| WordPerfect to support both ODF and Open XML |
Nov. 29, 2006
Corel Corp. promised months ago that it would support the OpenOffice.org ODF (Open Document Format). Now, we know it will support both ODF and Microsoft's Open XML next year.
Beginning in mid 2007, Corel will provide open, view, and edit functionality for Open XML and ODF as a first step toward comprehensive support for both formats. The company would not say how this support would be delivered, the timing of the format support's arrival makes it appear likely that it will be delivered in the next version of WordPerfect Office.
Richard Carriere, Corel's general manager of office productivity, told Linux-Watch that, "Unfortunately, it is too early to disclose the details of the next version of Corel WordPerfect Office, but we will keep you closely availed of our plans as we are able to describe them further."
When asked if Corel would backport this functionality into older versions of WordPerfect, Carriere said, "Our size and competitive positioning requires that we keep confidential the specifics of our XML format roadmap right now, but I can say that Corel is currently evaluating a variety of options in terms of how we deploy OOXML and ODF compatibility for our users, and we will update our customer base when our plans are complete."
While WordPerfect remains a decent number-two relative to Microsoft Office's commanding lead in office suites, it has had to fight to maintain even that status. For example, until recently, Dell pre-installed WordPerfect Office on some of its systems -- but, that is now no longer the case.
Because of this, Corel is trying to make its offering more attractive. On Nov. 10, for instance, Corel announced that it would be bundling Firefox with its new consumer productivity package, Corel WordPerfect Office X3 -- Home Edition 2007. There will not, however, according to sources close to Corel, be a new release of WordPerfect for Linux.
Corel claims that supporting both ODF and Open XML places Corel in a unique format-neutral position, independent of Microsoft, Adobe, and other vendors' efforts to propagate their respective standards. This format-neutral approach allows Corel to focus directly on addressing the needs of customers, whose adoption choices will determine which formats will become most relevant. Corel is the only vendor to take such an approach.
The OpenDocument Foundation, however, is still working towards delivering an ODF-plugin by January 2007 for all versions of Microsoft Office dating back to Office 97. This plug-in will enable Microsoft Office users to open, edit, and save as ODF documents in Office.
Microsoft has also set up an open-source project to create a series of tools that allow translation between the OpenXML format and the ODF format.
Carriere added, "Corel is and will continue to be a strong supporter of open standards. The XML format roadmap for Corel WordPerfect Office reflects our clear focus on responding to the needs of our customers, especially those in government who are making significant efforts to adopt open standards wherever possible."
Corel is a member both of OASIS (Organization for the Advancement of Structured Information Standards) and of the ODF Alliance, and one of its developers was among the original authors of the OASIS ODF specification.
"Because it is free, truly open and certified as an ISO standard, many customers see ODF as the most promising format for the future of office productivity." Carriere continued. But, with "The debut of Microsoft Office 2007, Microsoft OOXML will immediately experience broad dissemination," he added. Therefore, it's "Far from clear which of these formats will be adopted by productivity customers, or indeed if we'll simply need to continue working with multiple file formats."
In the Liunx-Watch interview, he also explained, that since "OOXML will be the default file format for Office 2007, so clearly to remain relevant in a market dominated by Microsoft, it is important to begin providing compatibility with these formats. At the same time, Corel is seeing growing interest in ODF, particularly among our government customers, who are keen to adopt open standards wherever possible."
Carriere continued, "By assuming a format-neutral position with regard to XML formats, Corel is making it clear that it is the customer that determines which standards become relevant. Given this reality, and the fact that Corel has nothing to gain by placing bets on one format or the other, it is appropriate and indeed important for us to address the largest number of customers by initiating support for both ODF and OOXML"
"Corel WordPerfect Office already supports widely adopted standards such as PDF, plus many proprietary formats including Microsoft Office's binary formats. Adding OOXML and ODF support means Corel can flexibly address customers' needs, regardless of the formats they choose going forward," Carriere concluded.
-- Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols
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