There are absolutely limitations to certain aspects to the program. I think, like iwth a lot of apps, the templates and examples are provided to show an example of some of the things the program can do. Maybe you only do a few pics here and there with these techniques.

Where XWD does well in its ability to allow for HTML/flash/java/whatever code to be placed in the design. If there is a particular gallery that you like the way it works, then you can plug it in, and it's not really even that hard. I've seen a few done with Simple Viewer and it's pretty impressive and looks fairly easy to implement.

There are a number of Flash slideshows and Java list-based shows available for free and they really open up some options for what can be done with Xara.

See if these options don't make you feel a little better about your purchase. There are happy mediums to be found.

Hope this helps.