Expiration of Designer Pro

[handrawn]

you can do the first, provided you download it all in the gallery... and then save out the eng folder it is held in [...users/username/appdata/local/xara/xtremepro/12/cache/designs/eng] before the ship goes down

I honestly don't know if you can do the second - you can't access it any more that I do know - hopefully someone else will know the answer to this and the quickie at the end...

[Acorn]

So I can only right click and download the items in the Local Designs Gallery correct?
There is a More/Plus button that opens the Online Content Catalog... Can I mass download those as well?
Got 3 days left before my ship sinks...
Quick question: Will stuff like Google Forms still work after my subscription expires?

When you download everything, locate all the files and copy them off to a stick (cold be over 2GB); Xara mucked up once and all downloads were trashed.

All Placeholder detail will still work but the Edit Widget part probably relies on Xara on-line access so direct manipulation may fail.
I would create a XAR / WEB file of all the examples you might want. At least them you can access the Placeholder code directly and manipulate that.
If, in the end, that becomes too hard, some friendly TGer will advise further.

Acorn

[handrawn]

the eng file I restored was 2.31GB [2.36GB disk size] - FWIW 24,763 files... it was saved out some time after april update, may-ish maybe

[juergen]

After getting the expiry message and trying "insert from content catalogue" I looked at the €159 offer for a while, read the 5 benefits and realized I am getting old. I am not only here since 2000, but I seem to be using the same features since 2000 it seems as I did not use the Online Content Catalog, I do not use the hosting offer and I did not even know a Xara Online Designer exists.
After grabbing a coffee, I read through all 10 pages and noticed that others are getting old too :=)
Next step was to list all *.xar files, open them in Xara and see what happens when I do a copy/paste to inkscape 0.92.
Results were mixed, transparencies move over as bitmaps so there is no scaling after the copy and my export for professional printing is even more limited in inkscape.
But what I noticed too is that a lot of my stuff moves over easily and how long Designer 12.xxxx needs to just start on my system compared to Inkscape.
Looks like I will try out which older version starts fastest and go with that until I am done with conversions (the ones that are needed at all).
Should mention that I am not a graphics pro.
Cheers, Juergen
P.S. This year we already abandoned MS Office in favor of Softmaker Office, which even works fine with the old MS Office templates, starts in a heartbeat and works the same on Linux.
P.P.S incredible how many programs can be easily replaced, if you do not look at what the programs can do in theory, but what features you really need (or are able to use).

[handrawn]

inkscape has a very nice calligraphy tool for freehand drawing too - just so long as you are using a version that plays well with the windows drivers for wacom or whichever graphic tablet you use

I have softmaker too - started with the free and upgraded to the 2016 full version, I like it a lot for personal use - sadly I need MS Office as well for work, in the same way some here need adobe

[tonylondon]

realized I am getting old. I am not only here since 2000, but I seem to be using the same features since 2000 it seems as I did not use the Online Content Catalog, I do not use the hosting offer and I did not even know a Xara Online Designer exists.
After grabbing a coffee, I read through all 10 pages and noticed that others are getting old too.

That sure applies to me ....
Unless something extremely attractive to me personally comes along to justify the outlay I'll have no reason to pay out.

[dutchim]

Thanks for the info on backing it up guys.

It was fun while it lasted.

[hseiken]

The model of 'updates come with the license' to many users means several negative things, imo...as an end user this is my collected personal thoughts and those I've seen in which I had no influence on the ideas people were putting out in regards to the 'always updating' software model with many people have adopted as of late:

1.) In terms of software used for productivity, upgrades actually interfere with working. Some software updates so frequently that it actually begins to cost the user money for time lost from updating. While Xara doesn't seem to be extremely frivolous with updates, it is a concern of users.
2.) Updates constantly can also mean instability of familiarity. If tools are constantly in flux, and more frequently changed, they become harder to effectively learn and ultimately master. To put it another way, if my watercolor brushes were changing each time I started a piece, I'm not sure how good I'd ever get at using them since there would be something changed each time.
3.) Updates sometimes feel like a license for the software company to get paid before they've finished/finalized their product. For early access and known early access, that's okay. The idea is known on both sides of the cash register. However, some software companies use the subscription model to beta test without telling their subscribers they're using software that knowingly is incomplete and may contain serious issues. There's sadly no guarntee of fully boxed software being complete and finalized any more as a result..a lot of consumer confidence in software companies has vaporized.
4.) Updates mean that at some point, the software purchased may not work on the system it was intended for. I have personal friends who have experienced this, as feature creep and memory usage through years of updates has rendered the same computer which used to run the software at sufficient speeds now chugs to load and and update display and perform tasks. This feeds a little bit off of point number 2.

Here are things that SHOULD be in subscription service:
1.) Finalized software released only bug tested internally as much as humanly possible. The cost should come stability not instability.
2.) Access to *extensions* to clip art gallery...i.e. all currently available and those which are to be made available during subscription time are available to subscriber...and when subscription runs out, all that they had access to is theirs, NEW stuff is not. For those worried about 'short subscriptions' just to get access to everything now and then, limit subscripion times to no shorter than 6 months if you have to, or simply provide subscription with 'buy in' surcharge to keep access (i.e. use a normal sales model instead of subscription... )
3.) Direct customer support. One of the things that people are seeing right through with more 'respected' companies who shall not be named is that for 'official support', they tend to consist of other users who aren't even getting paid to help anyone and aren't even obligated to. As far as I can tell, this is fraud. It's one thing to say that the community is supportive, it's another thing to sell a product guaranteeing that support to be there when in reality there is no one guaranteed to do anything as no contracts have obligated anyone to do anything.
4.) Legitimate bug fix access...not features, but real bug fixes to make the version of the program with it's advertised feature list work as advertised originally. Most of us don't buy software because 'it might be something someday'...we pay because it has what we want right now...

