“Corel Pussyfoots on WordPerfect ODF”
Linux Watch reports Corel pussyfoots on WordPerfect ODF.
SJVN writes, “In particular, the renewed office suite boasts of its ability to import and export documents, spreadsheets, and presentations to Adobe’s PDF (Portable Document Format). What it doesn’t have, however, is the ability to import or export to the open-standard ODF (Open Document Format).
This is somewhat surprising, since Greg Wood, communications manager for Corel WordPerfect, recently pointed out that, “Corel is an original member of the OASIS Technical Committee on the OpenDocument format, and one of Corel’s senior developers is among the original four authors of the ODF specification.”
So, I wonder why Corel hasn’t implemented ODF in its new WordPerfect Office X3. Does Microsoft still own a part of Corel? (Remember how Corel Linux was cancelled after MS stepped in…) Or is this just paranoia?
Their official answer is that they haven’t received enough demand from their customers. However, I think this is a strategic decision that Corel should take—there are 50,000 desktops up for grabs in Massachusetts to any company that will implement ODF. There are probably going to be many more organizations making the same decision in the next few years, and Corel could position itself for strong growth, if they’re willing to take this risk! They are sabotaging their chance for greater future success by not supporting ODF now, and it’s a shame.