Corel Still Hanging In There

In case you've forgotten, Corel Corp., the maker of the WordPerfect Office suite, is still around. This week, the Ottawa-based company announced a beta version of WordPerfect Office that supports the Open Document Format (ODF) as well as Microsoft's Office Open XML (OOXML), which is the default file format for Redmond's Office 2007. Corel is trying to get our attention this time, claiming that this release "uniquely" positions the company as the first vendor to deliver format-neutral office productivity software.

Besides ODF and OOXML, the new beta release supports the binary formats of Office, Adobe's PDF and those of about 60 others. The release includes an integrated XML editor that lets users create customized, XML-based publishing solutions.

The beta contains some improvements to its screen-reading and other access capabilities, many of which are required under Section 508 of the United States Rehabilitation Act. Corel officials say these features, along with support for ODF, positions their product to help foster ODF's wider acceptance in a variety of public sector organizations where accessibility is a basic requirement.

Users can get more information about document conversion assessments here.

Posted by Ed Scannell on October 04, 2007


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