quark

Adobe competitors pounce after subscription backlash

Adobe Systems' competitors smell blood in the water.

Having seen the torrent of criticism that greeted the company's move last month exclusively to subscription sales for most of its software, many are launching promotions and otherwise scrambling to win over the disaffected.

"We've put in place our outreach program to users, saying, 'Hey, come and try us,'" said Nick Davies, general manager of Corel's digital media and productivity software group. Corel launched a promotion that lets Adobe CS4, CS5, and CS6 users buy Corel software for the upgrade price rather than the full price.

"… Read more

Unhappy with Adobe subscriptions? QuarkXPress offers upgrade deal

Users of the InDesign layout software who are disgruntled by Adobe's move to sell its software solely through subscriptions might be interested in a promotion from rival Quark that just arrived.

The Denver-based company announced Wednesday that those who buy or upgrade to its QuarkXPress 9 software will get a free upgrade to QuarkXPress 10.

"Until June 30, 2013 anyone who purchases or upgrades to QuarkXPress 9 from any previous version will receive version 10 for free. After June 30, 2013 only QuarkXPress 8 users will be eligible to upgrade to QuarkXPress 9 for a free upgrade to … Read more

Get Serif PagePlus X5 desktop publishing for $15

Well, I'm bummed. I paid $75 for this product just a few months ago. But I needed it at the time, and it was worth it.

That makes this deal all the more un-pass-up-able.

Today only, PricePlunge has Serif PagePlus X5 for $14.99, plus $1.99 for shipping. Yep, it's an actual boxed copy, not a download. How quaint!

Update: Sold out! Rats. That went really fast. The closest I can find elsewhere is $42.99 shipped at Amazon. Viewed in a vacuum, that's still a great deal. (But not as great as $15, I admit.)… Read more

Get Serif PagePlus X5 desktop publishing for $75

This is an update of a post I wrote earlier this year.

Remember desktop publishing software? Back in the old days, you had your pick of a dozen or more programs (Publisher, PageMaker, etc.), but now the field is practically empty.

Granted, you can still buy Adobe InDesign or QuarkXPress for a small fortune (they run $699 and $799, respectively), but what if you just want a simple program for creating newsletters, brochures, flyers, and the like?

Enter Serif PagePlus X5, the latest and greatest version of what was already a terrific desktop-publishing application. It's ideal for designing print … Read more

Get Serif PagePlus X4 desktop-publishing suite for $9.99

This is an update of a post from a couple years back. Yes, years.

Whatever happened to desktop publishing software? A decade ago you had your pick of a dozen or more programs, but now the field is practically empty.

Granted, you can still buy Adobe PageMaker or QuarkXPress for a small fortune (they still run $499 and $799, respectively), but what if you just want a simple program for creating newsletters, brochures, flyers, and the like?

Enter Serif PagePlus X4, a terrific desktop-publishing application that's ideal for designing print and Web-based documents alike.

Today only, PricePlunge.com has … Read more

Sony, McAfee, sued over software activation patent

After suing Microsoft for patent infringement, Uniloc USA is now turning its sights on a host of other companies.

In a suit filed in U.S. District Court in the eastern district of Texas Thursday, Uniloc is alleging that its patent for software activation is being violated by the likes of Sony, McAfee, Activision, Quark, Borland Software, and Aspyr Media.

The patent in question #5,490,216, awarded to Uniloc founder Ric Richardson in 1996, covers a method for registering and activating software locked to one PC. The technology was developed as a way to prevent users from freely installing … Read more

LHC firing on all cylinders, but no Higgs boson yet

It took 100 years to discover all the physics particles that have thus far been observed. It took the Large Hadron Collider four months.

That's the report Monday from the International Conference on High-Energy Physics in Paris, where LHC researchers announced they've successfully retraced the steps of earlier particle accelerators. The final step was the likely view of a super-heavy and short-lived particle called the top quark, first seen in 1995 at Fermilab's Tevatron accelerator near Chicago.

"They have re-found all the known particles in the standard model," the successful but ultimately insufficient explanation that … Read more

Free: Serif PagePlus desktop publishing software

It's odd that the need to create newsletters, fliers, brochures, and the like hasn't gone away, but desktop publishing software has. A decade ago,  you had your pick of at least a dozen programs, but now the field is nearly empty.

Sure, you can still buy heavyweight applications such as Adobe PageMaker and QuarkXPress, but they cost a small fortune--$499 and $799, respectively--and they're overkill for most people.

That's why I'm a longtime fan of Serif PagePlus, a terrific desktop-publishing application that's ideal for designing both print and Web-based documents.

The applications … Read more

Quark Promote lets novices make promo materials

Quark and other similar design programs are infamous for having a very tough learning curve, making it extremely difficult for amateurs to pick them up and make anything of quality. The company is looking to make layout and design more accessible for the general public with the introduction of Quark Promote. The goal of Quark Promote is to allow individuals and small business owners to quickly and easily create promotional materials.

Quark Promote's online template gallery features professionally designed templates for everything ranging from business cards to letterhead. Once users pick a set that they like, the Quark Promote … Read more

Get Serif PagePlus X4 for $16.99 shipped

Whatever happened to desktop publishing software? A decade ago you had your pick of at least a dozen programs, but now the field is nearly empty.

Sure, you can still buy Adobe PageMaker or QuarkXPress for a small fortune (make that a medium fortune: they run $499 and $799, respectively), but what if you just want a simple program for creating newsletters, brochures, flyers, and the like?

Enter Serif PagePlus X4, a terrific desktop-publishing application that's ideal for designing print and Web-based documents alike.

Right now, Buy.com has PagePlus X4 for just $16.99 shipped. That's after … Read more