Q:WinXP Users, will Xara stop being "sold" and be all OpenSource for Win soon?

[marcus_u]

Hi,

Will we no longer have to buy upgrades? Even WinXP (or whatever the next OS is)

Is Xara on the verge of becoming like OpenOffice.org? Free forever?

Thanks,
~Marcus

[michaelward]

As I understand it we will probably get to a point where there is a free version of Xara for Windows, but it is also likely that there will be a paid for 'premium' version that contains features that Xara have to pay a licensing fee for (think pantone colour support, pay-for plugins, etc.)

Seeing as Xara is giving away a full version of Xara XS on some uk magazine cover discs this month then I shouldn't be too far off the mark

[amoore]

Seeing as Xara is giving away a full version of Xara XS on some uk magazine cover discs this month then I shouldn't be too far off the mark

What exactly is "Xara XS"? I've been trying to sort that out since I first saw the reference.

[michaelward]

It seems to be a cut down version of Xtreme (as there is an upgrade path) - but I will take a look this luch time and find out.

[Charles Moir]

Xara XS is a cut-down version of Xara Xtreme and you can obtain it for free from the cover-mount CDs from some UK and I believe some foreign magazines. It is not time limited demo, but is a fully functional drawing program, that's just missing some of the more recent Xara features.

Our plan is to provide versions covering the a wide price spectrum, from free, upwards, on all platforms. It's possible that some future variants will costs more than the current $79 retail price of Xara Xtreme.

And this will likely include the Linux platform as well, where there is a free open source version available already, but we expect one day to provide premium versions as well that contain closed source components as Michael has mentioned. A classic example of this is the PDF exporting capability. This requires a closed-source third party component that we license and so versions that contain this PDF export feature will always cost money.

So you will be able to choose your price point. But to get the latest, most feature-full, supported versions, there will always be a premium to pay for that.

[michaelward]

That clears that up - thankyou Charles.

[outofspacero]

my question is when will the new premium version arrive?
I mean oviously you are working a lot on the open source ports of xara xtreme, but are you still working on a side on a more enhanced version of xtreme?
i mean this program is awsome but there are still so many gaps that could be filled, like better text handleling, dpt style functions, multipage suport.. will stuff like this be seen in the next xtreme version around this time next year? I mean as xara became opensource, i really expected for modules to have been attach to xtreme already, knowing that a lot of people from the forum were waiting to develop some new features for the program, and yet no news on that or on further development.
Nowadays everybody is giving a sneak peak of upcoming features, maybe one or two, like indesign is with it's cs3 development or even photoshop, so i guess some little info from the president of the company could at least make some xtreme users exited on upcoming releases.
Just a though,
David

[Charles Moir]

We are working on both the open source versions and the next 'premium' release of Xara Xtreme. We usually do start some form of Beta test and even usually give TalkGraphics users early access to download beta version before anyone else. I expect we'll do the same again, but it's too early to do that now.

The open source version is not yet up to the Xara Xtreme level (although not that far off now), and we have been deliberately avoiding adding new features to that version for now. The goal for the Linux version is to get to a Xara LX "1.0" that's an exact equivalent of Xara Xtreme, and then we start adding new features to Xara LX (all platforms) in a major way.

So right now we're balancing two completely separate projects. Finishing XaraLX port at the same time as adding a few new features to the next Xara Xtreme Windows version (which will also find their way into the next Xara LX).

Actually if you look closely at Xara LX you will find minor improvements have already been made in some areas (to contradict what I just said). e.g. the colour picker is now resizeable, which is very cool. Or it would be if it worked reliably. And this is a perfect example of why we have to be so careful adding new features to LX. What seemed like a tiny little tweak to the colour picker code, has turned out to be quite a lot of weeks work just to get to work properly (it still doesn't). I can already say the next Xara Xtreme for Windows will not have that colour picker improvement, but the one after should have.

I know you're going to ask 'so what features can we expect to see?' I can't answer that. Largely because until we have a totally reliable, finished feature we can't be sure it will go into the next release. I can say, for example in just one area (import/export) that we have people working on SVG, improvements to PDF and Photoshop, as as some very interesting other features. But I can't tell you whether any of this will make it into the next release yet as that depends whether the features turn out to be slick, reliable and finished on time.

Which all comes down to this;
• We are working on new Xara Xtreme features for Windows
• These features are very largely influenced by what users have been asking for in these forums
• We are also working towards a "1.0" Xara LX for Linux (and Mac) that will match the current Xara Xtreme
• Right now there are more people working on Xara Xtreme (all guises) than at any time in the last 5 years or so.

And so this man-power will start to have an impact. Initially a lot of this effort (but not all) is going into creating the new codebase for all platforms, but once that's done then you will start to see an real acceleration in the development of new features.

[Egg Bramhill]

Thank you Charles, that's a very precise progress report.

It is not time limited demo, but is a fully functional drawing program, that's just missing some of the more recent Xara features.

Could you possibly supply a list of none supported features? I expect we will be getting questions from new users and it will help members answer their questions if we know what features they have/haven't got. Perhaps we even need a new forum for Xara XS users?

[Charles Moir]

The extra features in Xara Xtreme, not in Xara XS are
- Shadow, Bevel, Contour, Feather and Live Effect tools
- The Xara Picture Editor is included by can't accept Photoshop plug-ins
- No PDF export.

Otherwise it's the same as Xara Xtreme, and is built form the same codebase (so is 100% file compatible).

I don't think we need another forum as the way it works is identical in all respects to Xara Xtreme (except for the missing features of course).