC to rely on using recursion without blowing up. The other problem was how to store the grid. I didn't want to use an array which you would have to re-allocate and copy over every time you added a cell, so I did a sparse matrix inspired by the HP2640 series of terminals where I was a co-op student, it used a linked list of blocks, so it would take a small number of memory hops to find a cell, but wouldn't be hard on the heap allocations, though it turns out that on a 8086 it takes two instructions and two memory accesses to load the data segment to load both halves of a 32 bit address, and that is probably what made it slower besides being written in a C compiler for the large model with 20 bit code and data pointers. The c compiler hid much of the segmentation hell of 8086 assembly language programming, as a c programmer we never had to worry about who was going to load what pointer or how many memory accesses it took to load a pointer or call a procedure.
The spreadsheet was included with the integrated package but didn't sell very well when the owner Dikran Bezjjian asked what it would take to make the spreadsheet work exactly like 1-2-3. That meant using the same file and internal data formats and the same command tree structure, and if it did it would also work with 3rd party macros. It did help that Lotus published a book detailing their file format. I told him technically it was possible but it might take another year. Legally anybody could write a BASIC interpreter or FORTRAN compiler or VT100 terminal emulator as long as you used your own coding, though with the 1-2-3 command line you'd have the same words on the screen as they did but it was just for commands, it wasn't like a novel or textbook. So he gave me a go-ahead and with another 2 or 3 programmers over the spring and summer, including my kid brother George who had only done games for Commodore VIC in BASIC. We we worked every night and every weekend and by end of summer we made it compatible with 1-2-3 but offered it for $99.
Being written in C we could theoretically port of different computers, and I think Lotus eventually tried to write a C language version, though it would have easier to buy code from us than sue for look and feel and put us out of business. The AT&T 386 port found a very mysterious bug. Like Lotus Release 2, we coded string value pointers into a floating point number but there was this one routine where the string pointers were getting mangled somehow. That's the only time we had to resort to looking up our Intel 386 manual which we had just in case of an emergency, since it was quite a bit more advanced than the 8086/8088. We disassembled the call and looked and found it was push and normalizing a floating number. Push and WHAT? We didn't even know what normalize meant but we did know whatever it was, it was scrambling the value in the floating point number, so we had to change it to a new abstract type so the compiler would not treat it as a floating point number. This is one of few bugs you can get that requires disassembly into machine instructions to figure it out.
In 1989, with the Lotus lawsuit hanging over the company I took an offer from Autodesk and quit. After that I ended up at a number of companies including Computer Associates which hired me to work with Supercalc, but that didn't last long when Mosaic found out when they were trying to work out a deal to sell the code but hired me instead. In the end there were 3 1-2-3 clones, with Borland Quattro offering an optional 1-2-3 menu and VP-planner. The courts ruled against Mosaic but later decided that mere menu systems could not be copyrighted like a real book. After that I had all kinds of software engineering jobs in California, Washington and Minnesota until the mid 2010s
Lotus 1-2-3 was never really popular on Windows where Excel still dominates and was incorporated into Lotus SmartSuite which was released in 1992 and discontinued after 2009
Here are some articles
From 2012 https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lotus_1-2-3&oldid=580867360 since removed
Rivals
Lotus 1-2-3 inspired imitators, the first of which was Mosaic Software's "The Twin", written in the fall of 1985 largely in the C language, followed by VP-Planner, which was backed by Adam Osborne. These were able to not only read 1-2-3 files, but also execute many or most macro programs by incorporating the same command structure. Copyright law had first been understood to only cover the source code of a program. After the success of lawsuits which claimed that the very "look and feel" of a program were covered, Lotus sought to ban any program which had a compatible command and menu structure. Program commands had not been considered to be covered before, but the commands of 1-2-3 were embedded in the words of the menu displayed on the screen. 1-2-3 won its case against Mosaic Software. However when they sued Borland over its Quattro Pro spreadsheet in Lotus v. Borland, the courts ruled that it was not a copyright violation to merely have a compatible command menu or language. In 1995, the First Circuit found that command menus are an uncopyrightable "method of operation" under section 102(b) of the Copyright Act. The 1-2-3 menu structure (example, slash File Erase) was itself an advanced version of single letter menus introduced in VisiCalc.
