October 15, 1996
Corel Corp.'s Corel Office for Java, the first suite of office applications written entirely in Java, proves that it can be done and paves the way to platform-independent computing.
The prebeta version is only useful as a proof of concept--albeit an interesting one--but the suite when complete will let users create documents accessible from any Java-capable World Wide Web browser.
Although containing only a few of the planned features at this point, the product has a working version of the WordPerfect word processor and Quattro Pro spreadsheet and gives a good indication of the suite's potential.
According to Corel officials, the Java version of Corel Office, due to be posted as a prebeta preview on a Web site to be activated this week, won't enter beta status until late December and is scheduled for release in the first quarter of next year.
In addition to WordPerfect and Quattro Pro, the final version of Corel Office for Java is expected to contain the company's presentation graphics application, charting program, drawing application and PIM (personal information manager), as well as an E-mail client. A price for the suite hasn't been set.
Corel Office for Java requires the Java Virtual Machine, available for Windows, Macintosh and Unix platforms, or a Java-enabled Web browser such as Netscape Communications Corp.'s Navigator 3.0 or Microsoft Corp.'s Internet Explorer 3.0.
When tested with Navigator 3.0, Corel Office for Java applications, which open as Java applets, are painfully slow. In addition, many program functions, including the ability to save and print documents, are not yet working.
Performance is reportedly much better using Sun Microsystems Inc.'s java.exe. WordPerfect and Quattro Pro have limited features in this prebeta version, but you can easily embed a spreadsheet in a WordPerfect document and edit it in place.
Corel Office for Java applications are created with Corel's CAF (container-component framework). Due to be available to the public next month, CAF is a library of Java classes and interfaces designed for rapid application development. Because CAF is written entirely in Java, applications based on CAF will run on all Java virtual machines and are cross-platform.
Corel officials said Corel Office for Java can be downloaded beginning Oct. 16 from the Office for Java web site.