Corel Scores Another Apps Bundle Deal, This Time With HP

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This deal could put Corel WordPerfect 10 and Quattro Pro 10 on as many as 3 million machines this year, said Steve Houck, executive vice president of strategic relations at Corel. Houck said he is working with both Dell and HP to expand the deals into enterprise segments as well.

Corel is banking that negative reactions to Microsoft's new Licensing 6.0 program, which is seen by some customers and resellers as a price hike, will open up enterprise opportunities for its Office suites. Users launching Quattro Pro and WordPerfect are offered an opportunity to upgrade to the full suite, he said.

Corel's agreement with Dell, announced last week, www.see related story covers Dimension 2300 desktop and Inspiron 2600 laptop models in North America.

The full WordPerfect Office adds Presentations and calendaring to the mix. The professional edition adds the Paradox database.

As long as file compatibility is good, customers are increasingly open to alternatives, Houck told CRN last week. Sun Microsystems is also making a play against Office with its StarOffice 6, available for a nominal fee. The same base code is also available for free from Staroffice.org.

Microsoft Office remains the market-share kingpin in applications. In fact, the company has so thoroughly penetrated that market that it is aggressively seeking entry into new business software, including CRM and ERP applications, much to the consternation of its ISV partners in those areas, industry observers said.

Ironically, in its suite war Corel is fighting one of its own investors. In October 2000, Microsoft invested $135 million in Corel in return for a special class of nonvoting stock.

"Microsoft's business units operate independently. I'm sure there are some units that are thrilled, but I'm also sure the head of Office is not," Houck said.

HP could not be reached for comment.