Xtreme Pro 3.2 & Xtreme 3.2 Released!

[HarrierMan]

Thanks to the Xara Outsider for pointing me to this forum. I too am extremely disappointed with Xara's 'upgrade' offer. In the last few months I have upgraded to Xtreme Pro and bought Xara3d and to be asked for $54 plus VAT is an insult.

I wrote to support 6 days ago asking for fair play but haven't received a reply. Even NeilH (14 June) admits that Pro is only a few months old and owners might not want to upgrade so soon. Of course owners would prefer the best version but not at any price.

If everything in this thread is to be believed then Magix, whose products I have no interest in, have a lot to answer for. I never thought it was a good idea but had to give them the benefit of the doubt until they proved themselves - one way or the other. The original Artworks/Xara team must be cringing to know that their hard one customer base and all their efforts to provide a friendly user interface have been severely tarnished by this one act of greed. The number of very upset people and those with reservations on this thread show how many have been alienated by this unfair move; especially those who have already bought Xara3d.

I am voting with pocket. I won't be upgrading.

[Kiwi]

Good one Xara!
Thought this thread could do with some positive vibes to offset the inevitable few negatives
Thanks for a great upgrade!

[georgetroy]

I too got all the upgrade offers. At this time I will not be upgrading. My use of the program is non professional, I am just a user that can get by with what I have which is Xtreme Pro. I can wait for a better deal. GT

[Egg Bramhill]

Welcome HarrierMan,

Even NeilH (14 June) admits that Pro is only a few months old and owners might not want to upgrade so soon.

I think that is a very honest statement from Xara. It's stating that dependent on the owners use of the program they may decide to skip this upgrade if they think there's not enough in it for them.

Xara had fallen into a rut whereby there was no release between (If my memory serves me correctly) X1 and Xtreme for over 2 years. The user base was begining to despair of Xara's future.

To fund development, Xara needs revenue. Without the revenue Xtreme development will stutter and finaly stop.

For myself I always have XXPro and Flash open on my computer. XX is used daily, normally over several hours per day. Therefore I consider the upgrade (and ongoing development) very good value for money. Perhaps someone as an occasional user thinks differently, for completely valid reasons and chooses to skip an upgrade.

Flash has recently been upgraded from Flash 8 to Flash 9. Because the main upgrades are closer linking/working with other Adobe products and not a lot else I've decided to skip this Flash upgrade (a mere £163!) as I'm not a lover over overpriced Adobe products.

Now re Magix ..... Only be glad Adobe didn't buy out Xara!

[HarrierMan]

Welcome HarrierMan,

<snip>

To fund development, Xara needs revenue. Without the revenue Xtreme development will stutter and finaly stop.

<snip>

Now re Magix ..... Only be glad Adobe didn't buy out Xara!

I agree with much of what you say and I'm very pleased that Xara is being developed. Xara do indeed need revenue to make this happen and like most companies they will want to maximise the return on their investment. This means pricing at a point where the majority of people will, in this case, upgrade.

Xara admit that many people will choose not to upgrade this time, meaning that the few who do want the extra features are paying over the odds. To sweeten the pill, Xara has thrown in Xara3d and if you haven't got this program (and want it) then the upgrade price is reasonable. However, if, like me, a customer has recently purchased Xara3d and has no specific need for the new features but would normally upgrade to have the latest version, then the upgrade is very expensive.

I don't have access to Xara's sales figures but based partly on the comments in this forum, my judgement is that Xara have got it wrong this time and not only lost $s but also alienated a significant number of their loyal customer base. Not a good business model.

Thank goodness though, as you say, Adobe didn't buy Xara. They redefine greed when you realise that they are selling Creative Suite 3 Master Collection for £800 more in the UK than they sell it for in the US! (Source: PC Pro August 2007)

[pauland]

Yes, a lot of people are unhappy with Adobe. In the past I used to get some good deals from macromedia - haven't tried that with Adobe!

Problem here with the Xara3D sweetener is that a lot of people (myself included) had this freebie when they upgraded to Xtreme Pro 3.0. If I had more work coming in right now I'd probably upgrade, just to support the software development, but currently I'm watching the pennies and there's not enough in the upgrade at that price to pull me in.

Paul

[joroho]

For what it's worth, I'll pay for an upgrade when Xara has the ability to either wrap text around objects or have multi-sided text boxes so I can wrap manually.

Since this upgrade offers neither, I'm going to pass -- especially since I already own 3D6.

.joroho.

[a4hire]

I was going to upgrade so I would have the latest version. But Netbanx always refuses my card.

The reason for the failure was:
Failed Transaction
Please check your details again, making sure you have the correct number and expiry date and try again. Xara Online currently only accepts Visa, Mastercard and AmEx. If this still doesn't work and you believe the information is correct, please contact your bank, who will be able to advise you of the reason for the Decline. Note that some banks do not authorize online transactions with overseas companies without the cardholders specific permission, others limit the number of online transactions - cardholders are often not aware of these policies.


I tried my card again this morning and no luck. So I thought I would try a different card and the it worked. So I now have latest version. And I am happy about that , though I dont understand why my other credit card did not work?

[markJ]

Well Im keen on paying anything right now just to get the damn thing to work on my pc!!!!!!

windows 64bit Vista, hello anyone out there? I`m dying to use my software again.

Ive asked the question several times in the forum with no response, I guess I dont command the respect yet to get my questions answered,

and by reading all these comments it looks like Magix have their hands full fixing bugs let alone fully test a 64bit version.

Maybe someone can throw me a general month when it would be ready, I dont need a specific day, I just need the hope that its coming. I have to decide whether I should spend some time really getting into illustrator as backup. I`d rather use Xara.

Ive mentioned previously the glitches in xara pro on 64bit vista start when using the edge feathering tool, after that most tools dont function too well, quick shape, text tool, drawing lines, all just appear as outlines.

I havent tried using Pro too long on vista64 but it seems that things are generally ok until I use the edge feather then try using other tools. If someone else is using 64bit with success let me know and I`ll just rip out the guts of this system and re install it

[pauland]

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