Schemenaur, P. J. (1986-10-27). "Firm to Debut Clone Version of Lotus 1-2-3 - Program Offers 2.0 Compatibility". InfoWorld. Retrieved 2016-11-29. […] Twin Release 2 keeps the IBM extended character set of Version 1A, rather than Release 2.0's Lotus International Character Set, which […] causes problems with commercial templates designed for Lotus 1-2-3, Release 1A. […]
Dikran Bezjian, Class of 1979 - Northeastern University - Engineering ... www.classmates.com
1979 graduate of Northeastern University - Engineering in Boston, MA
InfoWorld - Nov 28, 1983 - Page 21 Vol. 5, No. 48 - MagazineMultifunction. designed. for. package. IBM. PC. BY. JOHN. MARKOFF. Senior Editor Mosaic Software has introduced Integrated-6, a "multi-function" software package designed to run on the IBM Personal Computer. According to company president Dikran Bezjian, Integrated-6 is intended to compete with ...
1985 summer -rewrite for 1-2-3 compatibility
InfoWorld - Aug 5, 1985 Vol. 7, No. 31 1-2-3 Knockoffs coming - MagazineIn addition to stressing low price, the 1-2-3 knockoffs will emphasize 1-2-3 file compatibility, site licensing, and freedom from copy protection in a tough fight to gain market share. The first clone to reach the market in mid-August will be Twin from Mosaic Software Inc. of Cambridge, Massachusetts.Twin, which runs on the ...will sell for $145 VP planner will be in September at $99
InfoWorld - Apr 7, 1986 - A number of companies are recommending that their microcomputer users accept clones of Lotus' 1-2-3 as an alternative for spreadsheet use. .... Several manufacturers — including Leading Edge Software Products Inc. of Needham, Massachusetts — have agreed to sell Twin, Bezjian said.
InfoWorld - May 12, 1986 Mosaic Cuts 1-2-3 Clone Price to $99 and Integrated -7 to $199 forced because it was not selling well enough at $145 ... Interface Farsight 1-2-3 clone sells for $99.95... Paperback...Software International of Berkeley, California, also sells its 1-2-3 clone, VP-Planner, for $99.95. Bezjian predicted a large increase in Twin sales in the wake of the price cuts. In addition, he said Mosaic is reaping large profits from the decision to give Leading Edge Products Inc. non-exclusive manufacturing rights ...
InfoWorld - May 19, 1986 - Page 55 -Vol. 8, No. 20 - Twin From Mosaic is a Close Clone of 1-2-3, 1A MagazineMosaic. Is. a. Close. Clone. Of. 1-2-3,1. A. By Rolf Kallenbach Review Board comes closer to duplicating the features and nuances of 1-2-3 than VP Planner or farsight.. uses a lot more memory than versions 1 or 2. For spreadsheet enthusiasts seeking a low- cost alternative to 1-2-3, Twin is worth considering. None of the 1-2-3 work-alikes perform and behave exactly like the original, but under scrutiny the $99 Twin comes closer to duplicating the features and ...
InfoWorld - Oct 27, 1986 Vol. 8, No. 43 - MagazineBy PJ Schemenaur CAMBRIDGE, MA — Mosaic Software Inc. recently announced what it said is thefirst clone of Lotus 1-2-3, Release 2.0, giving users the choice of compatibility with Version 1 A or Release 2.0 at a lower cost than the Lotus releases. Twin Release 2 will be priced at $149 and be available at November's ...
InfoWorld - Nov 10, 1986 Vol. 8, No. 45 - Magazine1-2-3 Clones Up to now, we've talked about spread- Data READY sheets that were designed from the ground up as individual products. Twin, Farsight, and VP-Planner are somewhat different: Each of these programs was designed to work and look like 1-2-3, although each offers some differences and advantages. TWIN. price conscious uers best to choose vp planner or Twin
InfoWorld - Jan 26, 1987 Vol. 9, No. 4 - MagazineOther 1 -2-3 users were more supportive of Lotus. Will Stitt ... "The lawsuit won't matter to most 1-2-3users," said Joe Williams, municipal advisory analyst for People's Bank, in Seattle. Software clones could ... Meanwhile, Mosaic president Richard Bezjian said last week his company has established a legal defense fund ...Osborne intent to file countersuit against Lotus
InfoWorld - Jan 25, 1988 - Vol. 10, No. 4 - Magazine Mosaic Sales Up Despite Suit 1-2-3 work-alike challenges Lotus .. finished 1987 with record sales totaling 2.5 m up from 1.5million the year before For Mosaic, which has always been profitable, the greatest threat now comes from Lotus' lawsuit over The Twin, which Bezjian admits is "80 percent a 1-2-3 • ECONOMIC OUTLOOK By Rachel Parker Slower, but still pretty good. That's how financial analysts watching the personal computer industry describe the industry's ...next month for AT&T 3B2 computer leading edge stopped bundling Twin shortly after suite was filed.
