thank you so much for your very detailed response and review. It is very helpful. Such a shame serif are no longer upgrading their software, I've used serif for many years.

for me so far Xara doesn't have the ecommerce capabilities I require, ecwid looks very good but is very expensive in comparision to other providors.

So I'm using opencart right now, and seeing how that goes. From the sounds of your review I think I've made the right decision for my requirements.