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Quark has been dead for far too long for anyone working in the current design industry to take notice. I haven't even heard the word "Quark" for at least 4 years. This will be a very uphill battle for them.

Who on earth still uses Quark?

"Cement its lead"? That's a joke, right?

May 13, 08 - 07:01 pm Comment from: HueyLong

Lots of people still use Quark, obviously. However, I stopped using it back at version 4.1. Since then, I've been an InDesign user and - as a prepress and Mac production manager of a magazine publishing house in New York - ALL of our designers/editors/prepress and my vendors use CS2 or CS3.

I know all of its [Adobe's] faults and idiosyncrasies like the back of my hand. Adobe are not my favourite software company by any stretch, but Quark dropped the ball for Mac users and their arrogant disregard for their hard-core Mac users in publishing didn't help.

No regrets from me or my company

May 13, 08 - 07:20 pm Comment from: qka

I haven't even heard the word "Quark" for at least 4 years.

Then you need to get a job in particle physics.

MDN -- WTF are you talking about now? How has Adobe blown it with the Mac? You are so dumb. Apple is grateful to have such a great partner such as Adobe. After MS and Adobe, the #3 software maker is a distant 3rd.

Again, please take your nose out of Apple's ass and wipe it off.

You're just DUMB! You know nothing and show it every time you do your lame MDN take.

XPress vs. InDesign:
Take your pick of two overpriced bloated pieces of software from companies that abuse Mac users.

May 13, 08 - 07:30 pm Comment from: Macromancer

Quark has pissed off enough users over the years that it's only inevitable that Quark will whither away into nothing.

Believe me, I still use Quark... 6.52. Our company owns v7 because a few of our customers use that version. I have been using InDesign since it first came out and since Quark 6 was released I have almost exclusively been using it. Trust me, Quark blew it big time.

http://www.scribus.net

Quark costs about 4000 in australia, versus InDesign 1300

just switch from quark 6.5

to cs3 in-design / in-copy

so much better

I have to use 6.5 at least because many of our customers use it. But when I am designing or make recommendations to customers, I recommend Adobe now.

I have been freelancing in the GTA (Toronto) area for the last 7 years.

It is actually very rare that Quark skills are required these days. It is almost 100% Indesign in the publishing industry.

Bye Quark Bye!

I think Quark is missing about 5 apps if it's going to take direct aim at Adobe Creative Suite, which has a lot more than just a desktop publishing application.

This is Quark's last stand.

Nobody will run version 8 unless it is free! Even then it's going to be tough since most shops went to InDesign years ago.

They should ship 8 free to all 7 users who purchased at any time and charge for 8.5

Pagemaker 4 was the best. By 5 it was horrible.

May 13, 08 - 09:14 pm Comment from: iDon't

Adobe sucks just a little less than M$.

May 13, 08 - 09:16 pm Comment from: ChrissyOne

OMG... I forgot these guys were still around!

One of my most satisfying evangelism missions was helping swtich a former employer from Quark to ID. I still feel the glow. Srsly.

So... does Quark have a suite now? I see.

Bring. It. On.

May 13, 08 - 09:18 pm Comment from: ChrissyOne

@ iDon't

Very ouch, man.

Allan, you're kidding, right? Adobe used to put out some good stuff for the Mac, but they've really let their products languish. You can't judge them on what they did 5 or 10 years ago. The fact that Photoshop is not going to be a 64-bit multiprocessing Intel native app (where it would absolutely crank) is just proof that Adobe still looks at Mac users as second class citizens.

Quark, however, is even worse. I remember Quark on System 7 a hundred years ago. It was a pretty good piece of software for the time. But Quark blew off Mac users and all but killed the product. Now that Mac is Back, Quark suddenly wants a piece of the pie. I don't think they'll ever regain the market share that they lost due to stupid business decisions. But, Adobe is no Apple friend. Maybe they will be once Apple spends a few bucks and buys them outright.

I think Quark did themselves in when that jerk owner said that the Mac was dead and he wasn't going to develop for the Mac any longer. (he quickly back-tracked on that)

Quark (the company) has pissed me off more than a few times (anyone remember mTropolis?). I jumped to InDesign when it wasn't even acceptable at most print houses.

