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A Letter from Xara's new CEO Matt Bolton
First & foremost welcome to TG and the Xara community Matt.
The announcement HERE is somewhat confusing, firstly as an open letter members cannot respond to it within that thread. Strange.
To the best of my knowledge Charles Moir is the CEO of Xara? We've all known Charles over, in many cases, numerous years going back to the old BBC micro and supported and admired his software. So I'm puzzled by this announcement. Has Charles stepped down? What is his future involvement?
Perhaps I'm missing the point but could it be clarified further please?
Egg
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Re: A Letter from Xara's new CEO Matt Bolton
Egg - The link is not working for me.
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Re: A Letter from Xara's new CEO Matt Bolton
Sorry Gary, I have issues with TG links & FF. Anything after a link becomes a link. Hopefully I've corrected it but if not here it is again:
LINK
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Re: A Letter from Xara's new CEO Matt Bolton
Charles is 'Chief Software Architect' or words to that effect - if you mosy over to the press release for 'goes cloud' you'll get the exact title
photo and graphics designer is no longer a xara product - it is now a magix product
what next?
I have stopped caring abiut labels; actually, I have simply stopped caring...
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Re: A Letter from Xara's new CEO Matt Bolton
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Re: A Letter from Xara's new CEO Matt Bolton
Brother!!
Ok,
Welcome Matt.
Please share what the status of Charles and Kate are.
1. If Graphic Designer is no longer a Xara product, but a Magix product, will the software from now on be refeered to as Magix Photo and Graphic Designer?
2. With the changes, will Photo and Graphic Designer now be given more assests to grow further development of the software, OR will development continue status quo?
Will communication on with users on TG improve? (I.e., timely responses/exchanges ((daily, weekly?)) improve?)
3. Will members be privileged to know on a monthly basis actual progress on updates?
4. Requests from members are many. How will these requests be analyzed, and how much consideration will they get in comparison to what competitors are developing?
I have many other questions, but I'm sure you'll be inundated with questions and comments.
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Re: A Letter from Xara's new CEO Matt Bolton
Hi Ron,
I'm obviously not Xara staff or Matt Bolton, but I think I an know the answers to some of your questions and I am confident that Xara will correct or expand upon my answer where it is needed.
Charles is still active and carries the title of Founder and Chief Software Architect.
Kate Moir (I'm not sure of her exact title) is still a very active marketing person for all Xara products with a particular emphasis on developing and supporting Xara Online's marketing plan and execution.
It is my understanding from what Xara staff have said to me in person and what they said in previous releases and discussions on TG and from what Matt restated and confirmed in his letter as Xara's CEO -- that the desktop products are still Xara products, developed by the Xara team that has always done so except they now have more support.
Quote:
Secondly, Xara is not pivoting from the Desktop products. We will continue, as we always have, to release new features and performance improvements on a consistent basis. What we are doing is investing in new areas of growth, but the existing business around the Desktop products remains strong. The rich content creation market is massive yet highly competitive and we believe Xara is well positioned to drive the market forward.
Additionally, if you go to Magix's site where they are doing sales and support for Xara products you will see Graphic Designer continues to be called Xara Designer Pro X.
I don't know how they are dividing the development resources within the Xara product line but I've been told by Xara management and Rob-Xar has also stated here that all of the changes mean more development resources for Xara products overall.
As to the question,
Quote:
"Will communication on with users on TG improve? (I.e., timely responses/exchanges ((daily, weekly?)) improve?)"
I expect so, after all the man just gave the world his email address. - I'd say that that indicates a desire to connect on his part. Our own Angelize is co-moderating the new Xara Online Designer forum with Rob-Xar who is a Xara staff member and he actively posts in that forum and sometimes in others as well. Rob is also the moderator's go-to person for help with member support issues that we can not solve without official company help. So these, IMO, are two very visible moves toward increased communication with TG members and the userbase.
As far as your questions 3 and 4, I have no official or unofficial info on that and I hope that Xara personnel will give some kind of answer to these questions. But personally, I have to say, I know of no commercial software company that offers daily or weekly detailed reporting to the public of their development activity or comprehensive insight into how they prioritize their development goals and resources.
And on a personal note to you Ron, I know that as an artist, Xara is an important tool for you and the work you have and continue to produce with Xara is just breathtaking. And I truly believe that you have no reason to worry that "something bad" is going to happen to the tool you have depended on for so many years.
Barbara
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Re: A Letter from Xara's new CEO Matt Bolton
Welcome to TalkGraphics Matt.
