WordPerfect isn't a name you hear too often these days. But there was a time when it was the king of word processing software. And sometime in the late '90s, Corel released a version of it for Linux. Oh... and an entire distro for it to run on. Let's check it out! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Cd6F5_FUt4
Just popped up on YouTube 2 hours ago.
Interesting history tour.
Another Corel buy let die process.
Shame... I don't think "let die" was what happened. This was a massive threat to Microsoft. If they had been able to keep with it the whole software environment would be different. Adobe would have released a version on Linux and MS would have been screwed. let die == exterminate those involved
Look at what they've done over the years, the latest buy and die was Corel CAD, (Bibble Labs) now AfterShot Pro is most likely next. Never any updates, now being packages with PaintShop Pro Ultimate and maybe with Draw too. It's not a bad little program but I've outgrown it, and Corel is letting it fall off the cliff.
When I was running an IT support aspect of my business I had a few dozen Law Offices as clients, when we started WordPerfect was the choice of the legal profession. Withing a decade the move to MS Office started and within 20 years no law firm I know uses WordPerfect any longer.
Corel had balls back in the day. Big low hanging Canadian lumber jack balls. Microsoft did the knackering. The rot started with the float, that was when they started being wasteful of resources and chasing a market that was software running of awful versions of Windows.
Best thing for Draw uses would be a buy out by Black Magic. Grant Petty could turn this around using the reputation they have developed from Resolve. Always selling to the most profit hungry isn't the way to go. Next best option would be Fuji. American capitalists who were no doubt disappointed in what they paid too much for is not.
The interesting space is now Linux and has been for sometime. That's where the bleeding edge will move to. There's no dishonesty in Linux. Things can be honestly wrong but dishonest in an open source environment doesn't exist.
Linux never captured a large enough group of software that was both functional and commercial to be viable in the graphics market. Now that most of my stuff is for me only, I may take a look at it when my Windows 10 goes to crap.
David Milisock said:Linux never captured a large enough group of software that was both functional and commercial to be viable in the graphics market.
Linux just evolves over time by the work of many in an environment of transparency.
I spent 2 weeks and cash to set up a perfect VM to run Windows under Linux. It gets a dedicated graphics card and a HDMI switcher.
I've never used it since! The lesser time wasting evil has been to just compromise on software choices and keep to Linux. The question is what do I miss of CorelDraw? It's not functions but the interface. And the interface of Draw could still be improved but. The choices made between version 1.0 and 6 set the stage. The integration of layout, design and image with multi-page support..
The distance between Linux and corporate software will increase a little as Linux does battle over AI and ethics within the community. Ethics gets a leg up under Linux versus sales under corporate software. The point of interest is evolution of full featuredness. Adding features in 1995 was pretty easy, it was what had been considered but which lacked developer time to implement. Once you get to 95% of most used features the tortoise starts to catch up to the hare.
I can't see any reason why an average user who needs office tools and a web browser should not be using Linux, KDE and open office stuff. You might loses parts of the last 5-10 years of MS features but not the quality of software increases that have happened in that time.
My wife could use a Linux system, she plays browser based games, sends emails and browses the internet shopping and food buying.
My problem is that I'm a whore! I have clients that beg me to come back to handle a project. The nice thing is now they gratefully pay more! So I need CorelDRAW and I haven't revamped my personal photography workflow yet. I'm still looking at DXO and a few other software packages to get me state of the art low light high ISO noise reduction.
About WordPerfect. I think many CorelDraw users would love WordPerfect and Quattro Pro. The best feature is that you can write macros just by capturing keystrokes, and then modifying them if you wish. WP and QP also accept Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications, which I have never used, since everything I want to do, including some complicated tasks, can be accomplished by the native macros. And you own the programs. Compatibility with MS Word is simple enough for all but the most complicated documents. WP (for Windows) was better written from the ground up. Things work the way you think they should. There is a good support site at wpuniverse.com.
Don't see much of a market for any WP or QP products. The space is well filled with open source alternatives. Worth remembering that Red Hat's major investor is IBM. They may not build PCs but they have a large client base they advise. MS hold most of the space because of perceived application integration. Draw has a future if it is nurtured. Clearly that would require growth in user share by all possible means.