Xara X to Be Released as Open Source

zero-one writes "Xara today announced that they are releasing an open source version of their vector drawing program, Xara Xtreme. They already have a Linux demo but source code is not available quite yet. Xara Xtreme on Linux will not only bring a leading-edge graphic tool to the platform, but with community assistance, has the potential to become the world's most powerful, easiest-to-use and simply the world's best graphics program. If they get this right it could bring the Linux desktop into whole sectors of the market that is has not been able to address before."

Sell Adobe?

Time to sell my Adobe stock?

Exaggeration?

First, read this this. [slashdot.org]

All tools add value to the Linux desktop, but if it's not user-friendly none of that matters. To be able to say we have the exact same tools as Windows means nothing if those tools are frustrating to use. We recently began the process of ridding ourselves of certain proprietary software (primarily Microsoft products). It's been painful because after watching a Window-savvy person struggle with Linux I began to understand why Linux hasn't really kicked-in on the desktop yet.

I think the value of a single product is being overstated here. The Linux development community has to work on usability first, as well as product integration. There is a level of inconsistancy between applications that hampers Linux-desktop.

When I think back to the very early versions of Linux (1.0.xx) it's come a long long way. But no single product along the way has contributed any large amount. Primarily, it has been the work of the individuals that understand that, although we don't want a duplicate of Windows, we do want something that people making the switch can more easily slide into.

I am always excited when a new product is ported to Linux-desktop (simply X?). But let's keep things in perspective -- although Xara is quite "neat", it's not going to attract legions of people to Linux all of a sudden.

In truth, this may all help Mac OSX more than Linux...

Press Release and more info...

This comes hot on the heels of them sponsoring the uber converter project to the tune of $10000 to create a XAR>SVG conversion util, to increase compatability with inkscape. Press releases for both can be found at http://www.xara.com/press/ [xara.com] uber converters at: http://scratchcomputing.com/projects/uber-converte r/ [scratchcomputing.com] inkscapes at: www.inkscape.org

Speechless

Wow, this is their flagship product!
I've no idea what it does, but thanks, we really appreciate it /OSS 1, M$ 0

Why?

" has the potential to become the world's most powerful, easiest-to-use and simply the world's best graphics program"

Why does it suddenly have this potential? Why is it suddenly the "easiest to use"? Why is it suddenly the "world's best"?

I'm happy its being opensourced and ported to Linux too, but typically the process of opensourcing and linux-porting doesn't go hand in hand with making an application best-of-breed.

This isn't flamebait, just a reality check.

Re:Why?

" has the potential to become the world's most powerful, easiest-to-use and simply the world's best graphics program"

So does MS Paint, but I fully expect that potential to go unrealized.

Re:Why?

The reason it has the potential is because XaraX is already a fantastic small, fast, stable offering from a programming house that's been developing graphics apps for decades. When Xara launched their vector graphics app first for Acorn RISC OS and then on Windows, the features like transparency and speed were groundbreaking.

Seriously this means an excellent program in an area underserved on linux (vector graphics) will be available source and all.

Re:Why?

I have to agree, Xara grew up on the Archimedies RiscOS platform as Artworks, the team as Computer Concepts produces som very innovative products, it was a pity RiscOS lost out in the brawn over style schools placement battles of the 90s. I have been using the application since the mid 90s, and now it is to be ported I don't need my Windows install anymore :) at last, I am very happy

Re:Why?

The Xara program has been around for a few years - every incarnation has had excellent magazine reviews [pcpro.co.uk]. It has a loyal base of users and one of the primary reasons is it's powerful set of features and its easy-to-use interface. They are not starting from scratch on the usability front - they already have a head start. If you have a Windows PC, the best way to see for yourself is to simply download the trial version and give it a spin. Even better, compare it to Adobe Illustrator with its plethora of floating palettes and you'll see how tired and old-fashioned the Illustrator interface feels in comparison. Of course, these are all my subjective opinions; but then, what isn't on Slashdot? :-)

I don't like this...