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Re: A Letter from Xara's new CEO Matt Bolton
Barbara B - Thanks for explaining how things stand - do you have any knowledge if Page&Layout Designer will continue (be upgraded) or will it be dropped?
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Re: A Letter from Xara's new CEO Matt Bolton
No, letsgofishing I don't.
I do know that the development and marketing of Page&Layout Designer was not a trivial investment of money and programming resources. And I've observed that the overall trend is to try and cover all markets by having the large desktop programs that contain everything and then breaking out subsets to cater to customers with more focused needs.
I interpret Matt's statement that they are not pivoting away from desktop products as an indication current products are "safe"; but that said I have no direct knowledge of Xara's internal thinking about the specific development plans or timelines for Page&Layout Designer.
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Re: A Letter from Xara's new CEO Matt Bolton
Thanks for that feedback Barbara
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Re: A Letter from Xara's new CEO Matt Bolton
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Re: A Letter from Xara's new CEO Matt Bolton
thanks for the feedback Barbara..
here's a quote from Kate Moir:
Quote:
Originally Posted by webmaster
Yes, the product catalog pot has been stirred, and PGD is now part of the family of Magix photo products - so it co-ordinates with them rather than the other Designer titles
Look forward to your feedback.
Kate
https://www.talkgraphics.com/showthr...114#post584114
and it's on that basis that I called P&G a magix product...
I wish you all good luck, Matt included
I wonder if anyone else remember this quote from august 2007:
Quote:
Originally Posted by Xhris
I'm sure I remember reading somewhere that Xara intend in future that the non-pro versions of Xara be under the Magix brand, and the pro versions have the Xara brand. The non-pro Magix versions will offer upgrades to the pro versions. I think version 3.2 of Xara is the last time there will be a pro and non-pro version available under the Xara name (I might be wrong though). Come the next version, which I presume will be version 4 or so, the non-pro may probably be via Magix, and pro via Xara name
https://www.talkgraphics.com/showthr...413#post220413
maybe he was not so wrong... just a decade quick off the mark :D
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Re: A Letter from Xara's new CEO Matt Bolton
Sorry if I've caused confusion on Photo & Graphic Designer. It is still Xara Photo & Graphic Designer in the English speaking markets, as before. I was responding to a comment from Gary P, who wasn't the only person to spot that the PGD icon no longer matched the icons for the other Designer titles. This is true - it now matches the icons of the other photo titles sold by Magix.
Kate Moir (Yes, Charles and I are still here!)
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Re: A Letter from Xara's new CEO Matt Bolton
chinese walls eh?
still, selling the same product under different names in differnt markets in not exactly uncommon.. thnaks for the clarification
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Re: A Letter from Xara's new CEO Matt Bolton
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2 Attachment(s)
Re: A Letter from Xara's new CEO Matt Bolton
Matt—welcome to your new position, and welcome to TalkGraphics.
And yes, we are passionate!
Attachment 119445
My Best,
Gary
Attachment 119446
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Re: A Letter from Xara's new CEO Matt Bolton
With all of the changes, does anyone think that XARA/Magix will ever provide telephone support?
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Re: A Letter from Xara's new CEO Matt Bolton
Hi Harry,
MAGIX XARA WHERE ARE YOU ?
Sigh,silence,Let me be the one ,a simple member of this forum,to answer your question.
Yes they have telephone numbers when you scroll all the way down the magix pages.
But they're likely only for sales and not for support
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Re: A Letter from Xara's new CEO Matt Bolton
I do believe Magix have a phone number for support, here at the bottom: http://www.magix.com/gb/support/
(you might need to change the URL to match the country, e.g: http://www.magix.com/us/support/ )
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Re: A Letter from Xara's new CEO Matt Bolton
Right. Magix have a tel. support but very expensiv. Here the original Text from German website:
Techniksupport telefonisch: Deutschland: 0900 1771115 € 1,24 inkl. MwSt. pro Minute aus dem deutschen Festnetz.
Die Preise aus Mobilfunknetzen sind oft bedeutend höher. Montag-Freitag (werktags): 9:00-17:00 Uhr.
Österreich: 0900 454571 Schweiz: 0900 454571 € 1,56 / CHF 1,50 inkl. MwSt. pro Minute.
Die Preise aus Mobilfunknetzen sind oft bedeutend höher. Montag-Freitag (werktags): 9:00-17:00 Uhr.
Quelle: http://www.magix.com/de/support/tech...nterstuetzung/
Follow us: Google+ | Facebook
Google translation:
Technical support by phone: Germany: 0900 1771115 € 1.24 incl. VAT per minute from the German landline.
