I downloaded it and gave it a whirl. The skinny: very impressive. The beta comes with WordPerfect, Quattro Pro, and Presentations. Much is not yet implemented, so don't expect this version to replace your current office suite just yet. The COJ beta is just the client-side of this "network-centric" application. The server-side is not available for download, but it is where you would store documents, etc if you were using a diskless network computer (NC). You can use COJ as a standalone application, or inside a Java-aware browser, such as Navigator and Internet Explorer.

If Corel can pull this off, they will have a leg up on the Empire. It will mean well-known programs like WordPerfect (which Corel claims now has 23 million users) and Quattro Pro can run on PCs, Macs, Unix, NCs, etc. with no change in functionality (and no change in the codebase for Corel). Microsoft has not yet publicly commented on COJ (to my knowledge), but rumors have it there is considerable consternation in Redmond over this. No word from the Lotus camp. IBM may privately be pleased, since they are strong advocates of everything Java these days. For you Marimba castanet tuner users, COJ is available on the trans.corel.com channel. (If you don't know what Marimba is, wait for a later musing, or visit www.marimba.com for more information.)