Version 5.1 Launched

[ankhor]

Sorry, I don't understand what do you mean by this?

Oh I just was wondering, the major upgrade from 4 to 5 seems to
be the webenhancements.

[covoxer]

Oh I just was wondering, the major upgrade from 4 to 5 seems to
be the webenhancements.

Not for everyone. As you know many people do not use html export functionality in Xtreme5.

[Klimt]

Thank you Steve and Curtis for your replies. I went directly to the purchase page (European one though as I live in Europe) and signed in as I have an account. Everything worked exactly as it should. The thing is that the discount amounts are actually mixed up in the newsletter thus the initial confusion. Anyway I have my upgrade to 5 and am just awaiting my CD:s, whenever they will arrive.

[charliescoffee]

I suppose we must take Covoxer at his word when he says that Xara hadn’t thought of including XWD functionality in XXP 5 initially, but it does seem to stretch credulity a bit, especially considering that there was an HTML export feature in Pro 4 and given how quickly 5 came out after XWD. Xara folks may be fast, but it’s hard to believe that the thought of including XWD in Pro 5 came up only after XWD’s release and they were able to get 5 ready in that short a time. Also, the idea of including the web capability in Pro 5 does seem like a no brainer that would/should have been obvious to Xara all along. My own feeling, admittedly not really knowing anything about the people involved, is that this wouldn’t have happened before Magix, AG. It just looks to this outsider like a grab for money more typical of a less personal large company.
All that being so, I’m still a loyal Xara user. Things change and it’s hard to fault the Xara folks for doing what they can to improve their situation.
P.S. Sledger, I, too remember the post suggesting that the next release of XX Pro would include broader web functionality. But, this only reinforces my idea that the release of XWD just before 5 was an attempt to cash in on something. XWD’s web capability is so much better than what Pro 4 had that we we really had to upgrade, and now we are best advised to do so again. A more “caring” approach would have launched the two differently.
Well, fortunately for Magix, I’m now headed to the download page. (I guess this means their strategy worked.)

[Soquili]

Charles the short time span between the release of XWD and Xtreme 5.1 is a very good indication that development of Xtreme 5.1 had been on going for a long time before the release of Web Designer.

Adding the XWD code to Xtreme 5.1 would have been very easy to do to the project after Web Designer had been released and some bug fixes made. If XWD had not been so well received by users I'm sure it would not have been included in Xtreme 5.1

[StevenWWinters]

I suppose we must take Covoxer at his word when he says that Xara hadn’t thought of including XWD functionality in XXP 5 initially,

What he actually said was:

"The decision to include all the functionality within Xtreme was made much later",

Not that they hadn't thought of including it.

There is a significant difference.

What they didn't know (at the time the question was asked on the forum), was whether it would be included, simply because no decision had been made at that time.

At least that's my reading of the tea leaves.

Now then! What did you know and when did you know it???

[cursor]

But, this only reinforces my idea that the release of XWD just before 5 was an attempt to cash in on something. XWD’s web capability is so much better than what Pro 4 had that we we really had to upgrade, and now we are best advised to do so again.

I'm a bit confused here and don't understand your clear discontent. What exactly is it costing you to upgrade? Any price that you paid for WD comes back to you in the form of a discount (for limited time).

Check the pricing math.
Check the list of enhancements from X4 to X5.

Why cast fault or suspicion at Xara for the timing of their software releases?

[charliescoffee]

Cursor – I don’t want to sound more disgruntled than I am. I like Xara, I’m staying with Xara, and I think it’s a great product that’s well priced. I’m also saying that times are tough and money is short. I would much rather have paid, say, $50 to upgrade to Pro 5 than pay whatever I paid to add XWD a few months ago (which I did almost as soon as it was released) then another $50 (with my discount for having XWD & Pro 4) or so to upgrade to Pro 5. Maybe Xara didn’t know it was going to fold XWD into 5 so the whole thing was a coincidence, but it seems to me that doing that was a natural extension of where the development team was going. It would have been nicer (read cheaper) to have timed the release of XWD and 5 so that I could have only paid once.
Now, on the other hand, perhaps that would have meant I would have had to wait until now to get the extra functionality that I’ve had for the past few months, something I’ve appreciated and used . . . a lot. So, don’t read too much into my “complaints.”
BTW, I tried to pay for the new product and couldn’t get past the sign-in screen. I’m going to try again later. I did download the trial version but haven’t installed yet because I’ve been using Pro 4 to do a job I’ve been working on.
Enough about money, it's time to focus on what's really important, in this case using the software to accomplish something.

[BONES]

What difference does it make? You get the cost of XWD back in your enhanced upgrade discount, so why would you care? It is a complete non-issue. It would not have been cheaper, as you assert, because I didn't buy XWD and I paid $100 for my upgrade. So you and I are in exactly the same position, only you got to pay for the upgrade in installments, as well as having access to some of the new functionality, whereas I paid it all in one lump sum and didn't get any of the new functionality until yesterday. Really, if anyone should feel ripped off it is those of us who didn't buy XWD.

On another note, how come no mention has been made of the obvious speed improvements? This is really the first time I've been able to notice a difference, yet there is no mention of it anywhere in the new features/enhancements. Or is it simply an accident/coincidence that the kind of work I do is suddenly happening much faster?

Sledger, obviously I am aware of the spell checker options, as it's off by default. I just think it would be much better if I didn't have to keep turning it off and on all the time.

[steve.ledger]

I agree Bones, it would be better if active ONLY while the text tool is selected.