Alex Zaharov-Reutt
Tuesday, 24 June 2008 09:50
Opinion and Analysis
Page 2 of 3
We’re yet to receive a review copy of the new Corel WordPerfect Office Suite X4, but it’s on the way so we can test the new feature claims for ourselves.
But in the meantime we have no reason to doubt the feature list, with new PDF capabilities of most initial interest.
These capabilities start with the ability to actually import PDF files, either through the conversion of electronically generated PDF files or scanned “image-based” PDF files into fully editable documents through the use of OCR (optical character recognition) technology.
Right up this gives anyone who has ever wanted to edit a PDF or more easily extract the text from within one the ability to do just that, and competes with those PDF converter programs while also offering a full wordprocessor in the background.
How well it converts the actual layout of PDF files is yet to be seen, but I look forward to finding out.
Of course, the ability to print or publish to PDF is within as well, but that’s hardly a unique feature these days.
What is more special is the ability to assign “password protection” to PDF files to “easily control who can view, print, or edit PDF documents”.
There’s a new “auto-preview” feature that lets you see the PDF document using a built-in PDF viewer, which means you don’t need a separate PDF viewer, but you’ll probably still want the latest free Adobe PDF viewer on your computer anyway.
Another interesting PDF feature is called “tagged PDF support”. This allows PDF documents to “flow smoothly on handheld devices and deliver accurate results on screen-reading devices”, while the ability to create archival ISO standard PDF/A file format is also included.
In terms of file format compatibility (beyond PDF), Corel boasts of Office 2007 compatibility for Word, Excel and Powerpoint, Microsoft OOXML compatibility and ODF document compatibility, for reading and writing files.
File format compatibility is also available for more than 60 other and older file types, which extends all the way back to Microsoft Word 1.0!
Other features include WordPerfect's “legendary reputation for superior formatting power and control by introducing new Web collaboration and storage services, a new document redaction tool, a Web-connected digital notebook and an innovative new business intelligence package.”
In more detail, the collaboration and storage service gives you 200MB of free online storage and backup, although this is dwarfed by other services offering gigabytes of space. There’s an online calendaring, list, bookmarks and contacts service, which lets you “build shared work spaces online and share important information with colleagues.
And there’s WordPerfect Lighting, a “web-connected digital notebook” letting you take notes and capture content, saving ideas in notes, storing information gathered from the web which can then be easily organisaed, and the ability to turn these notes into WordPerfect or Microsoft Word documents.
Jason Larock, Director of Product Management for WordPerfect Office explained: “With WordPerfect Office X4, we wanted to deliver an office suite that enables users to more effectively communicate their ideas and achieve their best results”.
Larock continued: "WordPerfect Office X4 builds upon the unique strengths of WordPerfect, adding more PDF capabilities, more Microsoft Office compatibility and new tools for collaboration, digital note taking and business intelligence. We believe that our latest release provides users with an office suite that responds to their real-world needs and gives them the power to do more with words, numbers, and ideas."
So, which version of WordPerfect Office Suite X4 retails for $99, and where can you buy it? There are several versions, and several places to buy it, but only place has the $99 deal. Continued on page 3!
