Beginning with the summer of 2007, Corel WordPerfect Office will deliver support for XML-based file formats, the OASIS Open Document Format (ODF) and Microsoft Office Open XML (OOXML). The company revealed via a press release that in mid 2007 it will introduce updates to its text processing application as part of a format-neutral position. Corel's move is singular on the market, as the Canadian Company is not trying to push its own standards, but those of other developers.

"Corel is and will continue to be a strong supporter of open standards. The XML format roadmap for Corel WordPerfect Office reflects our clear focus on responding to the needs of our customers, especially those in government who are making significant efforts to adopt open standards," said Richard Carriere, General Manager of Office Productivity at Corel. "Because it is free, truly open and certified as an ISO standard, many customers see ODF as the most promising format for the future of office productivity. Yet upon the debut of Microsoft Office 2007, Microsoft OOXML will immediately experience broad dissemination. Corel's unique format-neutral approach ideally positions WordPerfect Office to address demand for both formats, giving us the ability to serve customers in a way other vendors can't."

Corel WordPerfect Office X3 already delivers support for the Microsoft Office document formats and for Adobe's PDF. Instead of working on the development of a proprietary standard, Corel will deliver support for all third party formats it is able to get its hands on. "Today it is far from clear which of these formats will be adopted by productivity customers, or indeed if we'll simply need to continue working with multiple file formats," added Carriere.