The prices from mobile networks are often significantly higher. Monday-Friday (weekdays): 9: 00-17: 00.
Austria: 0900 454571 Switzerland: 0900 454571 € 1,56 / CHF 1,50 incl. VAT per minute.
The prices from mobile networks are often significantly higher. Monday-Friday (weekdays): 9: 00-17: 00.
Source: http://www.magix.com/en/support/technical-support/
Follow us: Google+ | Facebook
I had this support for cca. 5 minutes. Then I got an e-mail support but not all the help I needed. After my last question I have not heard anything from Magix support. That's all sad and poor.
Xara Desinger Pro? Where is the Pro? I can't see it.
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Re: A Letter from Xara's new CEO Matt Bolton
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Matt Bolton (via Barbara B)
Hello TG Community,
I want to share the news with you that I am the new CEO of Xara. I would like to personally thank our valued customers and partners for their continued support of Xara’s products and services. I am thrilled to be here, and I’m truly excited about the many initiatives we are working on and the future direction of the company.
In my short time at Xara, a few things have really stood out to me. Xara has:
- A passionate, loyal customer base that any company would be proud to have;
- A technology stack that is as good, if not better than many;
- And a hard-working, ‘can do’ team that is willing to tackle all challenges put in front of them.
It is our job to implement, execute, and communicate properly to realize the full potential of Xara, and in doing so, continue to build on the trust established over the company’s 36 years in business with you.
There are a few topics that I believe you deserve clarification and guidance on:
Firstly, Xara is a 100% independent company. Xara and MAGIX have had a long and prosperous sales and marketing distribution partnership and with the recent announcement, we are expanding the agreement to worldwide for our desktop solutions. This is in direct alignment with our initiatives at Xara and the global expansion happening at MAGIX. I have no doubt that MAGIX will service and support Xara desktop product owners to our standards.
Secondly, Xara is not pivoting from the Desktop products. We will continue, as we always have, to release new features and performance improvements on a consistent basis. What we are doing is investing in new areas of growth, but the existing business around the Desktop products remains strong. The rich content creation market is massive yet highly competitive and we believe Xara is well positioned to drive the market forward.
The third is that we aim to attack the business market with Xara Online and we will be delivering a feature set consistent with those requirements. Xara Online will work seamlessly with Xara Desktop files which allows Desktop customers to reap the benefits of these complementary features. It is our job to best balance all customer feedback as we aggressively grow the customer base in new markets.
Again, I am very excited to be driving Xara’s growth and, most of all, support our customers. If you have any questions about Xara and our plans, please feel free to contact me directly at any time. I can be reached at mattbolton@xara.com.
Kind regards,
Matt
Matt, you have had 100 days since the announcement that you are the new Xara CEO. I am taking the opportunity of your kind offer to enquire about Xara's plans.
In that time, using TalkGraphics as a bellwether, you will have also seen the passion and the skill by many TGers in the art and craft in using your products to their full potential.
Despite your "We will continue, as we always have, to release new features and performance improvements on a consistent basis", your Desktop customers have only had one release on 08 December last year.
In your aggressive pursuit of the business market, you have declared that "Xara Online will work seamlessly with Xara Desktop" and that your current Desktop customers will reap the benefits.
In your tenure, there have been 5 Xara Online Designer (XOD) updates to one for the Desktop application. Xara Online Designer is necessarily playing catch-up to the current Desktop functionality as XOD is still in beta, three years in beta.
My open question is simply this - Are XOD and Desktop development so wedded together that any change in the codebase of the Desktop applications now needs to be refactored into XOD?
Our investment with you is not just in money, it is in our investment in a fantastical tool,
Acorn
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1 Attachment(s)
Re: A Letter from Xara's new CEO Matt Bolton
Well put, acorn. Respectful, well organized.
I'm with you.
My concentration isn't as good as it used to be; I find myself playing Candy Crunch rather than exploring Xara's new features, but I'm definitely on board and would like to set sail with new features and versions post-haste.
Attachment 120335
My Best,
Gary
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Re: A Letter from Xara's new CEO Matt Bolton
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Gare
Toot toot!
Acorn
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2 Attachment(s)
Re: A Letter from Xara's new CEO Matt Bolton
Weight anchors, cast off, and set sail!
(I think that's Pirate Talk)
On to Xara Designer MCMXLVII !
Attachment 120336
Pass GO!
