The new software, which went into beta today, takes a hybrid approach to the desktop and the Web. Where Google Apps is a strictly online affair and Microsoft Office is bound to the desktop, Lightning offers some capabilities on the desktop and others on the Web.
The approach's importance cannot be understated. Corel faces the same kind of problems as Microsoft with respect to the burgeoning Web platform—only its risk is greater, because Corel doesn't have the deep product portfolio of Microsoft or the benefit of two desktop monopolies.
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