Serously... I don't.

I like the GIMP, and this project could take away from the GIMP. Sure, gimp has a learning curve and not the most well designed GUI. But it is working its way to photoshop'ish status.

Xara has pro's and con's...

A major pro would be bring desktop publishing into the linux realm, and a little away from Mac. But again.. this is more a commerical market then home market. I thought Linux should be breaking into home markets as a desktop OS.

And here's a con: I don't see how this is going to do it. Joe-six pack doesn't really need vector drawing. Joe-six pack wants his digital-camera picture editing software.

But kudos for getting more commerical markets interested in OSS/Linux

-Digital Madman

Re:I don't like this...

This isn't a competitor to Gimp.
It's more of a competitor to Inkscape.

Gimp is a competitor to MSPaint, Photoshop, Corel PhotoPaint, JASC Paintshop Pro.
Xara is like Acrylic, Illustrator, Inkscape and even Macromedia Flash.
Flash adds a timeline with animation but it is vector based.

Gimp is a raster editor. If your canvas is 640 pixels across and 480 pixels down, you have 640 pixels times 480 pixels of resolution to edit in. Scalable with software help. Quality varies with size.
Xara is a vector based program. Your canvas size has no limit. 100% scalable.

Artists use vector programs to 'create' in. It's what is used to create icons that we sometimes take for granted but the reality is that someone had to create it. (like fonts)
Raster programs are used to edit existing content to produce a final result. Think http://www.worth1000.com/ [worth1000.com]

Guess what? Won't happen!

Illustrators and designers like their shiny macs and have (generally) spent years learning the Adobe suite. Why do you think nobody gives 3 tosses about Corel?

Okay, so 10/10 for style, minus several million for yet another "OMG OPENSOURCE WILL SAVE TEH WORLD SQUEE" post.

And, before anyone says "But, GIMP!" - I work with ACTUAL designers. They all think it's an ugly piece of shit.

Re:Guess what? Won't happen!

On the other hand the majority of designers I know are simple minded idiots that can barely use Photoshop and Illustrator let alone anything else and all their designs look amazingly alike as they have no ability to think outside their own little box. Most designers come from a graphic arts background and have no experience in designing good interfaces or problem solving. If something wasn't taught to them in class they just can't handle it.

I know a couple GOOD designers and they are intelligent enough to see that different tools are better for different things you want to do. Personally I can't stand the interfaces of Photoshop and Illustrator but will sometimes use them when I need to do something GIMP or Inkscape can't yet do. On the other hand there are things that are hard to do in Photoshop and Illustrator that are easier in GIMP and Inkscape. It comes mostly from which tools you know best and a bit from the way the tools were designed. Being able to use all the tools you have available lets you do awesome work.

Even good designers sometimes have blindspots that are amusing. One of the best I know I heard the other day complaining to another designer that animated gifs always have white borders around the image. Duh. Years in school and work experience and neither knew how to get rid of the borders left over from converting an image to a gif? Of course you'd think Photoshop and Illustrator would take care of that issue automatically anyway since it's a fairly common problem. Anyway the point being that designers look at interfaces more from a stylistic point and they may miss the benefits of usability.

Re:Guess what? Won't happen!

have (generally) spent years learning the Adobe suite.
I work with ACTUAL designers. They all think it's an ugly piece of shit.

I *AM* an actual designer, and it never fails to amaze me how people will comfortably devote "years" to learning proprietary software that costs $485.00 http://reviews-zdnet.com.com/Adobe_Photoshop_7_0/4 014-3633_16-8918085.html [com.com] , but cannot be bothered to investigate the menus in Gimp for five minutes for free to discover all the features they claim Gimp is missing. But, uh, oh, yeah, *sure*, you guys are ALL THAT!

Glasgow Best bet for Linux Raster graphics

With support for 16bit/channel images and colour management, Glasgow (a branch of CinePaint) is shaping up to be a real contender in the Raster Graphics editing space. Some concerns though:

• The documentation for cinepaint really really really sucks
• The CinePaint/Glasgow developers seem to be under the impression that ALL of their users are in the motion picture industry, not still photographers). Consequntly, (as of CP 0.18) they've left out handy stuff like cropping and sizing the images in physical units (not resampling).

