While Corel might lag behind Microsoft Office [NASDAQ:MSFT] in the corporate market for suites, Corel WordPerfect Suite has been topping retail sales since the release of version 7, according to Kany Chan, Corel's media relations manager for Greater China and South East Asia.

She also cites encouraging signs in the corporate space, in particular, the OEM (original equipment manufacturer) agreement with PC vendor Packard Bell for bundling the suite into 5 million PC units a year.

Corel renews its assault on Microsoft Office suite with the release of Corel WordPerfect Suite 8, which the vendor claims is more integrated, easier to use, and more Internet-ready than its rivals. The suite is the first to include both Java output and an Intel MMX optimized business application, Corel Presentations 8.

A 32-bit application for Windows 95 and Windows NT, Corel WordPerfect Suite 8 features core applications Corel WordPerfect 8, Corel Quattro Pro 8, Corel Presentations 8, and CorelCentral 8, and carries a suggested retail price of US$395.

Chan asserted that Corel WordPerfect Suite 8 offers better integration among its core applications. "We don't want to waste our users' time, switching from one window to another," Chan explained. This integration is shown, for example, in the consistent menus and tools and available to each core application, and by the ease in switching applications.

Countering Microsoft Office 97's Outlook is the new Corel personal information manager, CorelCentral. Aside from combining calendaring, scheduling, to-do lists, an address book, contact log, and card file, CorelCentral will feature an exclusive integration with Netscape Communicator to support e-mail, Internet browser, discussion groups, and conferencing.

While the suite was already Internet-ready starting with version 7, Corel WordPerfect Suite 8 includes as a bonus application the Java tool Corel Barista. Even as all the suite's core applications seamlessly integrate to HTML (HyperText Markup Language), Corel Barista enables users to create content-rich Web pages without complicated programming.

"Since version 7, we have always taken the lead in Java power," Chan emphasized. While the Corel WordPerfect Suite targets desktop power users, Corel Office for Java is optimized for the network computer (NC) or thin clients.

Now available in beta at http://www.corel.com , Corel Office for Java is the first office suite written in the Java platform and the first to be certified as 100% Pure Java.

Corel Office for Java includes Corel WordPerfect for Java, Corel Quattro Pro for Java, CorelPresentations for Java, InfoCentral for Java, and CorelChart for Java. Aside from the client software, the suite also supports server side administration of users, applications, and documents using LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol).

Corel Office for Java is a 6MB client, as compared to a 100MB client for a traditional suite and 200MB for a Windows suite.

Incidentally, Corel will launch its own NCs later this year through subsidiary Corel Computer Corp, and Corel Office for Java will be bundled with Corel NCs as well third party NCs.

Worldwide, there are reportedly 26 million WordPerfect users, while the company holds a commanding 78% share of the PC illustration market, with 6 million of the popular CorelDRAW software installed.