Just Released: A New Version of Web Designer

[andymack]

I agree totally with behzad, I have spent some time going through the new offering and can honestly say I was totally underwhelmed. This will be the very first time I will not be upgrading immediately, and that is without all the confusion that the "365 Update Guarantee" brings with it.
I have always been very quick, (same day usually) to upgrade but I am not jumping to it this time. The 'new' templates do not seem to bring anything new to the table that I cannot do already? It might be that the way Xara is displaying them on the preview, within some sort of display frame and maybe some of the new effects are just not happening?
I use another third-party template provider who can really make Xara sing, and he is excited about this new launch and I might have to upgrade just because he will be using some of the newer features. But that would be the only reason I would eventually upgrade, just to keep compliant with him. In fact, it is from this designer that I got the heads up regarding this upgrade (and not Xara, which seems rather strange) and I am wondering if he will still be 'excited' to use the new version when he has more time to discover the rather limited features this lauded version actually offers?
I am a big fan of Xara, and this particular forum, but they just do not seem to make the best of its own features. I simply do not use any of their templates (i often start with a template and end up with something completely different) and looking through their new selection, there does not seem to be even one I cannot create already with X11? By including their complete catalog of 166 business themes is not even a good enough 'pull' for me to upgrade. I have often looked through ALL those templates in the past looking for inspiration, but always came away empty-handed.
I look forward to more conversation on the new version and in the meantime wait for the definitive review by gwpriester who is the most knowledgeable and helpful moderator on here, even if it sounds like he is not treated with the respect he deserves from Xara themselves.

[pauland]

I look forward to more conversation on the new version and in the meantime wait for the definitive review by gwpriester who is the most knowledgeable and helpful moderator on here, even if it sounds like he is not treated with the respect he deserves from Xara themselves.

Absolutely.

Maybe Gary would have had you reaching for the "Buy Now" button with a first look.