Attachment 120337
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Re: A Letter from Xara's new CEO Matt Bolton
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Acorn
Matt, you have had 100 days since the announcement that you are the new Xara CEO. I am taking the opportunity of your kind offer to enquire about Xara's plans.
In that time, using TalkGraphics as a bellwether, you will have also seen the passion and the skill by many TGers in the art and craft in using your products to their full potential.
Despite your "We will continue, as we always have, to release new features and performance improvements on a consistent basis", your Desktop customers have only had one release on 08 December last year.
In your aggressive pursuit of the business market, you have declared that "Xara Online will work seamlessly with Xara Desktop" and that your current Desktop customers will reap the benefits.
In your tenure, there have been 5 Xara Online Designer (XOD) updates to one for the Desktop application. Xara Online Designer is necessarily playing catch-up to the current Desktop functionality as XOD is still in beta, three years in beta.
My open question is simply this - Are XOD and Desktop development so wedded together that any change in the codebase of the Desktop applications now needs to be refactored into XOD?
Our investment with you is not just in money, it is in our investment in a fantastical tool,
Acorn
@Matt, I thought I had a belated reply from you and Xara in my email this week, it turned out to be a well-crafted SPAM around the lack of any update information or timing.
TGers beware. Someone is exploiting the possibility of an upgrade to version 15 with Easter goodies.
I never keep SPAM and delete them so as not to give them the chance to disrupt.
Check Xara/Magix websites directly or drop into TalkGraphics. Do not follow any email links without being really sure.
Acorn
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Re: A Letter from Xara's new CEO Matt Bolton
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Acorn
.... belated ....
Appropriate adjective.
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Re: A Letter from Xara's new CEO Matt Bolton
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Acorn
Matt, you have had 100 days since the announcement that you are the new Xara CEO. I am taking the opportunity of your kind offer to enquire about Xara's plans.
In that time, using TalkGraphics as a bellwether, you will have also seen the passion and the skill by many TGers in the art and craft in using your products to their full potential.
Despite your "We will continue, as we always have, to release new features and performance improvements on a consistent basis", your Desktop customers have only had one release on 08 December last year.
In your aggressive pursuit of the business market, you have declared that "Xara Online will work seamlessly with Xara Desktop" and that your current Desktop customers will reap the benefits.
In your tenure, there have been 5 Xara Online Designer (XOD) updates to one for the Desktop application. Xara Online Designer is necessarily playing catch-up to the current Desktop functionality as XOD is still in beta, three years in beta.
My open question is simply this - Are XOD and Desktop development so wedded together that any change in the codebase of the Desktop applications now needs to be refactored into XOD?
Our investment with you is not just in money, it is in our investment in a fantastical tool,
Acorn
Hi Acorn,
I appreciate you keeping us honest in a positive way. Desktop release 15.1 is in QA and is expected to be publicly available in the next few weeks. (Thank you to the many beta testers of the new features). Release 15.2 is already planned and will again be released in 3-4 months, consistent with our average of 3-4 releases / year.
There will always be more releases to Xara Online compared to the Desktop for the foreseeable future. First, it is much simpler development process to build, test, release a SaaS solution than a desktop solution. Second is product complexity. Xara Desktop is so feature rich that even little changes can have a large impact on other parts of the product, thus resulting in longer development and QA cycles. Last but not least is product maturity. Xara Online still needs some of the basics and those items can be built and released fast.
I hope this helps answer a few of your questions.
Kind regards,
Matt
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Re: A Letter from Xara's new CEO Matt Bolton
Quote:
Originally Posted by
MB365
Hi Acorn,
I appreciate you keeping us honest in a positive way. Desktop release 15.1 is in QA and is expected to be publicly available in the next few weeks. (Thank you to the many beta testers of the new features). Release 15.2 is already planned and will again be released in 3-4 months, consistent with our average of 3-4 releases / year.
There will always be more releases to Xara Online compared to the Desktop for the foreseeable future. First, it is much simpler development process to build, test, release a SaaS solution than a desktop solution. Second is product complexity. Xara Desktop is so feature rich that even little changes can have a large impact on other parts of the product, thus resulting in longer development and QA cycles. Last but not least is product maturity. Xara Online still needs some of the basics and those items can be built and released fast.
I hope this helps answer a few of your questions.
Kind regards, Matt
Matt, your reply is appreciated as your Desktop application users are keen to get a version 15 that leverages your prior successes.
Having an indicative timescale is also helpful.
Knowing that the Xara On-line Designer development is not a drag on the Desktop delivery is also promising.
