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Corel and Intel discuss alliance
In talks with computer maker to launch cheap line of
PCs that would challenge Microsoft's dominance
SIMON TUCK
Technology Reporter
Thursday, March 9, 2000
Ottawa -- Corel Corp. is in talks with Intel Corp. and at least one
major computer maker to launch a line of cheap personal computers that
takes direct aim at Microsoft Corp.'s near-monopoly in desktop PC
operating systems.
"There are lots of discussions under way," Corel head Michael Cowpland
told The Globe and Mail yesterday, just before the start of the Ottawa
software maker's annual general meeting. "We've been talking for
months."
Mr. Cowpland said the talks are "multifaceted" and involve other
computer industry players. Although he wouldn't reveal further details,
Corel and Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel would likely also want to
include a computer maker, a browser company and an Internet service
provider. "There's a huge amount of action."
Under the deal being discussed, Corel will supply its Linux operating
system, a cheap and reliable alternative to Microsoft's dominant Windows
software. There are no details on what the hardware component of the
computer would be, but Intel markets a line of low-cost microprocessors
called Celeron.
Doug Cooper, a spokesman for Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel, said the
two companies have been working together for "quite some time," but that
the key relationship in the arrangement would involve Corel and a
computer maker. "We want to ensure that the mainstream software works
best with Intel chips."
A definitive deal would be a technology industry landmark because it
would mark a new path for Intel, which has made its name -- and its vast
fortune -- largely on the back of its lucrative relationship with
Microsoft. The two giants have dominated their respective areas of the
PC industry through a partnership commonly known as "Wintel."
But Mr. Cooper said Intel believes in choice. "It's certainly good news
for consumers," he said of the talks.
There is no indication that Intel plans to sever or scale back its
relationship with Microsoft of Redmond, Wash.
For Corel, a deal would mark its latest -- and easily most important --
step in the company's strategy of increasing its user base by bundling
low-cost versions of its software with the major players in other
corners of the PC industry.
But a deal would also mark a return to a head-on confrontation with
Microsoft, a strategy that sent Corel into a tailspin in the mid-1990s
as it attacked the software giant's entrenched position in the office
software market.
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