Having said that. Adobe is not doing the Mac community any favors these day either. I'd give Quark a look again and if it's better than InDesign... Well - so long InDesign - maybe...

May 13, 08 - 09:31 pm Comment from: ChrissyOne

@ Jimbo von Winskinheimer
"The fact that Photoshop is not going to be a 64-bit multiprocessing Intel native app (where it would absolutely crank) is just proof that Adobe still looks at Mac users as second class citizens."

Some clarification-

There are big architectural reasons why 64bit won't be ready for CS4. Not to mention to economic reasons. Ask yourself what the Final Cut team was doing all that time, thinking they wouldn't have to rewrite in Cocoa.
This is "proof" only that parties involved made the most appropriate business decision at the time. And Apple's decision to end 64bit Carbon wasn't just a surprise to Adobe, by a long shot.

May 13, 08 - 09:43 pm Comment from: ChrissyOne

...and it's already MP aware. Don't embellish.

Switch back to Quark?

Man I wish I had your money to throw around...

Quark can disappear an many people would not care.

Of course - I'm not thrilled with the crashitis of InDesign in CS3 - but I'd rather wrastle that and be able to hop through the suite than learn new and obscure ways to execute 2 color spot channel files in Quark.

May 13, 08 - 09:54 pm Comment from: deepdish

too late.

I got started in with Quark 3.

Resisted switch because of my love hate relationship with Quark.

But I did switch and I am not going back. Quark peeked at 4.14.

May 13, 08 - 09:55 pm Comment from: alansky

This is funny. Quark wants to "cement" the lead it lost to Adobe many years ago. These guys must be dreaming.

Well, QuarkXPress is and always has been hideously overpriced for what you get. But I hope they put in a good showing with version 8 and have some compelling companion products to ship with it, just so there remains some competition for Adobe.

Corell Corp are still around I see, but their Mac offerings are pretty sparse. I'd like to see them jump back into the Mac market with a brand spanking new Ventura Publisher and WordPerfect suite. Not that I'd use it, but a bit more competition would be nice in both these areas.

May 13, 08 - 09:59 pm Comment from: Marty Safir

@bon
CS3 is anything but bloated. InDesign is so powerful most of us have yet to exploit its full power. Watch a podcast by Michael Murphy, "The InDesigner" sometime if you want to get your socks blown off.

I'm with ChrissyOne on this. I remember people around here getting their panties in a bunch because they wanted an Intel native version of creative suite NOW! Anything less timely was a conspiracy to abuse Apple. Bunk. Think 18 month product cycles, then relax and breathe.

May 13, 08 - 10:24 pm Comment from: cptnkirk

Hey, does CS3 run on Case-sensitive Mac OS Extended, yet?

I wish it worked CS3 worked properly in Spaces. Its apps don't do well after my machine wakes from sleep mode either.

Guys, I'm a Apple guy since 1990 (still have my Macintosh Classic on my shelf). I love Apple, period. But to Adobe, they live in a windows world. Meaning than MUCH, MUCH more of their sales some from Windows. Much more people buy Windows version from them than Mac. I hope that changes. Until it does or if its even close to being 50-50, where would you spend your time if you are them. I find their products to work great on Mac. But this is business.

What annoys me is the MDN "take" attitude of every other than Apple sucks. Like their -- don't buy Office, buy iWork. Um, No.

May 13, 08 - 10:55 pm Comment from: ChrissyOne

@ Allan
"Meaning than MUCH, MUCH more of their sales some from Windows."

Poop out of your ass. Don't talk out of it.

May 13, 08 - 11:49 pm Comment from: Wun Dum Gai

This is getting nasty!

May 14, 08 - 12:18 am Comment from: MaLvado

This is getting weak... take on the points each one is making, not the typos or grammar.

Quark can go stuff itself six ways from Sunday. Its treatment toward Mac users echoes beleaguered Micael Dell's advice to Jobs to sell the company and give the money back to the shareholders.

Quark joined Norton and Dell in the Hall of Infamy. Now it can rot in hell.

Most printers in Europe still HAVE TO have Quark running as well. Lots and lots of typographs just coudn't afford to get the upgrades from Quark PLUS the disastrous high prizes of Adobe's apps AND upgrades.

May 14, 08 - 05:55 am Comment from: ChrissyOne

@ almux

I know. On Amazon, InDesign is about 30 bucks less than Quark. What a disaster.

