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  1. #1
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
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    Info Making Sense of Xara Plus

    The official launch is detailed here: https://www.talkgraphics.com/showthr...creative-tools

    I will try and decode what has just passed.

    • Xara is breaking off from Magix products and support for:
      • (Magix) Designer Pro X (XDPX) ==> Xara Designer Pro+
      • (Magix) Web Designer Premium ==> Xara Web Designer+
      • (Magix) Photo & Graphic Designer ==> Xara Photo & Graphic Designer+

    • All will now be accessed on a Subscription. Monthly cost but paid Annually. Currencies - USD/EUR/GBP with the same numeric value:
      • 16.99/m - Xara Cloud+ - bundles in Xara Designer Pro+ with Xara Cloud Pro
      • 14.99/m - Xara Designer Pro+
      • 12.99/m - Xara Cloud Pro - Purely on-line. Expensive route for non-Windows users.
      • 9.99/m - Xara Web Designer+
      • 6.99/m - Xara Photo & Graphic Designer+
      • 0.00/m - Xara Cloud - free sign up. Why? You can manipulate PDF content.

    • Xara is offering an early starter discount of 40% with EARLYBIRD07
      • ​This might be perpetual.
      • I would first try the 50% LIFETIME discount; this is perpetual.

    • All Magix products may no longer be updated.
      • At best, Xara has deemed them "Legacy Products" with "Yearly Upgrade - Simple improvements & fixes".
      • (Magix) Page & Layout Designer 11 is 32-bit and moribund.
      • Xara 3D Maker is also 32-bit and unchanged for years.
      • (Magix) Web Designer (not Premium) seems not to be on sale any more.
      • I thnk https://www.magix.com/us/sale/ will be Magix's penultimate version. I may be wrong.

    • Comparative Costs
      • Xara will have costed the discount against the Magix Update Service redone annually so costs will be comparable (Xara doesn't have to pay Magix for Support or their sales cut).
      • If you can afford it, buy into the Magix Update Service before switching into Xara+.
      • You then have the latest Magix offering that is around 6 months behind but it is a perpetual licence.
      • If you drop Xara+ for any reason, you lose product access as you are on subscription. The Magix product would be your fall-back.

    I have been an early, early starter with Xara Cloud+. It has been a joy to not be Magix-nagged and the updates are there, without roll-back, until you stop subscribing.
    Xara has realised not everyone needs its Cloud Suite (Xara Cloud Pro+ with Xara Designer Pro+) as the introduction of the cheaper Creative Tools is most useful, especially if you throw in the free Xara Cloud.
    Xara Cloud (plain, Pro or +) does not (yet) have the capabilities of the desktop applications. This may never come, despite it being cited early on.

    I on the lookout for the hyped:
    • User-inspired roadmap & product delivery. TG has been trying in "inspire" for almost two decades. I suggest Xara could integrate Xara 3D Maker 7 or bundle for free.
    • Xara ecosystem. At further cost?
    • Access learning resources, webinars (tick), and documentation. The promised off-line PDF Help manual would be nice.


    Acorn


    Note: I have no association with Xara GmbH.
    Acorn - installed Xara software: Cloud+/Pro+ and most others back through time (to CC's Artworks). Contact for technical remediation/consultancy for your web designs.
    When we provide assistance, your responses are valuable as they benefit the community. TG Nuggets you might like. Report faults: Xara Cloud+/Pro+/Magix Legacy; Xara KB & Chat

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Aug 2005
    Location
    London, UK
    Posts
    529

    Default Re: Making Sense of Xara Plus

    Great summary

    Quote Originally Posted by Acorn View Post
    webinars (tick)
    God, have you been on any of the weekly Wednesday webinars? I have followed the last three. I think that's enough!

