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I took the advice of acorn the ineffable [no that does not mean what it sounds like, if you don't know what it actually means look it up :)]
so here I am nearing the end of my pro+ year sub and what have I got to show for it... some good stuff but nothing for me that is not now in xdp 18.5; and so, as he advised, I weigh up 122 GBP for another year of pro+ or 74 GBP for upgrade of my xdp15 to 18.5
despite my irritation with magix I don't think it's a difficult descision
handrawn, you are right in that possibly twice a year, MagiXara will stutter up a set of upgrades to match XPro+.Quote:
Originally Posted by handrawn
In the last year there has been nothing worthy of an immediate "must have" hat merits XPro+ for the hobbyist who is not using the full breadth of XPro+ with the adjutant of Xara Cloud.
I have awaited genuine transformation within Xara to deliver properly-tested and bug-fixed features and to rework those half-attempts it could call an upgrade.
Instead, Xara has completely disappear from TG and has not even advised the latest XDPX/XWD(P) version release to 18.5.
Still no PDF Help Manual.
Still no promised UI changes.
Still no feature fixes, apart from the undocumented jQuery update to v3.60 and the associated slider changes (most of which seem to destroy any existing slider configuration) [@Initiostar's solution to add the same slider with default images, Preview and Save and then remove it, probalby will be the way through for us].
I can afford to stick will XPro+ and the lack of Magix' interference is still a delight.
The downside?
No new Xara Hosting uplift.
No EXIF or other removed Magix features have been replaced.
Acorn
not much for the professional who does neither websites nor cloud either ;)Quote:
In the last year there has been nothing worthy of an immediate "must have" hat merits XPro+ for the hobbyist who is not using the full breadth of XPro+ with the adjutant of Xara Cloud.
I am surprised pro+ has not yet replaced the magix features lost
Over a year and no replacements .... says a lot.Quote:
I am surprised pro+ has not yet replaced the magix features lost
And what's the situation re Anna / Rob ???
I believe Anna has left and Rob mentioned a while ago he was going to make work of the long list of bugs and niggles we put together for him.
ana has left afaik - rob is always busy
I have found that our design industry including that of web design has shriveled up like a dried up plum because of covid. Not only clients do not have money to spend but they have found that a website that caters to their needs are available through templates which are hosted by many many online businesses such as GoDaddy, shopifty, etc.. that they will not cough up money for us to build a xara website. Building a xara website for me has always been easy as far as interface, basic functionality but when your looking at e-commerce, online booking etc... One is better off going to the mentioned above platforms. I will not spend my time reinventing the wheel when wordpress has all that plus more with a drop of a plugin.
So Whatever Xara wants to bring to the game is at least a decade behind what is out there. Not sure how long Xara will last. Their attempt to going cloud was to revive Xara, even that now may be problematic for them to keep up. I am glad right now I am on a break and can sit back and watch how different companies unfold to the new age. It seems there is still lack of feedback from Xara and most likely they are spreading themselves thin over the + department. Time to get the popcorn out and see how this all plays out. My suggestion to handrawn is just to get the Magix one on sale, like I did and wait it out.
Recent Xaran software has been a big disappointment as far as I'm concerned. So much so that I have reverted to Xtreme Pro 5 as my go to software, which fulfils my vector needs (such as they are) these days. No web intrusions make it a joy to use (just like the old days).
My Pro+ will expire in Nov. Although it was very hard to find exactly when it expires. Needed help to find it.
I’m fairly happy with Pro+. For my needs of non profits.
I think one must remember that a good Wordpress site with a shopping component could cost as much as $35 US a month. That adds up.
But points above are well made. The photo grids are still a mess, and the slide shows have not been reworked at all. That’s a disappointment.
As for cloud services, for those totally into the social media thing, and many, many businesses are there’s a raft of templates for Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, all with branding elements, so that’s an advantage.
If Xara were smart I’d contract or bundle something with https://xaratemplates.com/.
Pro + I think would be far more attractive with that addition.