Why this article summary seems to imply that Vector graphics is the only market, I don't know.

FreeBSD version?

From this page http://www.xara.com/products/xtreme/default.asp?t= [xara.com] it looks like it will work on FreeBSD desktop too.. but I'm not sure!

a friend of mine swears by Xara X

He drew up a map in it in about 5 minutes. It reminds me of Cool Edit Pro except it's for drawing instead of sound. Before you master it, it seems like nothing big but once you start knowing how to get the power from it you can not go back to another tool.

It is a little bit strange...

That annoucement reads like total marketing crap. I know Xara, their products are quite popular, but I would not claim so loud such goals. And by the way, we have tools which are user friendly and I'm used to :)

But ignoring that, I just can say - welcome! For example, open sourcing for Blender was really best way to go. Propably for Xara Xtreme too.

If they do it under the GPL

They specifically mention the GPL here:
http://www.xaraxtreme.org/news/11-10-05.html [xaraxtreme.org]

This will be huge news, sodipodi and inkscape could use their algorithms for new functions. Abiword could support their file formats. The Gimp could build compatibilty in easily. Bravo Xara, I will be the first one to mail a check when I know this is really going to happen. I just hope this doesn't go down like the GOBE Productive announcement a few years back.

Re:If they do it under the GPL

I was having the same opinion until I read mailing list on Inkscape about this. Talk about one sided canibailzing without prejudice (would take theirs, but hell no, they won't resell mine).

http://sourceforge.net/mailarchive/forum.php?threa d_id=8520852&forum_id=36054 [sourceforge.net]

p.s. Last comment (or it was last at the time I read was probably the only inteligent comment, about shared LGPL libraries)

Re:If they do it under the GPL

From the FAQ:

Having said that it's conceivable that a version of the Open Source Linux port could be converted back to Windows. But it would not be the official Xara version (it couldn't use the Xara name), it wouldn't include any customer support or any of the licensed components we can include. So we hope it doesn't happen, because that would jeopardise our ability to continue. Put simply, if we can't earn money from the product somehow, we can't employ full time engineers working on the Open Source product, and that helps no one.

It's not inconceivable. It will happen, maybe even under cygwin, but it will. Windows users will start to get mad since they have to continue to pay (and no they won't switch to linux). Sure the OSS version would not include some of the proprietary plugins, but if the user really wants or needs those then he/she would be happy to pay for them by purchasing the retail version. With an OSS version ported to Windows, all that Xara could do is just sell their support and expertise. But with so many online forums, chats, and help pages would their support even be necessary?

It seems to me that Xara is really shooting themselves in the foot.

And on Linux that means it has to be Open Source in order to stand any chance of success

I also think this is not true. I think they should have done the exact opposite. That is port it to linux and macosx, keep it closed source, and sell their product at their current low price on all platforms. Not only would this help them, but it would give support to Xorg/Xfree + whatever window manager/desktop + linux kernel as a feasible graphics platform with a commercial backing. If they are scared about being bought out (are they even a publicly traded company?) then open source the linux / macosx codebase in the event that it seems imminent that they will be bought out.

Re:If they do it under the GPL

Talk about one sided canibailzing without prejudice (would take theirs, but hell no, they won't resell mine).

That's the reality though. Everyone on the Inkscape side had, so far, been working with the understanding that (as far as Inkscape goes) we're staying in [L]GPL-land; Xara's announcement can't unilaterally change that.

Also, in practical terms, Inkscape's like the Linux kernel; due to the number of individual copyright holders we couldn't relicense if we wanted to, so it's simply not possible for much Inkscape code to make it into Xara-commercial, even if it made it into Xara-GPL.

p.s. Last comment (or it was last at the time I read was probably the only inteligent comment, about shared LGPL libraries)

Thanks. As I wrote in that email, I do think it's worth investigating ways to share future code without compromising on the [L]GPL stance. We can also probably share experience and algorithms.

