Sad Day

**behzad** · 19 July 2018, 02:51 PM

I think the cloud business sucks. What other Magix programs use cloud? I think None, so it was all xara that came up with the idea.

**Acorn** · 19 July 2018, 03:23 PM

Originally Posted by behzad

I think the cloud business sucks. What other Magix programs use cloud? I think None, so it was all xara that came up with the idea.

There is nothing wrong with the Cloud as a concept. It is all down to how it is exploited.

Xara thought having content on-line was a good thing as it allowed new content to be uploaded quickly. Then another thought we can ensure downloads to the Design Gallery can therefore be automated. Everyone will like that. Until it goes wrong and your Cache disappears or Xara decides to "remove" a template (e.g., calendars) without notice or a widget (e.g., v12 Xara Slideshow Template). Then Xara realised, that through the Internet, we can jerk the chain and we have our Customers dangling. Finally, the great idea, let's put all the content behind a pay wall. Xara 365 and the Update Service was born. Xara Cloud is just another thought as to how to resell the same content to a template-driven web audience. The original idea was to make Xara Desktop application functionality device-agnostic. That may still happen but Software as a Service (SaaS) looks towards the bottom line and if web audiences are happy to fork out for professional templates then the designing parts will fade.

What has dragged us down it all these thoughts have consequences. The main one is what goes behind the pay wall. In the Xara Desktop applications, it is all (all?) the updates in the year vanish on re-install. Sure, if you are lucky, you can keep the updates and bug fixes, if you are computer-literate enough. I can, but my loss is I am a lousy graphics designer; most others can't as their bent is artistic not mechanistic. Doing this with the fear-inducing Magix marketing drive Customers to re-invest, possibly realising little tangible benefit other than "at least my website or design or PDF won't break as I can still edit those new-fangled gimmicks I thought were wonderful". Eye Candy and new Bugs start the cycle all over.

Acorn

**handrawn** · 19 July 2018, 08:13 PM

@Boy

I feel the sadness

The cock-up with ver 15 killed it for me.. it opened a window onto a mindset I am not able to have faith in any more

**Boy** · 19 July 2018, 08:51 PM

Yes, it was a big mess but what about the outrageous update price? Didn't that stop you as well?

**handrawn** · 20 July 2018, 06:28 AM

currently my upgrade offer 'Valid until July 26,2018' [sic] is 89 GBP which I am sure is less than 129 EU - the whole pricing system seems dogy to me

but from my point of view I would get nothing at all useful for the money, so yes it would still be a factor

It might be reassuring if someone not connected to magixara posted up an analysis of what they received and how, for them, it was value for money - general comments are all very well, and support for the company understandable [done that myself in the past] - but to my knowledge no one has enthused about the 365 updates in the way we used to about the annual updates back in the day... I think that says a lot.....

**haakoo** · 20 July 2018, 07:20 AM

I am also not upgrading for those petty nicknacks offered.
And indeed the upgrade pricing seems strange yet again.
If 89 pounds is the starting point, the dollar price should be 116 and the euro price should be 99
Since Xara is an european company it should be based on the euro.
But it seems to me that the european members get squeezed the most as opposed to the Brits or the Americans.

**haakoo** · 20 July 2018, 07:53 AM

I think Magix is that desperate to push the online thingy down our throats by keeping the desktop pricing high.
When Xara was a small company in Gaddesden,I could relate to the costs and the differences in pricing due to shipping costs and the administration of the orders.
But now with a big international owner it should be cheaper to handle only downloadables in an automated way.

**Boy** · 20 July 2018, 08:43 AM

Originally Posted by handrawn

currently my upgrade offer 'Valid until July 26,2018' [sic] is 89 GBP which I am sure is less than 129 EU - the whole pricing system seems dogy to me

So, customers in the UK pay 89 GDP while those on the continent pay 115,50 GDP (€ 129)?! Quite an amazing and inexplicable difference but I agree, still way too much for what's being offered.