Quote Originally Posted by jbus View Post
Thankfully, though, the newest version if Inkscape 0.45 was just released and the developers have added some awesome, much needed features like Gaussian Blur that allow Inkscape to compete in capability with Xtreme, all while being is truly open source and giving the SVG support most of us wanted from Xtreme. After testing the latest Inkscape out and recreating some of the stuff I have done in Xtreme, I'm very impressed and satisfied that there is now something better for Linux users to move on to.

Iīve been following Inkscape development too and already tested thier latest version. The new blur effect really bring Inkscape to the next level, however in daily use i think itīs still too slow. The potential is there but itīs not optimized enought for a smooth workflow, specially with complex drawings.
The redrawing speed of Inkscape is simply painfull.
Xara Xtreme speed and responsiveness doesnīt help when testing/comparing to other soft either (comercial or not), so iīm a little biased here.
Anyway Inkscape is clearly becoming an interesting and powerfull program for illustration and certainly the best option for linux (besides Xtreme).