Re:RIf they do it under the GPL-Cooks.

Like the other poster said, the problem isn't keeping track of the patches, but being able to find current contact information for all the contributors (which we don't have), successfully contacting them (for many long-running projects, some might be dead), and assuming you make it that far, getting them to unanimously agree to the relicensing (I already know some wouldn't).

People problem, not a technical one.

Bah Humbug

Ok, so some old hoary ACORN codebase that got ported to Windows years ago and apparently never developed a large userbase is going GPL because they realized they were fscked and never were going to achieve a breakout in today's rapidly consolidating Windows 3rd party app marketplace. So if folks would just stop working on Inkscape long enough to help us port this crufy old code from Win32 to whatever toolkit we eventually decide on it will just rule, trust us! But please don't build a Windows binary because we want to keep on doing our shareware thing over on that platform.

Sorry, this would have been news five years ago, but we have all seen this story play out enough times now to not be interested. They could at least have held off on the press release until they had a believable start on a port, i.e. a tree that builds and at least does something on X.

Open Source but how much?

Call me stupid, but I dont often assume things unless someone specifically states it. Now they said they were to Open Source the product, sure great, but will we need to compile it? Will we need to pay? Will the Windows version be OSS? If the Linux and Mac version are free, will the Windows one be? None of this was mentioned from what I read and understood.

I am one very happy Xara Ltd. customer.

Well, can't say I'm sad to hear it -- I emailed the folks at Xara Ltd. almost a year ago to ask if they intended to port their product to Linux to help ease my transition in that regard (having bought versions of their software since 1.0). Their move to open source is a bit of a shock (I would have been happy with a Linux binary ported using Wine), but it's all good -- better than I could have hoped for. Hopefully some collaboration/cross-semination will occur between the Xara folks and the Inkscape guys, who are also making leaps and bounds and deserve mention here for their amazing progress and excellent work.

Congrats to Xara for your bold new direction, if anyone from the company is reading. Rest assured that I'll keep slinging my business your way -- especially considering how you responded very well to my (and presumably other) inquiries. You've also just secured more years of business out of me, assuming porting to other platforms will now become significantly easier. Cheers.

Artworks

Grr! All of these great things have come from one place, namely the Acorn computing market who could have had it all and blew it. Xara is simply the PC port of ArtWorks [cconcepts.co.uk] for RISCOS [wikipedia.org]. Now Xara is set for potential greatness. Just like when Acorn spawned ARM Ltd, and now ARM cpu's are everywhere. Where are Acorn?

Boo hiss and all that.

Source

They already have a Linux demo but source code is not available quite yet.

They don't have it/can't find it/just demoing?

Great News For Me and Hopefully You Too

I have used xara for years. I maintain an old windows machine just for xara. It is an outstanding drawing and for me a one page or smaller layout program. Great for print ads and web graphics work.

It does not compete with The Gimp.

The windows version is very easy to use. Hope the linux version uses the same interfaces.

Woohoo!!! Gets me excited about linux again.

take a look at this video

Take a look at this video. It shows off some of Xara Xtreme's capabilities. I am quite impressed and can't wait until the full Linux version is released! It can use photoshop plugins too!!

Really F*cking good

All I see is bitching, whining and moaning from a people who've never used it. My SO uses Xara X damn near constantly and loves it. She was up the learning curve like a mountain goat. There's good documentation, the /real/ thing ships with a CD full of video tutorials, a whole bunch of things work like they ought to - so much so that since we're so accustomed to things not working properly you initially discount the possibility of whatever you're trying to do actually working.

And it's FAST! Xara was initially written in the mid 90's and the system specs included "pentium processor recommended" so it goes without saying that it goes like a rocket on modern hardware. We're running it on a P3-933 and, just, whoosh.

This is a good piece of kit. Probably the best thing I can advise is finding a windows box and playing with the downloadable demo. Be happy. Get involved in porting it. Fuck Adobe.

