Corel promised months ago that it would support the OpenOffice.org Open Document Format. Now, it says it will support both ODF and Microsofts Open XML next year.
Beginning in mid-2007, Corel will provide open, view, and edit functionality for Open XML and ODF as a first step toward comprehensive support for both formats. The company would not say how this support would be delivered, but the timing of its arrival makes it appear likely that it will be delivered in the next version of WordPerfect Office.
“Unfortunately, it is too early to disclose the details of the next version of Corel WordPerfect Office, but we will keep you closely availed of our plans as we are able to describe them further,” Richard Carriere, Corels general manager of office productivity, told Linux-Watch.
When asked if Corel would back-port this functionality into older versions of WordPerfect, Carriere said, “Our size and competitive positioning requires that we keep confidential the specifics of our XML format road map right now, but I can say that Corel is currently evaluating a variety of options in terms of how we deploy OOXML and ODF compatibility for our users, and we will update our customer base when our plans are complete.”