Not Surprised
Adding flippin wingdings to it rather than fixing the type engine with is way behind the times and doesn't support opentype features ... then I'll keep my money too. I would have paid £80 for that alone.
Way to make Xara look like a 90s app. Wow! New templates.
I suspect there's no one there that actually knows the code of the render / vector engine any more at Xara ... so they keep bolting stuff on top rather than getting under the hood and improving the nuts and bolt of the vehicle. Xara now reminds me of this:
Sorry but I'm another disappointed long time user.
Simply can't justify upgrading as there are no significant new features.
I love Xara. I'm intimately familiar with its toolset and so continue to resist 'having' to learn a new application, but the the omissions are really starting to outweigh the comfort of it being my go to package
As long as the roadmap for Xara's flagship product (Designer Pro) is simply to add the new bits from its consumer-type products ('Web Designer' & 'Photo and Graphic Designer') then I doubt if we're going to see much in the way of ground-breaking new features that pro users will appreciate.
You thought that XDP new feature list was disappointing? Just look at the 'exciting' new features list for Page & Layout Designer 10 which was launched the day before with no fanfare...
Yes that's right, they added an insert menu and some icons which are free anyway.. But for only £9.99 upgrade fee it's not too bad a deal.
Authentic IT - Web Design and IT Consultancy, Penzance
Sorry Xara, but once again I see nothing worth an upgrade. Not a single new useful feature for me during last 5-6 years.
And this could arguably be called a bug fix.
What is most disturbing about this lacking update is that it clearly shows where Xara/Magix's priorities are and (disappointingly) where they are NOT. The trend of bells & whistles (bloat) rather than a focus on polishing their core product makes me pessimistic about the future of this product. I'm still happy enough with XDP9 and will continue to use it for the foreseeable future. But, it's a shame that my attention will now be focused on looking for alternatives rather than anticipating exciting developments here.
The features that made this program great are now being ignored and make this program grate ;-)
You are absolutley right, that Dear Xara section is just comical after that.
Anyway there can be reasons that a company decides to not develop further, sure can be several business and technical scenarios. Just in this way that should be expressed/announced somehow and not playing with the emotions and pretending this dearxara thing
'Fraid I won't be upgrading either. £80 introductory upgrade offer for nothing I want. Given the minimal new facilities announced in the constituent packages so far I had pinned my fading hopes on dtp. To no avail. If there'd been only one valuable feature. Next year? I'm not holding my breath....
Tony
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