Dave

Re:Really F*cking good

So, you're on /. and claim to have an SO and then you compare her to a mountain goat.

A shame dude, your story was almost credible until that point.

A mountain goat! sheesh

Good?

Yeah, the hyperbole goes way over the top.

If you broke desktop publishing into two groups like consumer/SOHO and Professional, it would be a really good consumer product assuming -all- of the applications features make it into the linux version.

It will be interesting to see how much gets pulled from the OSS version.

On the higher end side of desktop publishing in Linux, you've got a handful of good applications.
-Gimp (please refrain from "It's not PS!")
It's the best on Linux and generally really good for many things.

-Scribus
Very good DTP application. See Gimp comments and substitute Illustrator.

-Inkscape/Sodipodi
Very nice drawing applications.

-Quanta+/Bluefish
Nice HTML editors. Good project management features. See Gimp comments and substitute Dreamweaver. I'd be interested to hear some preferences between these two as I don't exhaust the features of Quanta+.

For big documents creation with a GUI, there's Lyx.

This is Big.

I'm a designer and I've used Xara quite a bit. It is a very, very good piece of software. In terms of ease of use and speed it kills all the big boys like Illustrator and CorelDraw. In fact this is the software that Corel owned/distributed at one time as CorelXara. Then they pillaged it for features and set it on its way. It has fantastic transparency abilities and some cool bitmap-like effects such as realtime blurs. It also has some decent bitmap abilities built-in. I know most designers won't know anything about it and the open source community won't either, so please trust me when I say this is a fantastic development. I hope to take a swing at the code, with any luck creating a mac version. Sweet.

Deneba Canvas?

Other than the fact that it will be open sourced this Xara looks like a big rip-off of Deneba Canvas.

Haven't seen any features in it that Canvas hasn't had for the last 4 + years. (Other than maybe the ability to work reliably, which kept me off of Canvas )

Not exaggerated at all!

Xara Xtreme on Linux will not only bring a leading-edge graphic tool to the platform, but with community assistance, has the potential to become the world's most powerful, easiest-to-use and simply the world's best graphics program. If they get this right it could bring the Linux desktop into whole sectors of the market that is has not been able to address before.

Also it cures baldness.

This is EXCELLENT news, and here's why

I've been using Xara for nearly 10 years. It is a phenomenal piece of software. It's fast, stable, and it gives you the tools you need with a clean, intuitive interface and without a bunch of crap in your way. Give an untrained person a choice between the nightmare of Illustrator and Xara, and it's no competition at all. Corel and Xara are closer, but last time I checked, Corel was way over-bloated and buggy. Fireworks is probably closer yet, but while its interface isn't as FUBAR'd as Illustrator's, it's still too idiosyncratic.

Xara is the best general-purpose vector graphics software out there. It's the easiest to learn how to use, and it really is a pleasure to work with. This is the right move for Xara, and I think it's great news for Linux. As we get new, regular users transitioning to Linux desktops, hopefully Xara will be included with some of the best distros... it should be an exciting and significant feature for a decent percentage of users. Even people who just want to make a flyer for their garage sale will find Xara cool and fun.

On a personal note, Xara is the main reason why I still haven't switched to a Linux desktop for myself. I can't live without my Xara... now it looks like I'll finally be able to switch! Tonight, I will literally go out and toast to Xara. This is the best news I've had in months.

Xcellent..

I've used Xara X on and off for a number of years. Fantastic vector image program. I only moved over to Illustrator after discovering the Xara .AI/.EPS output filter didn't work 100% with some applications and there were a few other little niggles. This might have been fixed since then but otherwise it's fantastic application and porting it to Linux is a brilliant move.

Once a decent/user friendly bitmap editing application is available for linux, then I might be able to move over fully.

Gimp users sigh in relief...twice in one week!

Now, Photoshop robots will have *TWO* Open-Source programs to bitch about!!! Yes, Gimp can now expect half the Photozealots to switch their flames from Gimp to how much they hate Xara for not being Photoshop. Welcome to the *deep inside*, Xara, and you can share my bread crust, but not my bunk.