-Bill
Until recently Magix had that bundle on offer for a few months. Together with a serious discount, I upgraded. Perhaps the offer will be back later this year.Quote:
Originally Posted by bwood
So I upgraded few months back at Magix for $128 Canadian and got the following in addition.
-Coupon for 12 month free usage of the "Website M"web hosting package from Xara Online (value: $23.88).
-Xara X Builder
-Xara All Web Templates
Good deal. I wish they would bundle that with Pro+Quote:
Originally Posted by behzad
I agree the XaraTemplates bundles and the mediocre Website M offer is very attractive and beats all the usual Magix fluff.
At the moment, there are no bundles packages being offered at all. So now is probably not the time to renew.
If you look at https://www.xara.com/compare-designer-pro/, you see the differences better explained.
The Magix Update Service is currently US$99 (C$128) or a whopping £109, probably all without tax.
The telling part is "Access to new features 4 months after release" for the Magix version. More like 6 months and two releaes a year.
Presently, XPro+ and XDXP are neck and neck for common features.
Xara is now starting out with "Exclusive features"; whatever these might be.
If you have followed TG advice and downloaded locally all your on-line assets then waiting "4 months" until a better offer comes along might not hurt, apart form the nag screens and links.
Acorn
just got an email 'from ana' as it happens; new feature in pro+ copy page from one doc to another....
I have too but the features are for Xara Cloud Pro not Pro+.Quote:
Originally Posted by handrawn
The additions are for v100. The most useful one is the Preview addition.
The 50% LIFETIME discount is no longer being promoted.
Also note the total lack of Xara staff engagement within TG; we've become a backwater!
@Xara - Rename the Dear Xara... Forum to You're on your Own Forum? ;))
Acorn
I gathered it was cloud from context, did not make any sense for pro+, the email [unless I missed it] just took it for granted you would know...
@iamtheblues
true enough bob, but some small things like paste replacing selection etc, and not so small like smart groups [are they in ver 5, can't remember], plus up to date PDF import/export are worth it for me
hands up all those who knew soft groups are not just for websites :)
A soft-group keeps items together across layers. PDFs can be set to show and hide separate layers so layers and soft-groups go cap in hand.Quote:
Originally Posted by handrawn
Acorn
it means you can group things without changing the stacking order, simple as that to me; worth its weight in gold dust
Acorn,
Can you explain a little more about PDF's being set to show and hide separate layers? I thought that if I hide layer in Xara and then made a PDF then that layer was not imported into the PDF. So I am not following how you are doing this.
Thanks
Ray
Ray, Export as a Standard PDF then in Settings > PDF Export Options > Layer untick Exclude Invisible Layers.Quote:
Originally Posted by RKissane
Attachment 130600
Acorn
I was just about to renew XDPX when the X Builder... offer was removed.
Now, it's back - renew for 99 USD including:
Xara X Builder
Xara All Web Templates
Valid until Sept. 23. I now have 9 days to decide.
John, it is a worthy offer.Quote:
Originally Posted by browj2
Had I not been an early adopter of xaratemplates.com, I would be seriously considering getting an upgrade.
If you succumb, will you kindly advise back after a short period as to where Magix has dropped its Nag pop-ups,, which incense most TGers? @behzad seems to think Magix has.
Acorn
After I had updated to 18.5, the nag screens disappeared.Quote:
Originally Posted by Acorn
This offer was at the end of August and I took advantage of it.
- renew for 99 USD including:
Xara X Builder
Xara All Web Templates
@Acorn
I ordered a new computer on Wednesday, so I'll wait before renewing. Hopefully the computer will arrive by Sept. 23.
About that pesky message:
Attachment 130628
It also shows up in Magix Video Pro X and Movie Edit Pro when I open a project containing a XAR object. I will be happy to see this gone, and I will submit a pre-emptive complaint to Magix right away about this messing up VPX/MEP and that the message should never, ever come up again, even after not renewing. This may be the reason for the XAR objects to become empty upon restarting (doesn't always happen the first time).
Cheers.Quote:
Originally Posted by browj2
Acorn