Xara Xtreme, news?

[haakoo]

already have three progs with spell checker build in
Use pspad as editor,can even check syntax of many code languages
btw.was just being sarcastic/cynical about the spell checker

[slavelle]

Glad the multistage transparency tool was brought up. I was actually wishing for that a number of times in Xtreme - I didn't know that it was implemented in XWD; hadn't even looked.

Yeah! I have XWD, so now I can do multistage transparencies when I need them (though xtreme isn't as agreeable about having a multistage transparency pasted into it (shows as no transparency) as XWD is about having xtreme-only features pasted into it (and manipulatable, like blends)) - defintiely shows the differences between the "program" and the "engine behind the gui" as to what's available. I'm not sure I even understand what I just tried to say!

[Zenarcher]

I don't want to know what's in the next release,I like surprises

[instinctive.de]

... as XWD is about having xtreme-only features pasted into it (and manipulatable, like blends))

That's surprising. I would have assumed that it is possible to copy & paste stuff from Xtreme into XWD (but not the other way around), as I expected the engine to be the same in both.

Does the blend show up correctly in XWD? It's to be expected that it's not editable, because the GUI would be missing / disabled, but I would expect it to display correctly.

Interesting stuff

[iamtheblues]

I don't want to know what's in the next release,I like surprises

I couldn't put it better myself.
All this wetting of undergarments over what may or may nor be included in the next incarnation is pure speculation.
Messrs. Xara will follow the business plan they have adopted.
They may take into consideration some of the requests in the TG forums, but on the other hand they may not.
Whenever it eventually arrives, it will be what it will be.
Then will be the time to decide to shell out the hard earned cash or not, or to spend it on something else.
Saludos,
Bob

[willdean]

They do a pretty good job without it. Why change something that works?

I'm not sure the evidence is with you on that. Xara is extremely low-profile, and despite a big increase in the interest in vector graphics (Flash/Silverlight/WPF/SVG) on computers, they don't seem to seriously participate in any of the fashionable ways to create awareness about a product (let's ignore the fact that they don't actually support some of this technology either, that's a much easier problem to solve).

Public betas are not just about getting people to test your software for free, they're also about getting people to try it and talk about it for free.

Of course there are all the hazards John mentions about over-promising, but not being able to sell enough of a product to fund its development is also a genuine problem, and Xara have pretty much said that's where they are with it as a vector tool, hence the diversification.

I love Xtreme, but I am sad to see both the program and the company looking so old-fashioned.

[covoxer]

Releasing a public beta is even worse than announce. We can't remove any feature from the beta or delay the release date without negative impact on the product and company reputation.

And how can a time limited unstable public beta attract more attention than the 30 day trial period shareware release?

[Giovanni]

Zenarcher, iamtheblues, I hate surprises, actually.
Also, no offence intended, what distinguish human beings from animals is consciousness of the future and will to control it.

Covoxer, I continue to advocate the good of public beta.
We are surrounded by examples of professional software packages going this way and I really cannot see what's bad about it.
Geez, it's a beta, put it in capital words, have the user click "I know it" every time the program starts, but then... feel free to insert bugs, experimental features, eastern jokes... whatever you feel useful to have feedback about.

No one could ever complain about a beta (Google learnt it *very well*).

[ss-kalm]

Public betas are not just about getting people to test your software for free, they're also about getting people to try it and talk about it for free.....

and if they say that your product is unstable and crashes, then you've shot yourself in the foot .......

[covoxer]

Giovanni, you are wrong. Sure no one can complain about how beta works, but a lot of people will complain if something that was not stable in beta is completely missing in release. Some of them may be reluctant to buy release version. Same is true for the release delays. If beta was released, the longer users wait for the final release the more their opinion about the product and developers deteriorate.