Xara and Inkscape

If you read their FAQ, they are more than aware of the existence of Inkscape. They give credit to Inkscape for "features that Xara does not have" and a higher rate of development. In fact, they say that the ultimate goal is a single merged vector editor combining the best in Xara and Inkscape. And as an Inkscape developer, this is something I'd like to see as well.

It remains to be seen how exactly this merger will proceed, who will be on the giving side and who on the receiving side. Whichever way it goes, however, their goal is the same as mine: to create the best vector editor in the world. So I guess this means Xara and Inkscape are bound to be friends overall, even though an element of competition will be present as well.

For an overview of how Inkscape and Xara compare, read this:

http://wiki.inkscape.org/cgi-bin/wiki.pl?Xara_X [inkscape.org]

skin saving

Open Source is getting to close by open the source might stop the development of the other projects. Ie openoffice kill most of it competion.

Even at worst could become just a support company.

slashdot invaded with msft shills/zealots?

If you think the news is no big deal, that's fine. But, why are so many posters here enraged?

I'm noticing this trend on slashdot more and more. Some good news for Linux is announced (often no BFD). And many posters here are screaming about how Linux is so inferior to msft.

Frankly, I don't care what desktop you use. I don't care if you don't like Linux. But, it seems strange to me that this sort of news would make so many posters so angry.

Xara Linux so far......

Is only a gui with buttons that do not yet work...all it does is open some examples. If they intend to sell it as a Linux ap they would be better off if they went the MS route and released a full shareware version with a cripple on the import or save function... either that or a suicide date on the bin. Good looking png buttons though, I think I will use them as some of my music notation app widgets, save me alot of time drawing them up!

Why would only Linux benefit?

I'm interested to see the spin here as Linux being the big beneficiary of this announcement. Surely, if the code is released, then pretty much anyone who has a use for it benefits as it canM then be built for their platform. Regardless of which variant of linux, bsd or unix anyone's partcular platform is. Tp.

Xara X is GREAT!

I have used Xara since the first version came out and it is excellent. Very intuitive and easy to use. if you haven't sat down and used it I encourage you to try. Now it is my primary program and I use the others on the side.

Is Xara Xtreme...

...too Xtreme for an E?

Intriguing graph

I'm intrigued by the graph [xaraxtreme.org] that compares the speed of XaraCDraw to that of GDI+ and Cairo 1.0.

Maybe this rendering engine would be useful for the desktop or other programs, spun off on its own? I always loved SGI Irix's vector based desktop with that awesome vertically oriented scroll wheel widget that would scale all icons on the desktop.

I didn't realize Cairo was so crappy....

Take a look at the Performance-section [xaraxtreme.org]. Could Cairo use bits and pieces of Xara-renderer? Or could we replace Cairo with Xara's implementation? Propably not, due to licencing....

Very good news

When I switched to Linux, Xara was the only app I missed. I am delighted to hear a Linux version is available. It really is very good indeed -- very powerful, flexible and easy to learn. I tried a few alternative vector drawing apps for Linux but the ones I found were dreadful.

Xara company info

For those that are interested in such things, Xara is in fact the old Computer Concepts. I still have a Wordwise 16K ROM chip sitting around somewhere. When will they release the source for that?

First open source project then: color management

Having worked for 14 years with Acorn Risc Os software like Risc Os Draw, ArtWorks I + II, Ovation, Publisher and for 4 years with spin-offs like Ovation Pro and Xara X on PCs, I am sure that the GUI etc of Xara will be appreciated on other platforms. What has not been available on all the Risc Os software and the spin-offs is ICC color management. That Linux etc isn't much better on that aspect isn't an excuse. With the new very advanced CM announced for M$ Vistia it becomes even more urgent. So the first work that has to be done is ICC color management added to Xara or preferably incorporated in Linux. Argyll being the best engine for both but if that's too far fetched Little CMS can be chosen as well.

