# 123 1.1 Windows 8/64?



## aeneas1 (Feb 9, 2013)

just upgraded to w8/64 (clean install, new machine) and was disappointed to discover that my copy of 123 1.1 for windows will not work, even when using w8's various compatibility modes. I knew this was a possibility going in but had read some encouraging posts prior to upgrading which led me to believe that it just might work, especially given it worked flawlessly with xp without using a compatibility mode.

so what are my options? I've used 123 for close to 30 years, since the first dos version (my first job out of college!), and have used v1.1 for the last 15+ years, for home and my small business. I gave excel a shot quite a while ago but couldn't stand it, and I have no interest in trying to revisit it again. just downloaded lotus symphony to give it a test drive, works seamlessly and is lightening fast with my w8/64 setup, but it's lacking 1.1's forward-slash (/) menu commands, which is a deal breaker.

I noticed that forum user clyde123 successfully installed 123 millennium on his w8/64 system, which is very encouraging, but I have no experience with this version of 123. clyde123 - is it stable, and do all the functions work well with w8/64? what file format does it use, wk3, wk4? equally important, does your version of 123 millennium allow you to use forward-slash menu commands, i.e. can this version be used in the same manner as 123 1.1 or has it gone through so many changes over the years that it is quite different than 1.1?

would swapping my w8/64 program for a w8/32 program solve my problem, would 123 1.1 work with w8/32 given it worked with xp? I understand that w8/32 limits system memory to just 4gb (i'm currently using 16gb), but have read there is a kernel hack which allows w8/32 to recognize and use more than 4gb of memory...

what about keeping xp and installing it on another internal drive (or partition)? I have no experience using two operating systems in the same unit - would it require rebooting each time I wanted to use a different os or could I simply switch users? is this even practical?

bottom line is i'm not willing to give up 123 and it's forward-slash menu commands, don't want to learn how to use a new spreadsheet. so any help you guys can offer would be greatly appreciated!


----------



## LMiller7 (Jun 21, 2010)

Lotus 123 1.1 for Windows is a 16 bit application and as such cannot run on any 64 bit OS. It may run on 32 bit Windows 8 but no guarantees. Each new version of Windows seems to have more limited support for 16 bit applications while 64 bit versions have no support at all.

The 4 GB RAM limit on 32 bit client versions of Windows is a licensing limit. Any method of circumventing this would be contrary to the Microsoft license agreement and could not be discussed on this forum.

Installing XP on modern hardware is difficult at best. A serious problem is obtaining XP compatible drivers. Hardware manufacturers find it difficult to justify the considerable time and cost required to write drivers for what is essentially an obsolete OS.

Your best option, assuming you really must use this application, would be to run it on XP installed on on a virtual machine such as VirtualBox or VirtualPC. Both of these are free but you would need a legal copy of XP that is not currently in use and has not been used to justify an upgrade.


----------



## aeneas1 (Feb 9, 2013)

lmiller7, your very informative reply was much appreciated, thank you. re the 32bit/4gb limit, didn't realize it was a license breach, but it's now a moot point as far as i'm concerned given that it looks like a train wreck waiting to happen after more reading, especially for someone like me with limited tech expertise.

what about 123 millennium, do you happen to know if it can be operated with keyboard commands a la 1.1, recognize wk3 files, etc., or is it more like 123 symphony?

there seems to be no shortage of virtualbox or virtual pc discussions on the net, so i'll take a closer look at these, albeit the posts I've perused seem to indicate that they're not a practical approach for my needs, and may not even work, but i'll certainly take a closer look.

the more I think about it the more i'm inclined not to downgrade to w8/32 just for the chance that 1.1 might work. if push comes to shove, and as crazy as this might sound, i'll just use a small form factor with xp and 123 loaded, and use it along with my new system, share the monitor...


----------



## aeneas1 (Feb 9, 2013)

after doing a little research (a lot more ahead), it seems that w8/64 pro with hyper-v might be a solution? what do you guys think?


----------



## clyde123 (Apr 10, 2008)

Hi aeneas1, the Lotus version I've been using is Lotus Smartsuite Millenium Edition, part no. CD7AVIE , says on the disk for Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows NT 4.0
From memory I don't think it ran from the auto install. I think I had to select and run the file manually to install.
This is on my PC at home, so when I get home tonight, I'll get back to you again with some answers to your questions.
I have to say that since moving to Win8, I've started moving some of my files over to Excel rather than 123. Purely because I'm concerned about availability of them in the future.
I first started using Lotus 123 over 30 years ago now. Did some amazing things with it in the first year or so. That was on an old IBM, its first upgrade was a second 5.25 inch drive - cost a fortune. Hard drive came later. Taught myself from an article in one of the magazines - they were good in those days, lots of technical stuff, 'how to do it'.


----------



## clyde123 (Apr 10, 2008)

aeneas1, this installation of Lotus calls itself Version 9 for Windows.
The slash command definitely works on it.
This PC is using 64 bit Windows 8 Pro. It has 4 GB RAM and is an Intel i5-3330 chip.
It has Save As options of WK1 , WK3 , WK4 , and 123 , as well as Excel WKS .
I can't find anything older than WK4 to try it with tonight, but it does open up the WK4 files no problem.
It certainly looks and works as classic Lotus. I saved a WK4 as a WK3 file. Shut down Lotus. Opened up by clicking on the WK3 filename. That worked fine, and the / commands worked fine too.
Hope this helps.


----------