I don't hate the subscription model when it has legitimate uses and services associated with it. I was always of the mindset that value came not from what the software does, but the support staff and stability of it. That was the reason to shop from 'the big boys'...they had call centers and technicians who can help you and the bedroom programmer was just one guy and maybe doesn't even care or know how to do service industry type customer care. This goes for access to special "NON ESSENTIAL" type things that don't hinder the operation of the software. For instance, some companies have made it so that unless you pay every month, you cannot use software every month. This is absolutely terrible. When a large company that has already been accepted as industry standard attempts to rob it's customer base and the industry at large, it's very concerning. At this moment in time, I think polling and data on subscription software starts becoming a self fullfilling prophecy...it supports itself statistically because there ARE no other options, not because people are choosing to embrace it....

Just my two cents. I've been told to pipe down about 'business' stuff before, but one thing i see across the board is lip service to acting like the customer matters and actions that yell 'you don't matter to us at all, just shut up while we take your wallet and give you junk in it's place'. Also, there's clear evidence that you can make a perfect program and then proceed to undo it into less that workable again...which is another reason to not promise endless updates with no clear goal or ideas.

browj2 and csehz, thanks for raising the error 500 shop issue, big apologies for that - the shop devs are working to resolve it asap. You're right, the purchase actually goes thru Ok and the Update Service is extended, but that is far from obvious.

So far as the pricing goes, the cost of all Designer Pro upgrades was increased last September, 2016, after discussions with Magix. Before that the price had indeed been the same for many years, and therein lies the problem - since the cost of producing continuous updates to features and content, in multiple languages and more frequently than before, has not remained the same. So the price for renewing your Update Service after expiry is the same as upgrades to 365 since last September, although there is a discount for upgrades before expiry. You can see details for pre-expiry here http://www.xara.com/expiring/designer-pro/ and post-expiry here http://www.xara.com/expired/designer-pro/. Update Service renewals for Photo & Graphic Designer and Web Designer Premium currently remain the same cost as upgrades at the launch of 365 last year.

Several of you have mentioned the search feature in the Designs Gallery of v11. Yes that is one way of searching your Content if you don't renew, but just a heads up - the Designs Gallery search has not worked properly for quite a long time, certainly not in v11 (keywords in any relatively new content are not being picked up), we only finally resolved the issue by moving search into the OCC.

I'm really sorry to see that many of you are still not convinced by the Update Service model, and we continue to listen to and weigh up all the feedback both + and -. But do always bear in mind that you don't have to renew until you see enough updates to make it worthwhile for you personally. And of course your software does not disappear completely if you do not renew, as in the Adobe model!

[iamtheblues]

I take my hat off to you for posting such an intelligent, coherent and apposite account of the ills of the subscription path taken by Xara/Magix.
I couldn't event come close to matching this intelligent piece without resorting to a rant. All that you write is relevant to the current concerns of all users both at TG and elsewhere.
The customer is being stealthily and silently mugged by software companies and Adobe and Xara/Magix are in the vanguard.

In a way the customer is at fault for acquiescing to this dubious method of conducting business, which allows it to continue (not that I'm apportioning any blame to the customer).
Many are forced to accept this method because of their livelihoods and this in turn will have an adverse effect on customers further along the road.

I'll stop there as I can feel my blood beginning to boil and I don't want to show myself up replying to this most eloquent post above with ranting and raving.
Bob.

[katemoir]

I have a bad feeling we are all repeating the same things again and again, and worse still I'm about to do the same! But for the benefit of those who haven't seen the previous discussions, can I clarify:

- the software will continue to work after expiry on your current installations, for all of you who have said that you do not use content and Online Designer that would appear to be the key thing
- if you *do* use the content then it can be downloaded in the Local Designs Gallery (remember as Pro owners you also have a DVD that contains the content from last July)
- the widgets such as forms and slideshows continue to work after expiry, ditto symbols, fonts etc
Information on the Update Service can be found @ http://www.xara.com/update-service/

Many of you who have posted in this thread don't like the Update Service, I've completely got that message, but I wonder if you really prefer the alternatives. We can return to a yearly upgrade model, and you can wait a year to access anything new we develop in the meantime, including Online Designer updates (which is typically updated monthly, often needing updates to the desktop version too). Or we could move to a true subscription model - easier to understand for sure than our hybrid model - but the software will stop working when your subscription ends. What we actually have is something in the middle, hopefully offering some of the benefits without the obvious usual price to pay (software stops working).

On testing and support, I'd argue that the current model is a big help - we no longer have the massive upturn in tickets and huge pressure on testing at the time of the annual release, when standards slipped as a consequence. Because we can spread testing and support more evenly thru the year, the net result is better testing and quicker support. If none of you have noticed that I confess I'm a bit disappointed!