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
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    SW England
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    Default Re: Making Sense of Xara Plus

    Quote Originally Posted by Daniel View Post
    Great summary
    God, have you been on any of the weekly Wednesday webinars? I have followed the last three. I think that's enough!
    Daniel, thank you. I have endure one or two.
    @Egg Bramhill knocks spots off them but I detest Webinars anyhow; my Institution runs hundreds and I speed them up x3 as they are so dire.

    I can cope with the BBC Christmas Lectures, for children, when the topic is interesting.
    A TED Talks approach might draw me in.
    I endured the Open University BBC2 lectures at 2 a.m. out of necessity.
    Video presentations rarely inspire me. If you are not hands-on, you are not learning. I do know there are many modes of learning.

    Acorn
    Acorn - installed Xara software: Cloud+/Pro+ and most others back through time (to CC's Artworks). Contact for technical remediation/consultancy for your web designs.
    When we provide assistance, your responses are valuable as they benefit the community. TG Nuggets you might like. Report faults: Xara Cloud+/Pro+/Magix Legacy; Xara KB & Chat

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Apr 2018
    Location
    Barnes, London
    Posts
    947

    Default Re: Making Sense of Xara Plus

    Thank you for the update Acorn.

    Xara is breaking off from Magix products and support for:
    (Magix) Designer Pro X (XDPX) ==> Xara Designer Pro+
    (Magix) Web Designer Premium ==> Xara Web Designer+
    (Magix) Photo & Graphic Designer ==> Xara Photo & Graphic Designer+

    All will now be accessed on a Subscription. Monthly cost but paid Annually. Currencies - USD/EUR/GBP with the same numeric value:
    16.99/m - Xara Cloud+ - bundles in Xara Designer Pro+ with Xara Cloud Pro
    14.99/m - Xara Designer Pro+
    12.99/m - Xara Cloud Pro - Purely on-line. Expensive route for non-Windows users.
    9.99/m - Xara Web Designer+
    6.99/m - Xara Photo & Graphic Designer+
    0.00/m - Xara Cloud - free sign up. Why? You can manipulate PDF content.

    Xara is offering an early starter discount of 40% with EARLYBIRD07
    ​This might be perpetual.
    I would first try the 50% LIFETIME discount; this is perpetual.
    When the Pro+ Cloud combo was first announced there were quite a few TG threads that suggested a stand-alone Pro+ would be welcome; good to see this option materialise along with XWDP & XPGD.

    I have not yet seen anything to suggest though that Magix will cease to market Pro X or Web Designer Premium; those on these releases should know by now that the product lags behind Xara releases by 6 months or more. That said, Pro X has had two releases this year so far (March & May).

    The recent upgrade offer from Magix for Pro X was GBP 72.99 and included 'Xara X Presets' (from the third party Xara templates); the latter's full price is USD 59 - interesting!

    A simple comparison from the above for Pro+ is an upfront fee of GBP 14.99 x 12 = GBP 179.88 less EARLYBIRD07 = GBP 107.93. You could of course request a LIFETIME discount and shave a bit more of the licence fee.

    Time of course will tell what happens to Magix and Xara (but they still have a common investor in Bellevue).

    From a support perspective, I'm sure Xara is streets ahead of Magix, but the best support resource is TG anyway
    Gary
    www.initiostar.co.uk


    Xara Designer Pro+ and Xara Designer Pro X 19.0.1.65946 DL x64 Feb 7 2023

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Mar 2009
    Posts
    4,501

    Default Re: Making Sense of Xara Plus

    Excellent summary and wise conclusion!

