Do you consider Xara has a future beyond milking the last penny out of loyal users?

[behzad]

My opinion about Xara is that they have majorly screwed up on their branding and name. There is no real direction as of yet for their product and so they decided to work on the + to fix that. Others like Serif have a solid hold on their new products at an amazing price that one can own. Xara knows they can not compete with Serif so they are working on the collaborative + feature which may have an audience of secretaries and office assistants.

What I have now will suffice for a few years to come. Times are changing so is technology. As a consumer I can hip hop from one software onto another, as a company like Xara maybe they can afford the risk of switching modules and experimenting at the cost of consumers. I do not think they are milking consumers yet, but they hope so to do. Not sure if the audience will stick around to be milked.

Oh and the web side of things, they really did not pay attention to was (contact form, cms, blogs, ecommerce) all which other software's and platforms online are a click away.

[gcellison]

I first bought WDP after substantial investigation into alternatives back in 2014. I thought it was an amazing program. I spent around 4 months learning how to do things “right”. I was fascinated and remain impressed. I have updated regularly since that time.
The 365-concept introduced a new approach. It promised three or four updates per year, rather than a wait for something substantially new once a year. But that’s not what they’re delivering. Instead, we get perhaps two annual updates that could be considered, at best, tweaks.
To some degree, I have been what @Acorn refers to as a “cash cow”. I have renewed my subscription every year. I have seen little change from version to version, but I didn’t want to lose access to the changes that had occurred since the last update.
But I am now planning to wait to see if Xara will provide something worth my money.
I have learned a substantial amount about HTML and CSS and a bit about JavaScript… all of which can be implemented into the Xara program. I can do far more in the context of the program than the program itself allows. But that shouldn’t be. Xara should make those capacities easily available to everyone.
I am a bit heartbroken to make the realization, but the improvements are simply not worth the renewal price. I will wait until I see something worth investing in before I pay again.
I love WDP, and I want it to get back to its former glory.

[bwood]

I have learned a substantial amount about HTML and CSS and a bit about JavaScript… all of which can be implemented into the Xara program. I can do far more in the context of the program than the program itself allows. But that shouldn’t be. Xara should make those capacities easily available to everyone.
.

^^^^^ that is a very good point. Xara Pro+ can do so many things that we’re all unaware of. If it wasn’t for this forum, and trusted members we’d all be in the dark. We all know who those members are. I keep a very large file of tips and tricks, but those tips should be available to very one. In a large printed manual.

I’ll continue with Pro+ for my PC desktop, but I now work on two platforms.
If I found anything like Xara for Mac I’d be all over it. Immediately.
I wonder if Xara could do a dual platform.
Meanwhile people who use Affinity are screaming for a web program.

-Bill

[pauland]

Meanwhile people who use Affinity are screaming for a web program.

-Bill

I don't know why, aren't there enough out there already?

It was the beginning of the end when Xara developed theirs.