Xara X1 for $19 (less than £10)

[Ampa]

Xara are at it again... offering their exceptional software at knock down prices.

This time it is Xara X¹ for only $19 (less than £10) - this is the predecessor to their flagship product Xara Xtreme. Check out the feature comparison for the details of differences.

At this price I consider it a must purchase, especially as you can then upgrade to Xara Xtreme (for $39) or Xara Xtreme Pro (for $120).

Note - perhaps hold off on the upgrade for a month or two, since Xara have also announced imminent new releases with some great new features.

Ampa
_{(DonationCoder's 2nd biggest Xara fan)}

[Carol Haynes]

You don't have to hold off - it says new orders of Xtreme or Xtreme Pro get a free update.

Actually I am pretty annoyed as the Pro discs only shipped in January - let's see what they offer existing users.

[edit] Actually I have just written to their marketing department suggesting that Pro users should get an 'at cost' upgrade for the media and shipping costs since it is unreasonable to expect loyal users to cough up every couple of months! I'll feed back if/when I get a reply.

As usual anyone tempted by the x1 offer and any further upgrade pricing please use the link in my sig to place you order and I get a few pennies at no cost to you.

Cheers

[Darwin]

Thanks for contacting marketting, Carol. I've been feeling a bit peeved about this as well (though Xara/Magix have been so vague about what exactly is going to happen to XX Pro that perhaps my peevishness is without substance) as by my reckoning they've only released one minor update since Pro was released in December. I'll wait to hear about the response that you get.

[Darwin]

PS X1 is an excellent alternative to Illustrator - picking it up at this price is a must for anyone who feels that they might even be tempted to dabble in vector graphics, as ampa notes.

[cthorpe]

I have a copy of Xara XS (from a covermount on a magazine).  Any idea how it compares to X1?

[Darwin]

Xara has this to say about XS:

Xara XS is a special edition of Xara Xtreme that has been created exclusively for promotions on magazine covermounted CDs and is not available from Xara direct.

In terms of features it sits somewhere between CorelXARA and Xara Xtreme. There is an upgrade path to Xara Xtreme - if you are an owner of Xara XS click on the Upgrade button on the XS starting splash screen to find out more about the new features in Xara Xtreme and to order an upgrade.

Not having ever used or seen either XS or CorelXara, I can't really say, but I'd say that $19 for X1 would be a worthwhile upgrade from XS...

VUnet has this to say when describing the move up from XS to Xtreme and Xtreme Pro:

Xara Xtreme takes everything you'll find in XS, and adds a whole lot more. Like some major new effects, for instance. A Bevel tool gives any object an apparently raised edge, customisable with different bevel types, size, light angle and elevation. The Shadow tool offers even more control and produces some ultra-realistic effects, while the Feather tool smoothly blends objects together.

Elsewhere you'll find the Picture Editor gets new effects and features. Try the new Live Effects tool. This lets you use Xara and Adobe plugins to produce a wide range of professional visual effects.

If you want to go even further, take a look at the brand new Xara Xtreme Pro, which supports output to Adobe Flash, importing Adobe PSD documents, Pantone colour support and so much more.

Finally, here are a couple of reviews of X1, which should give you an idea of how it compares to XS. The first is here and the second here.

EDIT: fixed links - thanks for making me aware of it AbteriX!

[AbteriX]

XS lacks the most interesting features such as interactive transparency, bevel and shadow.
But Xara1 looks pretty good. And the 10MB download is pretty USB-Stick friendly.

You can see many tutorials over there at YouTube to see how Xara works. Just search for 'xara'
Interesting that even the old CorelXARA have all the nice features one needs.
Original CorelXARA demo videos:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oQAi0m6WSyU
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M7aJdzY8fEA

[Ampa]

Regarding the versions...

I have used Xara since before it was called Xara (ArtWorks on the Archimedies) and have to say that each and every update has brought great new features that really add to the product.

There is nothing about the program that could reasonably be called bloat, either in resources or feature set.

I said it before, but it is worth saying again... please, if you think that you might ever want to create any vecotr art, try Xara's product.

I have tried the competitors... Illustrator, Fireworks, Inkscape, RealDraw, CorelDraw and even though all of those have at least one unique feature, I always end up back with Xara.

Why?

It is so darned small, so fast, so intuitive - and it has a small but friendly community who are alway there to help.

Ampa

[Carol Haynes]

I have used Xara since before it was called Xara (ArtWorks on the Archimedies) and have to say that each and every update has brought great new features that really add to the product.

Ampa - are you an ex-RiscOS nut too ? I started with ComputerConcepts ArtWorks and loved their DTP app Impression too - showed what you could really do with programming if you put your mind to. I used to run both concurrently on a machine with only 8Mb of memory - and that was considered a big machine at the time!

[Ampa]

Carol: Indeed I was a RiscOS user... did my computing A-level on an Archimedies A3010 - happy days.

I remember booting the machine, and running ArtWorks (from floppy), editing an image and printing it, before my dad's 486 had even finished booting Windows v3 from its, massive, 400MB harddisk.

It is interesting to note that Xara's interface actually appears to have fewer tools than ArtWorks did 15 years ago, yet the feature set has improved with every release.

For those who don't know - the secret lies in the direct-action tools, which are so intuitive that they remove the need for countless menus, panels, toolbars etc.

[AbteriX]

2004: Preview Xara X1 - Feature List and Changes
http://www.xaraxone.com/webxealot/workbook25/index.htm


2005: New Xara Xtreme - A Preview
http://www.xaraxone.com/webxealot/xpreview/index.htm

2006: Xara Xtreme Pro Preview
http://www.xaraxone.com/webxealot/workbook53/

.

[Carol Haynes]

Carol: Indeed I was a RiscOS user... did my computing A-level on an Archimedies A3010 - happy days.

I remember booting the machine, and running ArtWorks (from floppy), editing an image and printing it, before my dad's 486 had even finished booting Windows v3 from its, massive, 400MB harddisk.

I still have an A5000 upstairs (hasn't been switched on in a long time). It originally came with 1Mb of memory and I upgraded it to 8Mb and a 120Mb hard disc.

I did huge amounts of stuff with it (DTP/WP, Graphics stuff and MIDI based music) and I still think it was the most intuitive OS I have ever used (in fact Windows 95 took ideas from the RiscOS interface) and so quick because it booted from ROM and not a disc. The other advantage of the ROM was it was impossible to infect the OS with a virus or other malware.

[tomos]

Xara X1 again on offer for 19$ till 7th October 2008 (midnight GMT)
midnight presumably being at the end of the day!

http://site.xara.com/offers/xarax1/

seems to be open to non-registered users - you have to register - then you get an email & proceed from there

EDIT/ not really worth getting if all you're interested in is upgrading as works out full price well you save $10 on Xara Xtreme upgrade