So what exactly is Lightning? Corel’s website offers a handy three paragraph definition. They say that: “Corel WordPerfect Lightning is a new kind of free word processing and note-taking software from Corel that fills a gap between today's existing desktop and Web-based productivity tools”.

The description continues that: “Corel WordPerfect Lightning provides a simple set of tools that make it fast and easy to perform your most common productivity tasks. WordPerfect Lightning makes it easier than ever before to capture, use and reuse the ideas, information and images that are important to you”.

And then finally, they tell us that you: “Use it to capture your notes, read documents, easily collect information and images, and create, edit and collaborate on a wide variety of document types. You can even use WordPerfect Lightning as a fast and simple organizer for all your ideas and documents. It's like a word processor, notebook, whiteboard and filing cabinet wrapped into one”.

Wow. Sounds pretty cool! But is it going to be a replacement for Microsoft Word, or Microsoft OneNote? It certainly might grow to become that in the future, but for now it’s a pre-version 1 program that is exploring the ways we collect, interact with and share information, so we can hardly expect it to be perfect right off the bat.

That said, for a full range of office programs that compete with Microsoft’s Office suites, Corel offers the ‘WordPerfect Office Suite X3’ and has for some time. While it is nowhere near as popular as Microsoft’s software, it is one of the recognized commercial alternatives.

Unlike Google’s ‘Docs and Spreadsheets’ online software, or that from Zoho or ThinkFree Office, Corel’s software, in its current form, does not let you edit files online through a web browser, although you can view files stored on your 200Mb of space from any Internet connected computer. Files are edited locally on your own computer through the 200Mb Lightning software that you download to your computer.

You are also able to import Word, WordPerfect and PDF documents into Lightning’s workspace, while the package also gives you free online email and a free online calendar, delving ever further into the space that Microsoft Office currently occupies most convincingly.

Lightning, like Google Apps and others before it, is but the latest entrant in a world of ever increasing online software services, and a portent of the great storm to follow.

The big question is, will Corel succeed in this space with so much competition? WordPerfect was once the industry colossus, pre-Corel’s ownership, that even Microsoft initially failed to dislodge. Can Lightning strike twice in the same spot?
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