Quote Originally Posted by Jonopen View Post
I admit I am a fan of Xara software but I'm not sure I understand why you are professing the end is nigh. I'd say the opposite. All indications I've read from Xara management are that things have changed but it is business as usual. Xara and Magix have never excelled at customer relations and communications, but their desktop software is definitely still being updated and moving forward (albeit slowly and maybe not in the direction you or I want). I also don't believe there is a good alternative integrated web and design application available elsewhere just at the moment.
I am still a regular user of Xara for any work that requires vector tools and would probably never go anywhere else for that. It is a valuable tool for me in that respect.
However, all the other bells and whistles are, in my opinion pretty much irrelevent.
There is a lot that Xara excels in doing, with the notable exception of Open Type support, which is ill-conceived and useless for the intended purpose.

Affinity Designer and Photo are two programs that work seamlessly together and do most of what Xara's flagship program does, but are cohesive and integrated,
despite being 2 separate programs (also still far cheaper for the two than Xara Designer Pro).
The web stuff is of no use to me, so as it stands I can get by with just Photo and Graphic Designer. The problem is that good as Xara's design tools are, there has been
no advancement in the past five years or so. Far too long between updates and Xara staff tending to hide in the background (with the notable exception of Rob-Xar).
There should be profuse and heartfelt apologies for failing to deliver anything of value. (TABLES! Don't forget the TABLES!!) Really! You couldn't make it up.
The Affinity team on the other hand produce regular meaningful updates in a fraction of the time at a remarkable cost.
I have not even mentioned the farcical situation relating to the subscription model. That is what it is, despite denial. Nobody understands fully how it works and people are
shelling out for a promse of jam tomorrow and being let down when they do eventually add the bloody tables, which were never even asked for.

The end is nigh, although that isn't what I said, the end is nigh at the consumer end of things. The Magix Roundabout may well keep turning, but with meagre customer
support and no telephone response, they will have nobody to talk to when the customers all move on to something far better. But Magix won't be bothered,
they have many other interests, so the Xara side's failure won't worry them too much.
I still stand by my statement that Xara-Magix is very shaky but collapse may be avoided. But in the grand scheme of things it won't matter too much either way.
In all honesty with regard to Xara, there is nothing to see here, folks. Adobe can cope with the loss of customers as a result of their pricing policy, because Adobe's products are the industry standard. Xara-Magix are nowhere by comparison. The future of Xara looks pretty bleak to me.