Word Perfect to support both ODF and Microsoft formats

Corel plans to support both the Open Document Format and Microsoft's Open XML format in future versions of its WordPerfect text processor.

The application will allow its users to open, save and edit documents in the two formats by mid next year, the company said.

The ODF format is defined by the Oasis standards body. As the format gained support, it prompted Microsoft to submit its Open XML format to the Ecma standards body, allowing software developers to support it in their applications without any requiring any royalty payments.

Microsoft however won't directly support ODF in its Office suite, instead offering a third party plug-in that lets users import and export ODF documents. On the other end of the spectrum, OpenOffice too as of yet has no known plans to incorporate support for Microsoft's format.

The support stalemate allows Corel to position itself as a "format neutral" application.

"Corel is and will continue to be a strong supporter of open standards," touted Richards Carriere, Corel's general manager of Office productivity.

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