How do you feel about the 365 Program?

[handrawn]

once bitten twice shy

[dutchim]

My sentiment is the same as most. This version will be my last.
Have supported them for the last few years... But don't feel like it's worth to continue.

[mwenz]

One more me too?

I didn't believe in the concept from the first announcement and I think that like others have mentioned, it hasn't been executed well.

setting aside the connectivity issues that pop up from time to time, the on-line content is a slow slog at the best of times. Also the fact that XDP hasn't really seen any true features being added, the lack of even knowing what is on a road-map for future inclusion is plain stupid. It amounts to a pig in a poke, blind faith or what have you.

There needs to be more open communication, even if it "hurts." Where does Xara plan on taking XDP? What exactly is being planned? What is the hold up in executing those plans?

And Gary, do you think this thread will really result in anything positive from either Magix Tricks or Xara?

[gwpriester]

And Gary, do you think this thread will really result in anything positive from either Magix Tricks or Xara?

I am curious to know how users feel about what was offered and what has been delivered so far. The only thing that will really have results is whether or not users continue to buy/invest in the program. And I think now is a good time to get user feedback.

My hope is Xara and Magix can learn from user feedback.

[gracehjs]

Well I have always upgraded to the new version when it arrived, so I figured buying the subscription did not really change anything. I was hoping that it would remove the impatience I feel each year as I wait for the pro version to appear, we will see. I am surprised that we did not get at least one new feature rolled out during the year.

[hoja]

I agree that Xara hasn't delivered any substantial updates since 365 was released. A lot of what's been added is catalogue content, hence – mostly stuff
which simply expires in case one doesn't renew the license contract. We're approaching spring – the time when the new version of Web-Designer used
to appear. I can not imagine that anyone here would say that what we got thus far would justify a new version number.

There needs to be more open communication, even if it "hurts." Where does Xara plan on taking XDP? What exactly is being planned? What is the hold up in executing those plans?

Yeah, I generally think that the way Xara deals with their customers has totally fallen out of time. No forum run and supported by Xara staff, outsourced
customer support to India and no way to directly contact developers – this all simply isn't how modern software companies interact with their customers.

I only use Xara for a bit of Web editing but work with about a dozen or so other products on a daily basis. The only firm I recall which has even worse customer
support is Xara's mother-ship Magix. They even dare offering payed Telephone support to paying customers.

With the majority of software products I use I made greatly different experiences. Let it be equally small companies like Serif or even industry giants
with thousands of employees like Autodesk. They all run own fora, have dedicated Full time Support staff, but also Core programmers posting regularly
Most of them post feature roadmaps and showcase in development prototypes and have public bugtrackers. The makers of Xara don't use any of these
tools to make a better product.

[Acorn]

Underwhelmed

[roly]

Hi, I was re-reading the update service (see link http://www.xara.com/us/update-service/ ) and I am disappointed at what was delivered versus what was promised. Since the last full release was on April 13, 2016 the 70 day countdown of the calendar is on. Time will tell if the wait was worth it.

Ciao

Roly

[IanB]

As a fan of this software since Artworks by Computer Concepts I have been a loyal customer who upgraded regularly. I did baulk at the change of direction when the 365 payment model came out and did not take it up straight away. After a few months something made be upgrade (can't remember what - perhaps the fear of losing out on something) but I have been disappointed since - both in the lack of improvements and the bugs which have caused me problems. [With which members on this forum have been more help than Xara at solving].

Over the last few years there was always something that persuaded me that upgrading would be worthwhile - though in reality the extras often were of little use to me or disappointing. Like others in this thread I am now somewhat disillusioned and will need some persuading to continue upgrading.

There is software I paid £15-£20 for a decade ago and which has given me free upgrades ever since. Now I realise that this is not a model many firms could follow but between that and the other extreme of fleecing loyal customers with large annual expense for very little, there should be some reasonable middle ground option.

[Ron Duke]

Not commenting on the "new features" or "capabilities" themselves, I don't like the program of having to have access to the internet for certain features. I doesn't make sense to the end user at all, IMHO.