John Warnock: Adobe's CEO talks to ZDNet, Part III

Of all the short-term challenges facing Adobe, its entry into the professional publishing arena with InDesign is the greatest. Taking over where Pagemaker failed, InDesign will use modules or plug-ins to fill the gap in the Adobe portfolio. This modular design fits nicely into Adobe's strategy of embracing the open source movement, and if a module goes wrong or needs a significant upgrade, the community will be invited to take part.

It also represents five years' research and hundreds of millions of dollars spent on creating what Warnock hopes will be an end to Quark's dominance in the publishing arena.

ZDNet: "What of InDesign? If Adobe wants to own the publishing sector it doesn't need to just beat Quark, it needs to kill Quark. Is InDesign, the $699 successor to Pagemaker and challenge to XPress the Quark killer it has been dubbed?"

Warnock: "I believe InDesign is one of the finest pieces of code I have ever seen and I hate saying that because Photoshop is also a very fine work, but InDesign is an awesome product."

ZDNet: "Is it a Quark killer?"

Warnock: "If people use it they will prefer it."

ZDNet: "Is it a Quark killer?"

Warnock: "Yes, I think over time it is."

Of course Adobe's boss would say that, as he seeks to rally his troops to fight on in the long war against Quark XPress. But it is the publishing folk who remain reluctant to switch from Quark's trusted tool who have to be won over if Adobe is ever going to win this war. If that doesn't happen, stock prices will fall and paranoia will set in again. Like the man said: "We're never going there again."