This is great!

I think that going open source for Xara Xtreme is great. It is a great vector program. Like many before said, it's fast, powerfull and yet simple. Just look samples at their site. I'm no designer, I use it occassionaly. But my broter use it since first version came out (then known as CorelXARA), and won't let it hands of that program.

So, I know that with Xara you can do amazing things. And I'm not saying that just because my brother use it, but it's really great program with so much possibilities.

<brag>
For those who don't belive it, just look movie part 2 from xaraxtreme.org and those icons/symbols are drawn by my brother (for one full vector iconset). :)
</brag>

Just download and see it for yourself. I'd like to give you opportunity to play/experiment with same symbols/icons in Xara as in above mentioned movie, but since this is my first post on Slashdot I'm not sure if it's ok to put URLs in comments.

I hope that Xara and open source community would live long and prosper.

Freehand users -- salvation???

Haven't seen any comments from Freehand users here...

I made the switch from (a basically unusable) Adobe Illustrator 88 to Freehand 3.0 way back in the dawn of mainstream computer graphics time. In the mid-nineties, Freehand rocked and Illustrator lagged behind. Then Freehand got sucked up by Macromedia, and went from being a clean, slick drawing app, to a buggy piece of UI bloated shit.

I've spent thousands of hours working in Freehand over the last 12 or so years, but its current state and looming demise at the hands of Adobe (I like Photoshop, but not much else from Adobe), means that I've been looking around for a solid replacement for Freehand -- dreading having to move to Illustrator, as I find it fairly twisted as well as very expensive (wonder what upgrade path Adobe will offer me from Ill 88 to Ill CS2?? : ) I've also tried apps like Inkscape (nice start, but still quite a ways to go). CorelDraw falls into that crappy Windows software category for me (sorry to any CD lovers here!)

I'm definately going to check out Xara. Fingers crossed.

In/export is really important -- like other posters have mentioned, there are lots of good tools out there, for different tasks!

Another area I don't see a lot of mention about is printing. If a graphic designer's service bureau doesn't support an app, then I don't see much chance of them switching (I don't do that much print work anymore, so its not as big an issue for me).

Let's hope that Xara will become a credible alternative to Illustrator. I for one am hoping like hell that they (or someone else) make it.

My mind boggles.

I didn't reply to this last night. I had to go to sleep and see if I had been dreaming. It's day already and the article is still here, so I guess I'm not dreaming.

Okay, so I don't know anything about specific features of Xara X, but from what I've understood, it's a widely sold package with a lot of those cool "pro" features.

All I can say is... wow. To me, this is definitely in league of Netscape / StarOffice / Blender opensourcing. I expect that in a year after this is out, we have one killer OSS vector package, or two killer packages if these news that they're cooperating with Inkscape are true. (I was about to ask about how hot their SVG support is. Apparently not very excellent at the moment, if they're sponsoring an SVG converter project.) This is definitely a great day for OSS graphics!

Why?

Here [xaraxtreme.org] is the answer. Read the FAQ, it is very insightful.

It won't cost you an ARM and a leg

The Acorn spirt lives on. A great piece of a software can now have its source branched and ported to multiple platforms. For non-m$ products, this kind of life span is a sign of software quality. More choice is always a good thing. Hats off!

Mac OS X and Linux in graphic design

Some of the commentary here is a definite match for some research and writing I've been doing on my blog.

For a while now I've been comparing OS X 10.4 and Linux from the perspective of whether a Macintosh-oriented designer could make a successful switch to Linux.

I've looked at the availability of applications, compared a few to one another, and dug in to both operating systems a bit as well. I've learned to appreciate Linux a lot more than I did before and Mac OS X differently than I did before. While the research is still underway, there's quite a lot to read at my site on the subject if you're curious. The main articles you'll want to see are here:

Introduction to the OS X vs. Linux series [mikesalsbury.com]

Inkscape vs. FreeHand [mikesalsbury.com]

Review of Scribus 1.2.1 [mikesalsbury.com]

How OS X on x86 is great for Linux [mikesalsbury.com]

Linux Equivalents to Mac Design Software [mikesalsbury.com]

There are some other related articles out there, too, but these are the main ones. I figure the flames are going to head my way for writing these articles, but the point isn't to say that OS X or Linux is "better" - rather to examine their differences and similarities and try to answer the question "If there was a reason to switch, how would it go?"

