Linux: Corel to bring Linux to the desktop. Plans include 'invisible' Linux Operating system and user-friendly interface - Company Business and Marketing

Edge: Work-Group Computing Report, March 8, 1999

Corel Corporation has announced Tuesday its plan to introduce a user-friendly, easy to install interface for the Linux Operating System (OS), at the LinuxWorld conference in San Jose, California.

At the first major trade show devoted to commercial applications in Linux OS, Corel president and chief executive officer Dr. Michael Cowpland announced the expected November release.

"We plan to simplify Linux by creating an easily accessible desktop environment," said Dr. Cowpland. "Linux will then be available to all computer users who wish to experience its benefits."

The emphasis of the new Corel version of Linux will be on simple installation and a graphical user interface (GUI) that sits on top of the operating system, similar to those used on the Windows Macintosh OS. Corel is also anticipating Linux versions of its WordPerfect Office 2000 this year, and CorelDRAW and Corel PHOTO-PAINT for Linux in 2000.

"The difficult-to-use reputation of Linux will be left behind," said Dr. Cowpland. "Everyone will be able to experience the power and stability of Linux without learning complicated codes."

Corel's decision to provide a user-friendly version of Linux is consistent with its corporate vision that consumers should be able to use their applications on the operating system of their choice. Corel Corporation

Corel Corporation is an internationally recognized developer of award-winning graphics and business productivity applications. Development of market-leading products such as the CorelDRAW line of graphics applications and the Corel WordPerfect Suite of business tools is continually evolving to meet the demands of the corporate, retail and academic markets. Committed to value, compatibility, choice and open standards, Corel develops products for the Windows, Macintosh, UNIX, Linuxand Java platforms. FMI: www.corel.com.

Q&A to follow. Corel and Linux Why is Corel supporting Linux? At Corel, we believe in value, compatibility and performance and this is enshrined in our corporate mission statement. We have always believed consumers should be able to use their favorite application on the operating system of their choice. Our decision to support Linux is consistent with our corporate vision and is similar to our Mac endeavors.

Is Corel supporting the Wine project and why? Corel is supporting the Wine project because it is the best technology at our disposal to speed the process of moving our office suite applications to Linux. Wine allows us to move Win32 code quickly and easily to Linux. We believe Linux won't be able to achieve a critical mass on the desktop until more applications are available. Contributing our efforts to the Wine project not only helps us with our applications, but creates the opportunity for many other application vendors to come on board.

What is Corel's involvement with the Wine project? Corel is actively participating in the development of Wine, both from a source and binary compatibility standpoint. We are putting significant resources into this development effort and are sharing our work with the Wine community on an ongoing basis. Our involvement with the Wine project is a demonstration of our commitment to the open source community and its philosophy of offering platform-agnostic solutions. For more information on Wine, please refer to www.winehq.com.

Isn't Corel fragmenting the market by offering Corel Desktop Linux(1)? In order for Linux to become the operating system of choice among desktop users, we must offer a simple-to-use installation and GUI. That's where Corel Desktop Linux will fill the gap. Corel Desktop Linux will expand the Linux market by helping average desktop users install the operating system quickly and easily. We are not fragmenting the market but rather consolidating it by putting our resources behind the GUI. And by returning source code back to the community, we are helping to support and strengthen the open source community.

In addition, regardless of the installation process or GUI used, WordPerfect Office 2000 and other major Corel applications for Linux will run on all distributions of the operating system. Again, we believe users must have a choice, even when it comes to using our products.

Will Corel Desktop Linux support KDE or Gnome? Or will Corel develop another GUI? At this point, we are in the discussion stage only and no decision has been made. We need to evaluate all available technologies and determine the most effective way to bring Linux to the desktop.

What exactly will Corel Desktop Linux contain? Our emphasis will be on simple installation and the GUI environment that sits on top of the operating system. Because we are in the early exploratory stage, the packaging format is undefined at this point. Our goal is to provide a Linux solution for the desktop and we will provide as many of our own and third-party applications as possible.

When will Corel Desktop Linux be available? We anticipate the product will be available by November 1999.