Quark: Mac OS X Not Ready 57
blankmange writes "NewsFactor reports that Quark's QuarkXPress is not quite up-to-snuff under Mac OS X." Sources in the article claim Mac OS X still isn't quite there in regard to printing, or predictability. That is, I suppose, you don't mind crashes as long as you know when they are going to happen and what is going to cause them.
Where's the Quark Clone? (Score:2, Insightful)
Re: GEGL and GIMP 2.0 will address this, in part (Score:2)
Just another reason (Score:3, Insightful)
Quark is too complacent (Score:5, Insightful)
I'm not a big fan of QXP due to its history of annoying and serious bugs that caused all manner of stability and reliability problems. I do wish them success, but unfortunately they either have a lot of legacy issues or they really think that other companies won't be a problem while they take their sweet time to port. OS X's printing isn't perfect, but the fundamental PS support is there and works well enough, so that's a poor excuse.
Ask Lotus (1-2-3) about the consequences of complacency in the marketplace. Microsoft laughs all the way to the bank.
Re:Quark is too complacent (Score:2)
When was the last release of Quark? They seem to wait like 3-5 years between major releases, leaving their users frustrated with stale, buggy software. I think this is why people are so eager to adopt something new like Adobe's InDesign.
Re:Quark is too complacent (Score:2)
The last major release of Quark (5) [quark.com] was actually quite recent. It is not OS X compatible, but it does attempt to include web authoring capabilities, putting it into direct competition with Dreamweaver - a program that is more popular with web designers, easier to learn, more powerful, several hundred dollars cheaper, classic-mode compatible with OS X, and on the fast track to native support.
While Quark was working on their latest little gem, Apple ripped down their entire operating system architecture and started from scratch to build an operating system built on a different kernel, but able to work with with the same kind of interface, worked the bugs out to the point that it is now more stable than its predecessor, and able to run a native version of something as complex as Photoshop. And Quark accuses Apple of being inadequate. I know who I'd rather believe.
I wonder if Quark is really so clueless, or if their PHBs have settled into a de-facto retirement, and are just using their momentum to ride the gravy train until they run out of track.
Sounds to me like... (Score:5, Insightful)
Re:Sounds to me like... (Score:2)
Re:Sounds to me like... (Score:2)
I don't see why a port of FrameMaker would be any more difficult than, say, Photoshop (also with plenty of legacy code).
I seem to remember they're trying to expand use of FrameMaker, and I doubt they'd be able to do that without a MacOS X port in the pipeline. If it were a dying product, I'd say it would never get ported, but apparently it isn't.
I'd love to give it a try, but sadly it's just too expensive for casual use.
D
Re:Sounds to me like... (Score:2)
Re:Sounds to me like... (Score:1)
Am I confused in to what your "Blend in" means?
Re:Sounds to me like... (Score:2)
Re:Sounds to me like... (Score:1)
Re:Sounds to me like... (Score:2)
And while I will agree that there are issues with high-end printing solutions (pretty much every week I head complaints about how this or that super expensive printer doesn't have OS X drivers) Quark is basically a thug. Their not releasing a Carbonized version of Quark along with their very public comments (in this article and many others...I sometimes wonder if they have a PR guy out there full time spreading the word that they're not supporting OS X) are a direct, intentionally public slap in the face for Apple. They want things done their way, and they're doing their best to exert every bit of control they can over Apple, because Quark is a very important application for Apple. There are many people who wouldn't be using a Mac save for Quark.
I've never liked Quark. They've been thugs as long as I've been forced to deal with them. Unfortunately I'm going to have to suck it up and deal with their thuggery, because suggesting InDesign to my clients would at best garner me a laugh, at worst they'd call someone else when they're having problems.
Re:OS X will never be ready (Score:1, Redundant)
Does this mean they need to add more bugs (Score:4, Funny)
I'm having trouble parsing that last sentence. The only interpretation I can think of that (roughly) fits with the grammer and my understanding of the world is that Quark users will be disapointed under Mac OS X, since they are used to having their systems crash and knowing that Quark caused it, and now when their system crashes they won't know for sure if Quark caused it.
