Corel has signed Cygnus Solutions to modify the compiler developer's Linux programming tools to make it easier for software companies to port their Windows applications to the open source OS. The deal seems to have been done to make it easier for Corel to deliver on its commitment to port its productivity software to Linux. Having translated the WordPerfect 8 word processor to Linux, Corel said it would port over the other applications in the WordPerfect Office suite too. However, since Cygnus will make changes to its GNUPro professional Linux development system, other companies should benefit from Corel's largesse. The move follows Intel's deal with Cygnus, in which the Great Stan of Chips paid the developer to upgrade GNUPro to cater for its more recent chip developments, including the Celeron architecture and the Pentium III's Streaming SIMD Extensions. It also suggests Corel is moving away from its support for Wine, the Windows-on-Linux emulator. Corel executives have been talking up Wine for some time as the main way of getting Windows apps over to Linux. However, the company's executive VP of engineering, Derek Burney, recently admitted that Wine was only successful with a handful of applications, "mostly games". The process of extending Wine, currently handled by members of the open source community (ie. people with a slightly less commercial interest than Corel), may therefore be too slow for Corel's liking, hence the desire to improve the compatibility between GNUPro and Windows development tools. ®