XAML export?

[Big Frank]

Might want to check my bio.

Ok, granted you're a Microsoft Evangelist. Your contribution has been noted, but you're singing to the wrong crowd. This is ultimately a design forum for Xara Xtreme users, not developers. You should be evangelising to the Xara Dev Team (where is that guy these days?).

When I hear you evangelise all I can think of is "Methinks the gentleman doth protest too much"

[remi]

"I'll have to leave it eventually if it does not support XAML"

Note the future tense. I'm not ready to dump Xara now or next week. But I am stating that XAML will become important and that in the future, maybe 6 months from now XAML will become critical for me and many others.

It's nearly 6 months later and he was right: MS Silverpoint is out.

Can we count next month on a XAML import/export filter?

Remi

[Nostaw]

I'm more than greatful for Xara already exporting
-.PDF export and import(!)
-.AI export
-.TIFF CMYK export

Charles commented on my .SVG export request it has been noted - yay! (Importing .SVG would be fantastic too but I doubt that).
[EDIT: It wasn't me who started the request, I just commented on the reply, for whatever it's worth.]

A XAML export (and import?!) would have to come IF XAML will become popular, which I do believe it will over the next 2 years.

If Xara would support the Illustrator Plugin format (as often suggested), it would be possible already by installing this freeware XAML exporter (for Illustrator only), with no extra work needed to be done by team Xara.

[remi]

Charles commented on my .SVG export request it has been noted - yay! (Importing .SVG would be fantastic too but I doubt that).

And in which month was that?

[Nostaw]

November 2006
http://www.talkgraphics.com/showthread.php?t=24462

[remi]

Thanks.

[Wizzard]

It's nearly 6 months later and he was right: MS Silverpoint is out.

Can we count next month on a XAML import/export filter?

Remi

it is multi platform as its support right now IE & Forefox on PC and Safari and Firefox on the Mac also Opera support is planned later on see http://silverlight.net/ for demos. code run in the silverlight environment is 300 to 1000 times faster than javascript. This product is a real competitor to Flash.

[remi]

it is multi platform as its support right now IE & Forefox on PC and Safari and Firefox on the Mac also Opera support is planned later

Excuse me, but multiplatform without Linux support, because Microsoft don't like to support their strongest competition in the market of operating systems...?

code run in the silverlight environment is 300 to 1000 times faster than javascript.

Is there a official benchmark available or is this only marketing bubble?

Remi

[Wizzard]

Silverlight is still in Alpha as yet so Microsoft have not published any benchmarks as yet, but the speed increase is simply explained the code run in Silvelight is compiled and Javascript is interprited.

When Results start getting published I post it.

[Charles Moir]

Juts to add the point that all XAML based technologies are very important to us, and we take them very seriously. To the more MS technically aware guys here who keep asking about it, don't be too put off by the relatively negative reaction you get form the design oriented people here (which is most, not surprisingly), but from a designer pont of view it's not unreasonable to ask why any of this is necessary, because it's early days and who uses XAML or XPS anywhere?

But I take it very seriously. Simply because this is a Microsoft initiative the XAML world will be a lot more important than SVG ever was. It will take a bit of time for the XAML world to grow, but we're already talking to printer manufacturers that are building XPS support directly into their devices. XAML is the core vector graphics format for all future Microsoft technologies, and they are very serious about making this open, cross platform, cross browser (the Silverlight thing). For Microsoft to create products that work not just on Firefox, but also Safari and the Mac, shows how serious they are about this.

So XAML (and its relatives XPS and Silverlight) will be very important in the future. From a technical point of view it is better than PDF and SVG. And remember that XAML is pure vector graphics format, so Xara being the best vector graphics package out there (I would say that wouldn't I) then it's only logical that we support these new vector formats.

So that's why Xtreme Pro 3.2 has a completely new XPS export system. Indeed I believe we are the first major third party developer to provide independent XPS writers. We're working on a XAML exporter, XPS and XAML importers and Silverlight writers. These are major pieces of code, and so will not appear overnight.

PS We're not ignoring SVG - Xtreme 3.2 also has a brand new SVG exporter as well.