To fill the gaps, how about publishing your Xara Widget schema? I am sure this is an underdeveloped area that TGers can leverage to our mutual benefit.
Any news on the Smart Shapes API, so long promised?
Is is sad that all the Software as a Service (SaaS) development is underway and there is no trade back into enhancing the power of Placholders.
Enjoy your Easter,
Acorn
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Re: A Letter from Xara's new CEO Matt Bolton
It is my personal hope that the new release coming in a few months will have real impact/meaning/excitement to those of us who have faithfully used the desktop version of Designer Pro for so many years. Impact in the sense that it will finally address requested improvements to already installed functions PLUS, at the very least, a few new features that will really enhance our ability to be more creative/productive with this wonderful program, Xara Designer Pro.
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Re: A Letter from Xara's new CEO Matt Bolton
I seem to remember we had a representative of Magix who was going to participate in this forum who showed up for one or two announcements and now has gone missing.
We're trying to be loyal here, but it would be nice to have some response.
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Re: A Letter from Xara's new CEO Matt Bolton
Most Welcome to TalkGraphics Matt. Hope you will do great job!
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Re: A Letter from Xara's new CEO Matt Bolton
Quote:
Originally Posted by
gwpriester
I seem to remember we had a representative of Magix who was going to participate in this forum who showed up for one or two announcements and now has gone missing.
We're trying to be loyal here, but it would be nice to have some response.
I think that loyalty is a two-way street, Gary. This seems to be a cul-de-sac.
Bob.
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Re: A Letter from Xara's new CEO Matt Bolton
Quote:
Originally Posted by
MB365
Hi Acorn,
I appreciate you keeping us honest in a positive way. Desktop release 15.1 is in QA and is expected to be publicly available in the next few weeks. (Thank you to the many beta testers of the new features). Release 15.2 is already planned and will again be released in 3-4 months, consistent with our average of 3-4 releases / year.
There will always be more releases to Xara Online compared to the Desktop for the foreseeable future. First, it is much simpler development process to build, test, release a SaaS solution than a desktop solution. Second is product complexity. Xara Desktop is so feature rich that even little changes can have a large impact on other parts of the product, thus resulting in longer development and QA cycles. Last but not least is product maturity. Xara Online still needs some of the basics and those items can be built and released fast.
I hope this helps answer a few of your questions.
Kind regards,
Matt
Matt, we seem to run on different clocks out here. Tomorrow will be 5 weeks since you advised "Desktop release 15.1 is in QA and is expected to be publicly available in the next few weeks."
Also this following Sunday will be your 150th days as Xara CEO and the six-month point is fast approaching in early May since your company released any update for its products.
To be "consistent with (y)our average of 3-4 releases / year", when will your Customers see any benefit of the Update Service?
Acorn
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Re: A Letter from Xara's new CEO Matt Bolton
I can only state my support for Acorns comments. of time.
Egg
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Re: A Letter from Xara's new CEO Matt Bolton
Egg, you will have hatched, I'll be out of saplinghood and H*** will have frozen over before Xara fronts up.
Even UK's TSB's boss can admit "We are on our knees."
Acorn
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Re: A Letter from Xara's new CEO Matt Bolton
Quote:
Originally Posted by
Acorn
Matt, we seem to run on different clocks out here. Tomorrow will be 5 weeks since you advised "Desktop release 15.1 is in QA and is expected to be publicly available in the next few weeks."
Also this following Sunday will be your 150th days as Xara CEO and the six-month point is fast approaching in early May since your company released any update for its products.
To be "consistent with (y)our average of 3-4 releases / year", when will your Customers see any benefit of the Update Service?
Acorn
All - A few unforeseen issues have cropped up which required me to delay the release of 15.1. Both teams at Xara and Magix are working to hard to solve them and release the product. The delay of 15.1 has no impact on our future release schedule.
Thanks,
Matt
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Re: A Letter from Xara's new CEO Matt Bolton
Quote:
Originally Posted by
MB365
All - A few unforeseen issues have cropped up which required me to delay the release of 15.1. Both teams at Xara and Magix are working to hard to solve them and release the product. The delay of 15.1 has no impact on our future release schedule.
Thanks, Matt
Looking forward to the release.
Acorn
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Re: A Letter from Xara's new CEO Matt Bolton
Quote:
The delay of 15.1 has no impact on our future release schedule
I do seriously hope that does not end up making you a hostage to fortune... ;)
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Re: A Letter from Xara's new CEO Matt Bolton
Holding our breath .... but thank you for an update!