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Monday, January 23, 2006

A few thoughts about ODF and WordPerfect

Did Corel miss the boat by not including Open Document (ODF) support in it's latest version of WordPerfect? I'm talking to myself here, as much as to anyone else who might be listening. A recent article in the Inquirer by Nick Farrell (New look WordPerfect released), got me thinking.

However, the new WordPerfect stops short of supporting the new OpenDocument standard. This will put it in the same boat as Microsoft if the standard is widely adopted by US government departments.
A SpokesCorel said that WordPerfect will only support OpenDocument if its customers demand it. This is a bit odd because WordPerfect’s main following is among legal companies and government agencies who are touted to be looking seriously at OpenDocument. (Emphasis added.)

I don't speak for Corel. Heck, I don't even know anyone who works there. But, just bear with me.

If the culture at Microsoft is to take what its competitors are doing, and then do it "better," why should anyone begrudge Corel from taking a wait and see approach to ODF? If, in fact, that's what they are doing, which I think they are. Not to mention, adoption of ODF at this stage isn't even an issue. The demand just isn't there, yet.

UPDATE a couple hours later: I spoke too soon. Had I done a little more checking, I would have found Linux-Watch has the real skinny on Corel's current position on ODF. That position is best summed up in the title of the article, Corel pussyfoots on WordPerfect ODF. It's starting to sink in.

• Posted by: Marie Carnes at 02:08 PM
• 258 words in this article
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• Filed in: ODF | Thinking outloud | WordPerfect

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