Corel To Include GraphOn Web-Enabling Tools.

In a push to extend Web-based software delivery, Corel has signed a licensing deal with GraphOn to incorporate WinBridge thin-client/server technology into its software including WordPerfect 2000 Office suite. WinBridge will allow Corel users to access applications over network connections, including the Internet, regardless of the operating system. Once accessed, the applications will appear the same as if they were run locally, the Ottawa-based software maker said. The process does not involve additional hardware. In a nonexclusive agreement with GraphOn, Corel will bundle WinBridge software into some Corel applications and will later fully integrate the software into those products, Corel executives said. Corel said it also plans to market the newly Web-enabled applications to application service providers and customers in large enterprises, education, government, and environments where the efficiencies make sense. Corel will also centralize control of its Web-enabled applications to update the software when desktop users are connected to the network. Details of how a restructured licensing system have not yet been determined. No dates were given regarding when Corel products might ship with the new technology. The agreement follows a investment deal inked earlier this year where Corel took a 25 percent stake in GraphOn, in Campbell, Calif., in exchange for jBridge software. GraphOn took jBridge and developed it into the WinBridge technology. JBridge was originally Java-based, but not anymore. WinBridge allows access to 32-bit Windows applications from most desktops, said a GraphOn spokeswoman. Unlike some other thin-client/server products, GraphOn_s tools Web-enable the application and do not hook into the operating system. In addition, GraphOn said last week it was renaming its server-based, Web-enabling software under the unified name "Bridges," with components named for the host_s OS, rather than that of the client system. GraphOn Bridges include thin, native Java, Windows, and multiuser NT clients and server components including UnixBridge, LinuxBridge, and WinBridge. Corel said it would first deploy WinBridge to Web-enable WordPerfect Office 2000, which includes WordPerfect 9, Quattro Pro 9, Corel Presentations 9, CorelCentral 9, and Paradox 9 database software.