May 14, 08 - 06:00 am Comment from: ChrissyOne

@ MaLvado

My comment at 11:55 was not directed at the come-cum-some misspelling (figure that out) but at the contention that Adobe makes MUCH more money on Windows versions. This is just plain untrue.

Carry on.

May 14, 08 - 06:52 am Comment from: Dude

The headline got the dead part right...

"'Cement its lead'? That's a joke, right?"

Not a funny one. Maybe they meant lead as in Pb.

May 14, 08 - 08:03 am Comment from: MacRaven

We're happy with CS3, no switching to Quark here.

Quark did drop the ball with OSX, but Adobe with the old PageMaker dropped the ball years ago, and let Quark gain ground on them. What were designers to do, no matter how much they preferred Adobe, when pre-press at printshops were demanding Quark or threatening rising job charges at pre-press stage.

It was really inconvenient to switch for 3 years (Pagemaker 6.5 > Quark>InDesign 2) until Adobe had perfected a worthy product that made BOTH Designers happy and convinced cranky pre-press people it was a Quark beater.

I hope Adobe has learned a lesson from those years about a timely response to a competitive challenge to their products.

"Now it can rot in hell."

But with all that heat and salt, I think the damned are pretty well preserved. Mmmm, demon jerky.

May 14, 08 - 08:15 am Comment from: MacRaven

@ cptnkirk who said:
"Hey, does CS3 run on Case-sensitive Mac OS Extended, yet?
I wish it worked CS3 worked properly in Spaces."

I've run CS3 previously in almost 30 Power PC AND now 30 Intel based Leopard Macs here. Runs great. I have no problem with ID or any app in Apple's "Spaces."

You could try some clean up. Do you use Disk Warrior and other tools and reorganize your directories? Do you properly remove old versions and dump caches? Also run Font Dr. and "Font Nuker." Fonts are like the creatures in that old movie "Gremlins." They can cause problems you didn't even know could happen and yet involve a corrupt font.

Quarks lead is cemented in concrete shoes.

No love for Adobe here either but Quark is going bye bye.

May 14, 08 - 08:23 am Comment from: Jay-Z

Adobe has integrated some excellent features into Illustrator and InDesign in CS2 and CS3 - features I can't imagine living without. This is less the case with Photoshop, but I am not a heavy Photoshop user. The bulk of my work is in Illustrator and InDesign.

This all comes down to whether or not the price is worth it for you. If you are happy with CS2 and don't find the features all that compelling, wait for CS4. And don't make it out to seem like you have to get CS3 for Intel compatibility. I noticed no difference between CS2 and CS3 on my Mac Pro.

Watching a friend use Quark several versions ago scared me from ever trying it. I'm very happy with InDesign, been using it since its somewhat shoddy initial release. Version CS3 is great, minor ongoing annoyances notwithstanding. I can't image a Quark suite catching on very well, because the other components in the Adobe Suite (Photoshop, Illustrator) that it would compete with are so strongly embraced by the design community as to be standards even for Quark users.

"QuarkXPress 8 to take dead aim at Adobe’s Creative Suite this August?"

Dick Cheney will be hired as a consultant.

May 14, 08 - 11:41 am Comment from: iamdj

One half of our art department switched to InDesign this past year. The other half, which is the catalog department, will be converting to ID within the next year.

Cement what lead?

May 14, 08 - 11:48 am Comment from: Mac-nugget

Competition is good. But I really wonder if it's to little to late.

May 14, 08 - 01:07 pm Comment from: Mac-nugget

@ChrissyOne
I agree. Adobes typical customers simply happen to fall under the same traditional market strongholds Apple has always possessed.

Believe me Adobe needs Apple just as much as Apple needs Adobe, like it or not.

During the 90' we saw an exodus from the Mac to Windows (OS 9 was not very stable, and the hardware was stagnated), but that trend has been completely reversed by Apple. I only know of one print shop that is Windows only, needless to say, they are not very successful. They rely on Corel for all their in-house design work, like I said, not very successful.

"They rely on Corel for all their in-house design work . . ."

I'll bet they use a blender for haircuts and three-sided tires on their cars too.

I guess now we know where all those nifty "Your mother doesn't work here" signs for office break rooms are mass produced.