InfoWorld - Jul 18, 1988 Vol. 10, No. 29 - MagazineTom Moran Mosaic Ships Unix Version of 1 -2-3 Clone Mosaic Software Inc. of Cambridge, Massachusetts, has shipped Twin/UX, the first 1-2-3-compatible spreadsheet for the Unix market.Twin/UX will cost $695 for 386 versions of Microport and SCO Xenix, $495 for Microport 286, from $495 to $2,200 for AT&T's 3B2 family ...
Here are some articles
From 2012 https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lotus_1-2-3&oldid=580867360 since removed
Rivals
Lotus 1-2-3 inspired imitators, the first of which was Mosaic Software's "The Twin", written in the fall of 1985 largely in the C language, followed by VP-Planner, which was backed by Adam Osborne. These were able to not only read 1-2-3 files, but also execute many or most macro programs by incorporating the same command structure. Copyright law had first been understood to only cover the source code of a program. After the success of lawsuits which claimed that the very "look and feel" of a program were covered, Lotus sought to ban any program which had a compatible command and menu structure. Program commands had not been considered to be covered before, but the commands of 1-2-3 were embedded in the words of the menu displayed on the screen. 1-2-3 won its case against Mosaic Software. However when they sued Borland over its Quattro Pro spreadsheet in Lotus v. Borland, the courts ruled that it was not a copyright violation to merely have a compatible command menu or language. In 1995, the First Circuit found that command menus are an uncopyrightable "method of operation" under section 102(b) of the Copyright Act. The 1-2-3 menu structure (example, slash File Erase) was itself an advanced version of single letter menus introduced in VisiCalc.
Schemenaur, P. J. (1986-10-27). "Firm to Debut Clone Version of Lotus 1-2-3 - Program Offers 2.0 Compatibility". InfoWorld. Retrieved 2016-11-29. […] Twin Release 2 keeps the IBM extended character set of Version 1A, rather than Release 2.0's Lotus International Character Set, which […] causes problems with commercial templates designed for Lotus 1-2-3, Release 1A. […]
with apologies to
Software spotlight: The Twin
Mosaic Software's "The Twin" is a late 1980s spreadsheet that directly attempted to mimic Lotus 1-2-3's user interface, functionality, and compatiblity.
Thanks to Thinkpadman for uploading disk images of version 1.3!
I also scrounged up an installed file set of 2.4.
Unlike Lotus 1-2-3 release 2.0 that it competed against, The Twin had better graphics, a much lower price, and was not copy protected. It was a little slower than Lotus 1-2-3, but this was less of an issue for budget users.
The Twin had significant market success during the late 80s. However The Twin, along with Paperback VP-Planner and Borland Quattro Pro were the subject of a lawsuit claiming that duplicating the "look and feel", mainly the menus, violated Lotus's copyrights.
The 1990 ruling upheld Lotus's copyright. And in 1991 a judge issued a permanent injunction against Mosaic Software, prohibiting the company form selling its spreadsheet. (InfoWorld Aug 10, 1992)
It is a little unclear precisely what happened to Mosaic Software after that, however sufficed to say they are no longer around.
Mosaic software did have several other products including "Chartman", "Integrated-7", and "Diamond".
Reportedly, Leading Edge bundled "The Twin" with their Model D, but halted bundling after the suite was filed.
Quatro Pro survived Lotus's suite in part because their Lotus-compatible menus were an optional component, which they were able to simply drop.
Lotus 1-2-3 was itself a clone of Visicalc. However, Visicalc 1.x didn't even have menus, Just a command field!
Microsoft Excel 1.x/2.x did not use Lotus style menus, so probably avoided that mess.
The entire "Look and feel" thing was a big deal at the time, with Apple suing others mimicing elements of their Macintosh GUI.
Obviously, later rulings and such held that command menus were "uncopyrightable".
And possibly because they were too busy suing people, Lotus didn't port their product to Microsoft Windows in time, and got buried by Microsoft Excel. :P
Paperback Software International
Paperback Software International Ltd. was a software company founded in the 1980s by Adam Osborne to manufacture discount software such as word processorsand spreadsheets. The company was found guilty by a United States court of copyright violation for copying the appearance and menu system of Lotus 1-2-3 in its competing spreadsheet program, even though they did use different computer code.[1][2][3][4] The loss of this lawsuit was the main cause for the foundering of the company and paved the way for future copyright law on computer software.[citation needed]
Not only was VP Planner cheaper, it was regarded by some as better.[5] Adam Osborne's US Paperback Software business folded following lengthy litigation with Lotus Software.[6] The litigation began in 1987, when Lotus initially won a copyright claim in 1990 against Paperback Software.[7] When Borland's Quattro Prospreadsheet[8][9] was also sued, after six years of litigation Lotus lost the lawsuit. The courts agreed that it was not a copyright infringement to use the Lotus interface as a subset - but by then, Paperback Software had folded, and Lotus 1-2-3 had itself faced intense competition from Microsoft Windows and Microsoft Excel.