I should point out that my OS of choice until the late 1990s was Macintosh. Since then it's been Windows XP, mostly because I'm a gamer and that's where my favorite games are (I don't care for console gaming). But more recently, I've really begun to appreciate Linux and OSS and actually do use Linux on a machine at home somewhat regularly. I wouldn't say any of the three is any "better" than the others. All have strengths and weaknesses.

So this post and my articles above aren't meant to criticize anyone for their OS choice, but merely an attempt to inspire serious, objective thought about Linux and OS X.

tgif

I like tgif better judging by the linux demo.

Maybe I didn't play with xara enough to get up the learning curve, but tgif does most everything I ever would want, and the interface is more intuitive. Tgif is GPL and produces great eps files.

Re:What about Linux?

It's modded down because it's an oft-posted troll.

Re:What about Linux?

I believe that this one gets modded down because it is a recycled post that shows up all the time, much like how the Netcraft/BSD used to. It is a post that can generate useful comments, but it now gets pulled out for baiting and trolling purposes. Some people claim it is part of the slashbot arsenal that gets posted automatically depending on the topic subject. Once one sees it in three or four times different discussions, one tends to mod it down for its repetition, not its content.

Re:easiest-to-use

Of course it does, it means I don't have to suffer with any kludgey environment re-implementations like Wine, or interrupt everything I was doing and find another machine to boot another OS to run the app.

Re:Xtreme

My first thought when reading the article was:

Released for free? Xcellent!!!!

Re:What does this really give us?

So now I'm curious, what exactly can OpenOffice Draw do besides the basic? I don't see anything particularly special about OpenOffice Draw when I open it up, maybe I'm missing something?

As for what Xara X can do, I went to the linked website and found the following screenshots:
http://www.xaraxtreme.org/img/screenshots/screensh ot1_thumb.jpg [xaraxtreme.org]
http://www.xaraxtreme.org/about/screenshot3.jpg [xaraxtreme.org]
http://www.xaraxtreme.org/img/screenshots/screensh ot4_thumb.jpg [xaraxtreme.org]
http://www.xaraxtreme.org/about/screenshot6.jpg [xaraxtreme.org]

Re:What does this really give us?

watch the video and you'll see what it does that other linux/win/mac apps do not

Re:Another second rate product runs to Linux...

It was probably an Ubuntu or Debian user...the rest of us are more laid back...

Re:Another second rate product runs to Linux...

Why is it that people on /. mod all criticism of Linux as Flamebait, but almost never defend Linux verbally?

Because it's no longer 1994 so most of the criticism that misses the point entirely has been addressed before. The parody of linux expressed above may look to some as criticism of linux but to me it looks like the writer is expessing the opinion "technical people are dorks", so it isn't worth reponding to that, while it is worth responding to the more civil quention from popo.

New criticism a bit more rooted in reality is a different story, and any "linux isn't ready for the desktop" statement is at least five years or maybe even ten years out of date (win3.11 was ready for the desktop remember). Linux on the desktop is not good enough for XYZ makes more sense than some blanket statement that was proved wrong by a lot of people years ago.

Re:How much?

Watch the video demos, looks pretty professional to me.

Re:Whats with the bitching?

Well, I don't haver anything about Xara. My problem with the slashdot article, and the company's website, is that both reek of press-releases and marketdroid-speak. It would be nice if slashdot, or Xara would just cut to the chase, and tell us what the software is all about. I don't care for all the hubris of "world's best graphics program" from slashdot, nor the "you've never seen such an easy program!" dumbed-down shit from Xara's website.

That, and it uses the word "Xtreme."