Separating Bugs from Features

[Acorn]

Dear Xara...

This point, up to now, has been hypothetical.

My XDPX Update Service expires in 10 days. I have managed to download and use Xara Designer Pro X 15.1.0.53605 DL x64 May 3 2018.

v15.0 had the most annoying "feature" built-in by you: the inability to squash or stretch text or images. This was not a "feature" request (c.f., "OUR MOST SOUGHT-AFTER USER REQUEST"), it was a company decision to constrain functionality.
This has been 'rectified' in v15.1 with a perverse kludge.

This reversal strongly suggests this "feature" is actually a software bug: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Software_bug.

I am now forced to renew as, at some point, I cannot predict when, my version may have to be re-installed at its purchase version of v15.0. I would then be stuck with an unworkable bug.

How are you intending to deliver the correct functionality that people purchased, in good faith, for this and other bug fixes that arise in the year following purchase?

Acorn

[Rob-Xar]

Personally speaking, taking the Xara hat off...

I wouldn't call it a bug. It was a deliberate decision that was made in the best of intention but perhaps had little foresight, consideration or thought about letting users have the tools to do whatever they please.

Yes, it was a silly decision, but not accidental. But a feature has been put in place - the ability to lock aspect ratio deformation so you can switch between smart transform / scaling and stretching / distorting, depending on what you are working on, which I would say is, not only a reversal of that decision but an improvement to previous behaviours too.

Things have been put in place to ensure these sort of changes get better exposure to everyone in the company so we can discuss it more beforehand.

And yes, I don't agree with the update service either partly for this reason that some bugs get fixed and released but then the update service runs out. Alas I wish I could do more.

Xara hat back on.

[Acorn]

Cheers Rob, a discussion at last.
A flower growing in the wrong place is a weed.

Let us buy a DVD on expiry with the right to use that final version.
Xara gains and we get peace of mind.

Acorn

[ss-kalm]

Thanks Rob.

[Egg Bramhill]

I like Rob with his hat off. There should be more of this honesty within TG.

[Boy]

I appreciate your openness and honesty, Rob. Thanks for that.

[handrawn]

thanks Rob

I do think that some of the descisions are made because the company has, in part, a focus on making things easy for the 'graphically-challenged' - that should not be at the expense of those who are 'graphically-competent', so it is good that it has been fixed; and the ability to 'switch off' the new behaviour, as posted by Gary, is welcome

I am not going to upgrade from ver 12 - partly because it is not worth the money to me - partly because I now do nearly all my bitmap manipulations in Affinity Photo - but also because I think the Xara Update Service is a millstone round the neck and an unnecessary complication to the workflow

Let us buy a DVD on expiry with the right to use that final version

or factor into the update price the provision of this....

the idea that you lose the right to features on reinstall is again indicative of a certain user-profile, and that kind of user is not me

[ss-kalm]

As far as I'm concerned, and It shouldn't be any more difficult to implement, you should have the right to the program as it stands at the END of your subscription, NOT at the BEGINNING.

[handrawn]

from my experience when restoring my laptop the update system jumps straight to the latest version

my installed xdpx12. 2 was therefore updated straight to the very last verion xdpx12.8, which was after my subscription expired - there was no option to go to xdpx12.6 the last version during the life of my sub - I think the magix systems are not [currently] capable of this

I had to reinstall at xdpx12.2 and tell the updater to go away...

[Acorn]

from my experience when restoring my laptop the update system jumps straight to the latest version
my installed xdpx12. 2 was therefore updated straight to the very last verion xdpx12.8, which was after my subscription expired - there was no option to go to xdpx12.6 the last version during the life of my sub - I think the magix systems are not [currently] capable of this
I had to reinstall at xdpx12.2 and tell the updater to go away...

I think v12.6.1 was a doozy so Xara probably set the version you get updated to as the 12.8.1 version, proving how easy it would be to provide the sensible position of the latest at the end of subscription. Yes, subscription.
Just because you do or do not use a word, doesn't make it true: current spam email from Xara: "Anything is possible with Xara Cloud". One from 11 May; Xara Cloud: "Bug fixes — improved user experience!"

Acorn