“Can Corel do it? There are many concerns surrounding the
software company: a March report of poor earnings, which are not
expected to improve soon; allegations of insider trading against
Michael Cowpland, the company’s chairman, president and chief
executive; and the resignation in December 1999 of Chief Financial
Officer Michael O’Reilly. But the bigger question, especially
among investors and analysts, is whether the company can
successfully pull off its move into the Linux market.“
“Corel has a lot riding on the willingness of its customers to
try its desktop Corel Linux OS and newly minted Linux versions of
its CorelDraw and WordPerfect product lines.”
“To hear company officials – and some admirers of products from
the longtime software developer – tell it, Corel is a technically
astute market leader poised to charge into a new market. Corel
entered the Linux arena with the introduction of Corel Linux OS at
Comdex last November, and by the end of March had earned $5.5
million selling an OS that is downloadable for free.”