Update service

[charliescoffee]

I'm very confused. I'm getting a notice that my "update service" is expiring. However, when I click on the link it doesn't lead me to anyplace useful. I tried going on the web, but I'm also confused about Xara vs Magix and haven't found anything helpful via that route. Do I even need this? How do I find out how much (whoever) is charging to update the service? Is this an annual subscription? In the past, I've always maintained the most current version of the software, back when there was a yearly update. Then Magix came into the picture and the annual update ended and who knows what else has happened. I use Xara almost every day and for a variety of tasks and I continue to be happy with the present software (Xara Designer Pro X 19.0.1.65946 DL x64 Feb 7 2023), so far it's done everything I've wanted it to do. Can someone explain to me if Xara is now a part of Magix, are they two separate operations, who's now responsible for the software?
Many thanks!

[Daniel]

Magix used to sell (and support) Xara's software, but now they don't.

You can keep using the version that you've got already, indefinitely. You don't need the Update Service for that. So, if you do nothing, you continue as you are now.

If you replace your computer, or need to install the program again, you can do that too - but you'd only be able to download and install the version which was current when you last paid Magix (so if you bought it, installed one version, and then they released an update and you installed that second version, you'd only be able to re-download the first of those two again).


Xara now sell their own software directly.

They have a subscription version, which you can get for $48 per year for the Photo & Graphic Designer+ version, or $120 per year for the Designer Pro+ version from https://www.xara.com/welcome/ (those prices take into account the 40% perpetual discount that that page talks about). There is a table comparing both versions on that page, along with a comparison for previous Magix-supplied versions.

(If you need more than one licence, consider the Xara Cloud "Scale" package from https://www.xara.com/pricing/cloud/ - it gives you full access to their Xara Cloud service (kind of an online version of Xara Designer, but also something that I can't really put my finger on, or describe)... it is something that I've never personally liked, or been able to get along with, but the Scale package ALSO gives you the desktop software Designer Pro+ program... it costs double the Pro+ subscription alone, so it's $240pa but gives you THREE user licences instead of one)

They also have a perpetual version, which you can get for $150 as a one-off payment from https://www.xara.com/designerpro/v20/ (that price takes into account the 50% discount that that page talks about). There is a table there which compares the perpetual version with the subscription one.

If you rely on the "Content Catalogue" or "Online Content Catalog" of clipart, design elements, and templates (which they now call X-Elements), you should take out the subscription because it isn't included with the perpetual version. Nor are updates: the subscription version is updated 3-4 times a year, but the perpetual version gets no updates - you get version 20 from last year and keep using it forever.

They say that the subscrption version has "Premium support", and that's all that I have experience of. I don't know how good (or how their service compares) it is with the perpetual version, but I can say that with the subscription version, Xara support are responsive: they reply within single-digit number of hours during UK office hours, and if you get lucky, in realtime with the livechat. They have helped me with problems on files, undocumented tweaks to the interface, and have fixed at least two bugs that I reported.

Any time Xara staff have posted here in the past, they invite users like you to contact them. I get the impression that there are bigger discounts on offer if you ask: certainly long-time subscribers are paying less than even the discounted prices that I mention above. "Don't ask, don't get", as the saying goes: you have nothing to lose. Try your luck - contact them at https://www.xara.com/contact-us/ and describe what you have, and what you'd like.

[Acorn]

@Daniel, thank you for running with this and providing a very comprehensive answer.

Xara Cloud is Xara's refocus away from individual designers, graphic artists, artists and developers to an integrated platform for corporate copy (web, PDF, social, business persona, email, ...).

My one addition is that Xara and Magix are and were separate companies but in reality under 150 feet apart in offices in Berlin.
You have to follow company news to delve into the separation reasons and the issues Magix is now enduring.

I may make this Thread Sticky but for now it is being tagged as a 'nugget'

Acorn

[charliescoffee]

MANY THANKS!!! As always TalkGraphics posters are wonderful. I'll have to study Daniel's thorough post and make a decision, but as I've said elsewhere, I'm very happy with the version of Xara I now have, it's always done everything I've wanted it to do. (BTW, I'm happy to be rid of Magix, if that's the case. I was never happy with their service and was perpetually confused about what their role was and who was responsible for what.)