How do you feel about the 365 Program?

[Boy]

I have bought Affinity Photo and Designer both of which were recently updated to version 1.6
Their updates are more interesting to me than Xara's (https://forum.affinity.serif.com/ind...have-launched/)

Interesting new feature in Affinity: New light user interface option.
Hopefully Xara reintroduces (officially) the light UI again.

[amccullg]

New forum user, folks, so hello to all of you.

I first got into this 365 program by accident - I didn't realize what I was paying for (subscription services were still new at the time for software). I didn't realize that this was going to be a "pay for the updates" kind of thing (nor that you evidently, by the content of this thread, can't keep the updates either). I am not a very heavy user of Xara - in fact, I upgraded this time around primarily with an idea towards getting into the program more and seeing if it's worth doing. I work for a trophy shop at my day job and doodle for practice and skill sharpening in Corel Draw on my own time. No one - and I mean NO ONE - in my circle of graphic designer acquaintances uses or has even heard of Xara. So I got a brand new laptop for Christmas and decided to install the latest Xara. Immediate and wholesale confusion followed as I realized I had to go to another company's site (Magix) to get it, and my Xara login did not work there (although the login page at Magix seemed to indicate that it should) so I had to create a new Magix login. Fine, got that sorted. Realized there was a newer version than what I had, paid the upgrade fee, and installed it. Immediately dismayed that the installation program wanted to dump extraneous programs onto my machine (Music program? PC Maintenance program? All I want is the graphics program!) and started unchecking things to let the install continue. Quickly realized once the program opened that there's this whole new "online content" thing being pushed hard front and center, which appears to have a bunch of predesigned templates to download. Swell. Also quickly noticed that there's no support for very high-resolution screens (my new laptop is 3840x2160) so all of the UI in this newly-updated program is FUZZY. Then noted that there's still no support for OpenType features - you can use them but how to access the extra characters? That was the same issue I had in my OLDER version of the program (ver. 12) and this is 15 - and it's still not fixed?

I'm tending to think that this Magix thing was a horrible idea and I'm not seeing anything spectacular thus far in the upgrade. I don't care about "online content", per se - but basic things like being able to work with type is important to me. I can't say I'll pay for anything else going forward.

[gwpriester]

Welcome to TalkGraphics amccullg

You can continue to use the features and tools even after your year is up. But you will not have program updates or access to the Online Content Catalog.

[mwenz]

Welcome to TalkGraphics amccullg

You can continue to use the features and tools even after your year is up. But you will not have program updates or access to the Online Content Catalog.

And if there is any need to reinstall, one looses the updates—which includes bug fixes—from the beginning of the original purchase...at least unless Xara/Magix figures out a means of separating fixes from content.

It's quite a deal!

[Boy]

...at least unless Xara/Magix figures out a means of separating fixes from content.

They're working on it. Last year we had mostly bug fixes and only bits of new content seeped in...

[iamtheblues]

Having been a Xara User for a good few years now, I can honestly say that I have been thoroughly disappointed with the lack of any improvement to the vector tools since at least May 1952,
I decided that none of the "improvements" since the new subscription scam were worth paying for up front, and I feel vindicated by stepping off the merry-go-round when I did - never to step back on it again as far as I can see.
Xara was a fabulous program for many years, fast, innovative and more, but the online content just gets in the way and the new features just seem to be smoke-and-mirrors stuff that add nothing to the program whatsoever. It has in fact become a bit of a pain to use, to be honest. Still, you have to admire the brassed-neck cheek of the company passing off all these "improvements" as somehow being worth the price of admission.
Good luck with that, Xara, a terrible business model that only Adobe can really pull off because of its position in the marketplace. The real innovation seems to be at Serif now, great products that don't cost an arm, leg and your first-born son. They have a road map for the future and they seem to be delivering the goods.
Bob.

[behzad]

@iamtheblues wait a few years and then you will say otherwise. They did that to thousands of us using their serif products like webplus, drawplus, photoplus and more. They also were affordable and offered what you describe. We all got to learn that companies change direction and nothing stays the same. Xara has its advantages and so do other programs but from what I have seen majority of users produce, they really do not need all that jazz/features to do the work. A free program will do. We all love complaining, do not get me wrong I too complain about xara but I am human too. Serif is not the king of the world nor is Adobe, they all have their programs and price structure. All the best to you and others for leaving xara.

[Egg Bramhill]

..... with the lack of any improvement to the vector tools since at least May 1952

Were you using The Bomb @ Bletchley Park at that time Bob?

[mwenz]

@iamtheblues wait a few years and then you will say otherwise. They did that to thousands of us using their serif products like webplus, drawplus, photoplus and more. They also were affordable and offered what you describe. We all got to learn that companies change direction and nothing stays the same...

Well, they produced them for 30 years. Not a bad run at all. And yep, they abandoned the codebase and in so doing ended improvements.

What exactly do you think the reason Xara doesn't pump out some improvements? Xara has blamed some of it on the codebase. Sooner or later it will either hit the brick wall (or has) and little to nothing will be done with it (kinda like for the past X years).

I know the Xara programmers are smart people. Development is either being strung along on purpose, improvements/advancements are just plain hard to do on that aging codebase, or some combination of both. In any case, improvements are few and far between and XDP itself is severely overpriced.

But they are throwing money at the new fangled Online Content "application." Just how long do you think it will be before the desktop versions are put out to pasture? Will you also hold some sort of grudge against Xara for "changing direction" You really ought to be insulating yourself against that day because unlike Serif's WebPlus, just what do you think will happen to all that on-line Xara crap when you ever need to reinstall a dead Xara product?

[mwenz]

Originally Posted by mwenz View Post
...at least unless Xara/Magix figures out a means of separating fixes from content.

They're working on it. Last year we had mostly bug fixes and only bits of new content seeped in...

Now that's funny!