@ Rik: The Eye Candy plug in has been improved greatly since the 4000 version and for anyone who has work to meet a deadline these effects can be a real time saver. The lightning for example can be set up and applied in a few seconds and it is really quite realistic. It would certainly be possible to draw lightning in Xara all vector but it would take a lot longer to do it that realistically. Another thing I like about Eye Candy effects is the ability to save your custom settings.

@ Mike: I like the new interface, it's great to be able to see visually each effect. I haven't had a lot of time to explore the new UI or the new effects but so far I like what I see. Now I just have convince my husband that this upgrade is a needed business expense!