July 14, 1986
Milestones
Dikran Bezjian, Class of 1979 - Northeastern University - Engineering ... www.classmates.com
1979 graduate of Northeastern University - Engineering in Boston, MA
Chartman PC business graphics for IBM PC in compiled BASIC
Mosaic's Bezjian: a happy David versus Lotus' Goliath. (Mosaic ... - Trove
https://trove.nla.gov.au/work/95570056
This experience prompted Bezjian to form his own company, Graphics Software Inc, to design a business-graphics package that would incorporate many of the popular HP features. Its later Integrated-7 package included a 1-2-3 compatible spreadsheet. Lotus has sued Mosaic over the 'look and feel' of its Twin spreadsheet, ...
InfoWorld - Aug 5, 1985 Vol. 7, No. 31 1-2-3 Knockoffs coming - MagazineIn addition to stressing low price, the 1-2-3 knockoffs will emphasize 1-2-3 file compatibility, site licensing, and freedom from copy protection in a tough fight to gain market share. The first clone to reach the market in mid-August will be Twin from Mosaic Software Inc. of Cambridge, Massachusetts.Twin, which runs on the ...will sell for $145 VP planner will be in September at $99
InfoWorld - May 19, 1986 - Page 55 -Vol. 8, No. 20 - Twin From Mosaic is a Close Clone of 1-2-3, 1A MagazineMosaic. Is. a. Close. Clone. Of. 1-2-3,1. A. By Rolf Kallenbach Review Board comes closer to duplicating the features and nuances of 1-2-3 than VP Planner or farsight.. uses a lot more memory than versions 1 or 2. For spreadsheet enthusiasts seeking a low- cost alternative to 1-2-3, Twin is worth considering. None of the 1-2-3 work-alikes perform and behave exactly like the original, but under scrutiny the $99 Twin comes closer to duplicating the features and ...
InfoWorld - Oct 27, 1986 Vol. 8, No. 43 - MagazineBy PJ Schemenaur CAMBRIDGE, MA — Mosaic Software Inc. recently announced what it said is thefirst clone of Lotus 1-2-3, Release 2.0, giving users the choice of compatibility with Version 1 A or Release 2.0 at a lower cost than the Lotus releases. Twin Release 2 will be priced at $149 and be available at November's ...
InfoWorld - Nov 10, 1986 Vol. 8, No. 45 - Magazine1-2-3 Clones Up to now, we've talked about spread- Data READY sheets that were designed from the ground up as individual products. Twin, Farsight, and VP-Planner are somewhat different: Each of these programs was designed to work and look like 1-2-3, although each offers some differences and advantages. TWIN. price conscious uers best to choose vp planner or Twin
InfoWorld - Jan 26, 1987 Vol. 9, No. 4 - MagazineOther 1 -2-3 users were more supportive of Lotus. Will Stitt ... "The lawsuit won't matter to most 1-2-3users," said Joe Williams, municipal advisory analyst for People's Bank, in Seattle. Software clones could ... Meanwhile, Mosaic president Richard Bezjian said last week his company has established a legal defense fund ...Osborne intent to file countersuit against Lotus
InfoWorld - Jan 25, 1988 - Vol. 10, No. 4 - Magazine Mosaic Sales Up Despite Suit 1-2-3 work-alike challenges Lotus .. finished 1987 with record sales totaling 2.5 m up from 1.5million the year before For Mosaic, which has always been profitable, the greatest threat now comes from Lotus' lawsuit over The Twin, which Bezjian admits is "80 percent a 1-2-3 • ECONOMIC OUTLOOK By Rachel Parker Slower, but still pretty good. That's how financial analysts watching the personal computer industry describe the industry's ...next month for AT&T 3B2 computer leading edge stopped bundling Twin shortly after suite was filed.
InfoWorld - Jul 18, 1988 Vol. 10, No. 29 - MagazineTom Moran Mosaic Ships Unix Version of 1 -2-3 Clone Mosaic Software Inc. of Cambridge, Massachusetts, has shipped Twin/UX, the first 1-2-3-compatible spreadsheet for the Unix market.Twin/UX will cost $695 for 386 versions of Microport and SCO Xenix, $495 for Microport 286, from $495 to $2,200 for AT&T's 3B2 family ...
Computerworld - Jul 2, 1990 Vol. 24, No. 27 - Magazine... the aspect that has made [it] so popular. That defendants went to such trouble to copy that element is a testament to its substantiality." Paperback will appeal the decision, Vice-President of Sales and Manufacturing Mike Burdyck said. Mosaic President Richard Dikran Bezjian vowed to continue selling its Twin spreadsheet ...
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