February 27, 2002 - According to Gartner analyst, Rita Knox - Corel's Deepwhite initiative could change the way workers create, modify and share content. Deepwhite products will use XML to simplify the creation of content across many data types -- text, spreadsheets and graphics. Gartner has published their first take of Deepwhite. “On 20 February 2002, Corel unveiled its content, process management and technical graphics enterprise strategy, dubbed Deepwhite. Corel will exploit XML and other open standards to develop a new Corel platform for enterprise content creation. The first products under the Deepwhite brand will likely appear in late 2002. “The Deepwhite initiative delivers on Corel's intent to pursue a development strategy in 2002 that uses XML in content creation. Deepwhite aims at taking content creation applications (text, spreadsheets and graphics) beyond "suite" deployment and into an integrated environment where users can create any content without launching independent, stand-alone applications. “With its ability to identify semantic information beyond the formatting of word processing or illustration packages, XML is Deepwhite's key building block. It will exploit the multiauthor capability that XML-based technology can support in intelligent content creation and processing using XML content identifiers. Examples include interactive graphics transactions that use scalable vector graphics — e.g., the redistribution of financial investments using a pie chart or generating maps that add or remove details of the map when scaling up or down. Moreover, XML will identify not only content but metadata that can support such add-on content applications as workflow, user preferences and access privileges. “Corel, whose WordPerfect Office has lost the battle for primacy in enterprise productivity suites to Microsoft Office, has made a smart move with Deepwhite. By providing content creation tools and a sharing environment that doesn't pigeonhole content by type, Corel introduces complex, XML-driven capabilities that computers can process yet that users who aren't technically sophisticated can also understand. Moreover, this branding eliminates the confusion inherent in office suite nomenclature and emphasizes no preconceived expectations of what users can do with the content creation tools or how to deploy them. Potentially, it will change the model of how people can create, modify and share content — evolving toward how people actually process multimodal information. “Enterprises should look closely at Deepwhite products as they arrive on the market. They may offer richer capabilities at a lower cost than their office suites provide today. Office suite vendors should take Corel's initiative seriously and position their products against Deepwhite's capabilities.” Gartner, Inc. is a research and advisory firm that helps more than 11,000 clients understand technology and drive business growth. Gartner's divisions consist of Gartner Research, Gartner Consulting, Gartner Measurement and Gartner Events. Founded in 1979, Gartner is headquartered in Stamford, Connecticut, and consists of 4,300 associates, including 1,200 research analysts and consultants in more than 90 locations worldwide. The company achieved fiscal 2001 revenue of $952 million.