Corel to release new WordPerfect suite and drop "Office" moniker

Corel has quietly dropped the word "Office" from the name of its suite ofproductivity apps based around WordPerfect. The new suite, due to ship atthe end of May or beginning of June, will be called WordPerfect Suite 8 and will ship in standard and professional versions. Suite 8 includes WordPerfect 8, CorelCentral (a Sidekick-based PIM with email, address book,telephone and whiteboard conferencing, and a scheduler), Quattro Pro 8, Presentations 8, Netscape Navigator, and other utilities. The professional edition will also include Paradox 8, a website authoring tool, and time management software.

CorelCentral may not make the ship date because it is based on Netscape'sCommunicator, which will not be ready by then. Early purchasers will beget this component via mail or the Internet when it is ready. Corel ispricing the standard edition at $375 ($150 for upgrades). No pricing isavailable for the professional version yet, which is due in July.

The market for Office suites is pretty much a done deal: according toDataQuest's figures for 1996, Microsoft Office owns a commanding 87% ofthe suite market, while Corel's WordPerfect suite has a 6% share. EvenLotus, with 7%, is beating WordPerfect. Corel will attempt to raise theirmarketshare by allowing companies that purchase WordPerfect Suite this year to add additional licenses for the remainder of the year at no cost