XXP5 discs being delivered

[steve.ledger]

I haven't received my CD yet Bob, but yes Xtreme 5 requires activation over the internet the same as the DL version (same with Xara Web Designer)
Three activations are permitted (on the same hardware) before you need to contact Xara to have it reset (with good reason)

[BobInce]

yes Xtreme 5 requires activation over the internet the same as the DL version

Oh dear. What a shame.

Good-bye, then.

[slavelle]

good-bye? Seriously? wow...what, you'd rather have a dongle?

[ss-kalm]

Lets face it, this should really only be a problem if you're pirating it ........

[Odat]

Actually, he'd probably rather not have a dongle OR copy protection that makes more problems for people who laid out the money to buy it than people who do a quick google search and find a pirated version with the copy protection disabled.

But I can't say for sure, since I'm not him. I'm sure if you search this forum you'll find a week's worth of reading material with people fighting it out either way. All the information anyone could ever want pro or anti copy protection.

[BONES]

Yeah, it's one of those things but only an idiot would cut off his nose to spite his face like that. If he can't understand why Xara/Magix need to do it, he's got a pretty self-centred view on life.

[BobInce]

There is no 'need'. It doesn't even work to prevent piracy, as a quick search for Xtreme at the usual file-sharing sites will demonstrate.

But I'm not here to argue about the specifics of Magix's protection scheme, or produce a bunch of forum drama; there is no point in doing that. For me personally, any 'activation' requirement, whether a lenient one or one as explicitly restrictive as three installations is entirely unacceptable. I've enjoyed using Xtreme and its ancestors back as far as ArtWorks, but I do not choose to spend money on software I have to get permission to run. I've been bitten that way before and it's not happening again.

(You are welcome to delete my account for mentioning piracy now, if you like. I'll not be posting further.)

[slavelle]

For what it's worth to anyone new here: I've installed and uninstalled and rebuilt machines and had multiple partitions running my applications and I've not had any issues with activations. I'm absolutely certain that I rebuild things more often than is common and I still have not had to ask for new activations from Xara.

I have submitted things to Xara before through the ticket system and gotten responses, so I don't suppose this would be any different with a simple email and explaination.

It's also worth mentioning that if you use Xara for production tasks that would be interrupted should it not be available, you need to factor that in with the need to rebuild (or whatever it is that would make a new activation a requirement, like I said, I've not had a problem yet, so I don't know how much you have to do to trigger use). Have Xara installed and functional on another machine while you rebuild the first or make sure that you don't have any work to do for a few days because it invariably takes longer to make stuff work than you expect. This will leave you plenty of window to do things carefully and right. And if you have another system that can do your daily's, all the better.

Sorry to see a long-time customer so put out by what is a pretty innocuous protection scheme. Sure, I'd prefer there were none at all, but I also like them to keep the prices low, which this supposedly helps to do.

[ankhor]

Well, there is a possibility where you might get angry, your laptop fries
and you get a new one and you have no internet capabilities at your disposal.
How are you going to install it? But then you could keep a hacked version
as a back up in your HD not installed, which you could install in such an emergency?
(hmm better on DVD since my laptop fried, I keep forgetting that you can`t use your
HD then too )

I actually wonder, if I would download such a cracked version but also
had payed for that version to xara, would it be illegal to use/install it?
I have payed for the use of the program then.

And I also have reservations to this system. I have 2 japanese games
which use such a system, whichI wanted to reinstall, but couldn`t, because
they are out of business, so no way to get the new activation code.
Now I am not that worried about Xara going belly up, but still.

[Xcellent]

...as three installations is entirely unacceptable.

From what i've just discovered (and please correct me if I am wrong) - the CD version does not require online activation.

You have to enter the serial number (provided in your xara account online), and click on "No, i am already registered" - that's it. I installed Xara on a laptop which doesn't have internet connection and it works.