Corel Corp continues to give Microsoft Corp a run for its money in the software suite market and has announced the latest upgrade to the WordPerfect suite it rescued from Novell Inc 18 months ago (CI No 2,842). WordPerfect Suite 8, due in the stores next month, is said to be packed full of useful 32-bit applications to run on top of Windows 95 or NT 4.0. In particular, its emphasis is on collaborative document-type applications, and internet-based groupware. A new information manager CorelCentral combines calendar, scheduling, to-do lists, an address book, contact log and card file. Suite 8 professional, which will ship late summer, includes electronic mail, internet browser, discussion groups and conferencing support through integration with Netscape Communications Corp’s Communicator, which is not due until June, so initial shipments of WordPerfect Suite 8 will not include CorelCentral, but early buyers will get a voucher for when it becomes available. Suite 8 includes the core WordPerfect applications such as WordPerfect word-processing, Quattro Pro 8, and Corel Presentations. It also includes Corel Barista, a Java tool that enables publishing of content rich web pages, Photo House, for photo editing, and Versions for document version control. WordPerfect Suite 8 will cost $395, although the company is still trying to lure the competition’s customers, and users of competitive office suites, as well as existing WordPerfect users can buy the new release for $180, while academia pays only $50.