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    CZECH
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    147

    Default Re: Making Sense of Xara Plus

    I'll join in a bit, I'm just an ordinary user who needs a stable program - to work all the time without restrictions. That's why I bought the XDP19. I don't go to the subscription. If the XARA unlimited version gets old, you can switch to AFFINITY easily and cheaper. Otherwise, thanks to all of you, I have already learned a lot here.
    ____________________________
    __I am sorry for my bad English__

    P&G 10, 11, 15; XWD Premium 11,15; XDPX 15.1; XDPX 18.5; XDPX 19; XBuilder;

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
    Location
    SW England
    Posts
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    Default Re: Making Sense of Xara Plus

    Quote Originally Posted by Initiostar View Post
    Thank you for the update Acorn.
    When the Pro+ Cloud combo was first announced there were quite a few TG threads that suggested a stand-alone Pro+ would be welcome; good to see this option materialise along with XWDP & XPGD.
    I have not yet seen anything to suggest though that Magix will cease to market Pro X or Web Designer Premium; those on these releases should know by now that the product lags behind Xara releases by 6 months or more. That said, Pro X has had two releases this year so far (March & May).
    The recent upgrade offer from Magix for Pro X was GBP 72.99 and included 'Xara X Presets' (from the third party Xara templates); the latter's full price is USD 59 - interesting!
    A simple comparison from the above for Pro+ is an upfront fee of GBP 14.99 x 12 = GBP 179.88 less EARLYBIRD07 = GBP 107.93. You could of course request a LIFETIME discount and shave a bit more of the licence fee.
    Time of course will tell what happens to Magix and Xara (but they still have a common investor in Bellevue).
    From a support perspective, I'm sure Xara is streets ahead of Magix, but the best support resource is TG anyway
    Thank you too Gary. It is nice to have a different perspective.

    The XaraTemplates.com Xara X Presets can be gained directly for around £30. I rarely see a Magix bundle offer as an incentive.
    In crude terms, Xara Plus will be around a third more expensive and is a Subscription; the Magix Update Service is a pseudo-Subscription but you do retain a perpetual licence.
    The trade-in is no Magix involvement (apart from its hosting servers), no roll-back and always current. Magix will deliver just enough to keep people hooked.

    From a web development perspective, you could pay big money for a personal website built and maintained by someone else. In Xara Plus, its annual cost is around a quarter of a commercial single page design.
    For professional web development, few products have a return of investment of less than half a day.

    Acorn
    Acorn - installed Xara software: Cloud+/Pro+ and most others back through time (to CC's Artworks). Contact for technical remediation/consultancy for your web designs.
    When we provide assistance, your responses are valuable as they benefit the community. TG Nuggets you might like. Report faults: Xara Cloud+/Pro+/Magix Legacy; Xara KB & Chat

  8. #8
    Join Date
    May 2002
    Location
    Canada
    Posts
    3,338

    Default Re: Making Sense of Xara Plus

    So for a dumb person like me, am I correct to assume that xara designer pro will no longer be available by Magix?

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Apr 2012
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    SW England
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    Default Re: Making Sense of Xara Plus

    Quote Originally Posted by behzad View Post
    So for a dumb person like me, am I correct to assume that xara designer pro will no longer be available by Magix?
    behzad, nowhere have I said that.

    The point I am making is Xara is breaking away from Magix so at sometime in the future, the Magix suite may not continue.
    Someone decided not to uplift P&LD11, X3D7 and XWD (Magix no long offers XWD).

    You have to determine how or why that is.

    Acorn
    Acorn - installed Xara software: Cloud+/Pro+ and most others back through time (to CC's Artworks). Contact for technical remediation/consultancy for your web designs.
    When we provide assistance, your responses are valuable as they benefit the community. TG Nuggets you might like. Report faults: Xara Cloud+/Pro+/Magix Legacy; Xara KB & Chat

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Apr 2010
    Location
    Kildare, Ireland
    Posts
    906

    Default Re: Making Sense of Xara Plus

    Interesting, takes a bit to digest all of that, thanks Acorn.

    I just downloaded a v22 update which seems to have the new UI. It's darker than the previous versions. Initial thoughts are it's a bit too dark and higher contrast, I wonder if the UI color can be changed back or customized. If not I'll just have to get used to it.
    XT-CMS - a self-hosted CMS for Xara Designers - Xara + CMS Demo with blog & ecommerce shopping cart system.

 

 

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