Macintosh to draw on Corel's expertise

After years of Windows-only product lines, Corel will bow to pressure from customers and finally release a Macintosh version of its popular CorelDraw graphic design package in late June, the company announced.

The company will ship CorelDraw 6 for Macintosh with basic support for AppleScript macro language, AppleGuide online help, and a more 3-D, "Copland-look interface" based on specifications Apple released to developers last month, said CorelDraw product manager Haris Majeed.

Copland is Apple's next-generation operating system scheduled to ship in mid-1997. If Apple releases more Copland specifications in time, Corel will also implement those, Majeed said.

CorelDraw has been available for the Windows platform since 1981. Pricing has not been set for the Macintosh version, but the current version of CorelDraw 6 for Windows 95 retails for $695. Majeed expects the Mac version to cost slightly less in order to compete with other graphics packages like Aldus FreeHand and Adobe Illustrator that sell for about $600.

To highlight its recent acquisition of the WordPerfect product line, Corel will bundle WordPerfect for Macintosh with CorelDraw for Mac. A company spokeswoman said there are no specific plans to port any of Corel's other Windows-only applications over to Mac but added that CorelDraw is not an isolated effort. "In terms of our major applications, Draw is the first to be ported over," the spokeswoman said.