Paid PREMIUM Support to Magix for Xara Web Designer

[handrawn]

xara are also adapting to the modern 'egalitarianism' of things - ie professional now means it is a program intended to enable 'ordinary' users to make 'professional' level product, rather than a program for professionals themselves... hence the hiccup with squish methinks...

[behzad]

Serif took that place that once Xara occupied. The only way Xara can move forward is with the web designer, but that too has competition that are years ahead of what Xara offers. Therefore the Cloud came into play and soon that too will be gone. I love competition, for us we just spend money and learn a new tool and camp in another place for a while until they too go out of flame.

[iamtheblues]

xara are also adapting to the modern 'egalitarianism' of things - ie professional now means it is a program intended to enable 'ordinary' users to make 'professional' level product, rather than a program for professionals themselves... hence the hiccup with squish methinks...

I think it's the way of the world, Steve. Dumbing down is all around us. The BBC (especially TV) presenters talk to us as though we are six-year olds. It has been reported that IQ levels are falling, and have been doing so for many years since an all-time high around the 1960s.

In the world of vector graphics Adobe Illustrator is too complex and not user-friendly. Even Affinity Designer, which is definitely user friendly is considered by some to be unfathomable.

Xara Designer makes an easyish program to use far more recondite than it should be, by dint of adding bits and pieces to the vector drawing that should be straightforward but which palpably are not (witness the arcane idiocy that is Ye Olde Bitmap Tracer).

Xara is guilty of overthinking a relatively simple program to use, they seem to be wilfully ignoring requests for improvements by seemingly deliberately ignoring sensible suggestions in Dear Xara. Perhaps it is a coding issue, the whole thing seems to be a house of cards. Add a new feature and something else fails to work properly. Instead of doing the sensible thing and telling users that there will be an hiatus while the code is repaired/rewritten and extend existing licencing whilst it is sorted (which would take the pressure off the back-room boys immesurably) there seems to be a panic to introduce stuff (Tables) just as a pacifier, so they can stumble on to the next thing that nobody wants that might stop the complaints rolling in.

This is why I stated elsewhere that Xara looks extremely shaky to me, they are looking over their collective shoulders at Affinity which is growing in stature and reputation at a fraction of the price. There is only one possible winner in this particular two-horse race.
Bob.

[jaydear]

... Instead of doing the sensible thing and telling users that there will be an hiatus while the code is repaired/rewritten and extend existing licencing whilst it is sorted (which would take the pressure off the back-room boys immesurably) there seems to be a panic to introduce stuff (Tables) just as a pacifier...

Magix will be wanting a healthy return on their investment and that probably comes from new 'whizz-bang' features, so bug-squashing and streamlining go on the back burner. Let's hope it doesn't boil dry! Xara Clodd is yet another distraction.

[handrawn]

Hi Bob

I didn't really mean 'dumbing down'... more a case of 'enabling'... in the same way that my android phone enables me, someone who does not know one end of a camera from t'other, and has no time or inclination to learn, to take passable photos... xara cloud will eventually, if it succeeds, enable designs of a type to be made by those who are not 'designers' by nature or profession

We shall see what happens regarding the rest... certainly the 365 update model has so far turned out to be a cake not worthy of any candles at all from my point of view; not even worth the nibble...

[klowetx]

Starship Update, Thursday, 06/14/18. It has been a journey of unbelievable proportions. I find myself 10 days beyond my initial log in date for this issue. Yes, Jeff seems to have been a help with someone contacting me. Thank you Jeff. It was a long and brutal 7 days to due to misunderstandings of the issue in the original email. But once on track it was determined a variant on a hidden object was causing the problem. None of the other hidden objects had issues with the same variant and so I still do not understand why. Heck, I don't even understand the variant. Instead of working with something I did not understand it was simply deleted. Now I don't hide any objects, just delete them.

It's been a long road to resolve this issue with only one last task, the money. Yes, it's all about the money now! Normally I would simply let it go, but due to the lack of any support or the ability to reach out to support via email or phone. I want my money...show me the money. The person that emailed me for support is with Xara, not Magix, even though they are the same company. He referred me to the Magix Support Center yet there is no way to email them. The center (https://support2.magix.com/customer/en/request) has a link "New Request" that did not work with one of my browser, now that I have switched to another, I sent a request in for a refund. An automatic email reply said they would get back to me in a few days...seriously. Oh well, what's a few days right? Before clicking the submit button to send the ticket in, it showed me my original ticket and asked if it was related. I'm thinking, that was submitted 14 days ago yet I received a confirmation on this ticket saying it will be a few more days. Deja Vu.

Looking forward to posting my next Starship Update hopefully with a refund in the bank. Magix, it's time to COWBOY UP or make me walk the plank...what are you going to do?

[handrawn]

for those here who do not visit magix forums the post above is a copy of klowetx' posting in magix forum here:

https://www.magix.info/uk/forum/paid...port--1206838/

[just in case you were wondering who Jeff is]

...

[iamtheblues]

Steve, you know my position on the whole shebang with MagiXara. They are, as a company awful beyond belief.
I only have one question, which I am addressing to the whole world; how on earth are they getting away with all of this nonsense? Really, How?
Should there not be an independent authority in place to deal with all of this questionable treatment of people who have ponied up some serious cash for the dubious privilege of owning/renting this garbage? Premium support, my bottom!
Bob.

[handrawn]

under english law if you suffer financial loss, above a certain level, you can peruse a claim for redress in the small claims court

xara would presumably point to the EULA in defence, but... also in english law there is a principle that unfair contract conditions cannot be enforced

question is... is the EULA 'unfair' in that legal sense ? - it would be an interesting exercise were it ever to happen


Anyway, the shambles that was ver 15 and it's eventual update to ver 15.1 says to me that the company suffers from a classic syndrome: big ideas implemented in a hurry lead to stupid mistakes that are time-consuming to fix [squish] - and that means there is even less time to do what was planned [noddy tables]

It all comes down to money - it always does, and if Xara does not make a success of the Xara Cloud project there won't be any, and no Xara... this was said in so many words a while back by a representative of the company; offloading support and sales to Magix just reinforces this idea

Without the money they cannot do any serious upgrading of the desktop - it will just be minor tweaks and ephemeral content

It is not a nice place to be, not for us, not for them....

[maksimon]

if Xara does not make a success of the Xara Cloud project there won't be any, and no Xara...

Too many similar(like Xara Cloud) projects already exists.
And not one year. And cheaper. And they adequately perform their functions.
What is new about Xara Cloud? Almost nothing.
Partly Xara Cloud better than similar products, but those things in which he is better ... the people who need it will not be used is in the clouds. IMHO.
They will not get from Xara Cloud a sufficient amount of money. And if get ... they will have no reason to go back to desktop products)).
They should be lowering prices for their desktop products.
Why Seriff have enough money for development, and Xara is not enough? The price difference is 5(!) times. Small sales? Maybe the software is too expensive? When I bought and now - i regret NOTHING! But at this point(a complete lack of progress) - upgrade cost of XDP365 is unreasonably expensive.
I love Xara and I will use her for many more years. But when some important for me features will appear in other programs, and probably about Xara will have to forget(.