My brief review:

This is a solid release, well worth the $99 price tag to upgrade. Xara continues to be the absolute fastest vector illustration package I own (Corel & Illustrator are also a part of my library). It is my go-to application when I need to do something extremely quickly; its intuitive UI & mouse handling in addition to its raw power and ease-of-use when dealing with gradients, shadows, blending & contours make simple to intermediate designs an absolute snap.

I, for one, like the online content catalog. I know it requires keeping your license up-to-date, but for $99/year, that's worth it to me. Xara is not an expensive illustration package and for me well worth the expense. The new smart shapes are great. The additions to web design (sticky & parallax) were sorely needed. I tend to ignore the photo design improvements. When I need to work with photos, unless it's simple resizing, integration with vector design, etc., I use other software packages that are much, much more powerful than Xara. Where Xara really shines is in its vector illustration tools. But let's talk about that for a moment.

Every Xara release has me wanting more. Xara is a great application, and is blazing fast -- great for quick work. But it lacks certain features that would propel it to a new level and allow it to compete with Corel & Illustrator. Why the folks at Xara continue to ignore the elephant in the room is baffling to me.

Font/Typeface/Text
Support for Open Type, more intuitive controls for kerning, line spacing (possibly mouse-level control similar to Corel), better control for text on paths -- a must. I've been using Xara for years and years and I still struggle with texts on paths. Give us greater or better control for position on paths, inverse, backwards controls, and spacing please.

Mesh Warp/Moulds
Xara, please give us something beyond four control points for warps. Allow us to add extra points or choose different, pre-made warps.

Extrude
It might be asking a bit much, and this is much more farther down on my list of needs, but I'd love to see Xara handle 2D, vector extrusions similar to Corel.

Mesh Gradient
Also farther down on my list, but something Xara's major competitors possess.