If that's the case, I can fix the problem easily. Just print out this post and patse the following line somewhere where you can refer to it often:
You're welcome.
-- MarkusQ
Re:Does this mean they need to add more bugs (Score:2)
I'm sure there are plenty of printing operations that are simply too cheap to buy the expensive newer Macs capable of running MacOS X. I wouldn't be surprised if Quark's real position is that MacOS X software simply isn't as lean and mean as Quark, and making Quark MacOS X compatible would sacrifice that image.
I have never used Quark, seeing that I just about never print anyway, but that's my suspicion based on what I've read.
You sound like someone who's used Quark too much. What do you think of InDesign? The reviews make me think it's a lot nicer to work with. Maybe your press house should consider supporting it.
D
Re:Does this mean they need to add more bugs (Score:2)
You sound like someone who's used Quark too much.
Yes, and far, far too late into the night trying to make a deadline on caffine and grim determination.
What do you think of InDesign? The reviews make me think it's a lot nicer to work with.
I haven't tried it, but you may well be right.
Maybe your press house should consider supporting it.
I was further upstream (downstream?) than that; I was stuck using Quark because that's what our printer accepted.
-- MarkusQ
Re:Does this mean they need to add more bugs (Score:2)
Apparently there has been an influx of InDesign users, but still not enough to make much of an impact. But the more there are, the more likely Quark is to face the cold winds of real competition.
D
Yup, sounds like Quark. Remeber floppies? (Score:4, Interesting)
Not too long ago, you needed both a floppy drive and a CD to install XPress 3.31(?) on your box. The CD contained all the app data, the floppy held the serialization info. (And there was yet another floppy for registration. You'd mail that disk directly to Quark after you were done.) Annoying, but you could live with it. But when Apple decided to go no-floppy across their entire product line -- ouch! Suddenly no one could install Quark on those beyoootiful new G3s for which they'd shelled out so much money. (Or at least not without buying some USB external floppy drives, which were hard-to-find early on.) And for months afterwards, Quark did next to nothing about this very obvious problem.
IIRC, they eventually settled it so you could send them a proof-of-purchase, your original program disks and a vial of blood harvested from a virgin under the full moon's light and get a CD-only version of the installer. But back at the time, it was a HUGE issue for a lot of bureaus and design shops.
Re:Yup, sounds like Quark. Remeber floppies? (Score:2, Informative)
Re:Yup, sounds like Quark. Remeber floppies? (Score:1)
Almost anyone could moraly sleep at night, even jesus!
Re:Yup, sounds like Quark. Remeber floppies? (Score:1)
Re:Yup, sounds like Quark. Remeber floppies? (Score:1)
Re:Yup, sounds like Quark. Remeber floppies? (Score:1)
BTW, I've used XPress since its inception, and I hate it. I hope InDesign kills it fscking dead.
Quark die (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Quark die (Score:2)
The success of the package is pretty much accidental. It was originally written as a word processor for the (hopelessly unsuccessful) Apple
XPress on Mac is now the status quo in print production; freelancers, art directors, designers - pretty much anyone who is serious - uses it and the QPS workflow software. XPress also has a mature plug-in market which is another barrier to competitors.
On the other hand, Quark's screw-up in moving to OSX is the best opportunity for a competitor since the mid-nineties when XPress seemed stuck at version 3.1
Re:Quark die (Score:2, Insightful)
Re:Quark die (Score:1)
Close. Quark wrote MacWrite Pro, which was a word processor, for the first Macintosh. XPress was never a word processor and didn't run on an Apple ///. XPress came out much later, after Aldus Pagemaker.
Ironically, since Quark knows how to write word processors, you would think they could make importing MS Word files work properly!
Plus it took them until version 5 to get table support in XPress.
Quark is a dinosaur (Score:3, Insightful)
On top of this most editorial bureaus are stuck with that Pig of a software editorial system: CopyDesk, even though it is typical Quark slow, crashware. Adobe has an answer solution and hopefully this will stimulate the market somewhat.
I have my own beef with Quark as regards the mFactory mTropolis Multimedia Tool that Quark bought up in an attempt to get into that market when their own useless POS, XPress_coupled Immedia didn't get anywhere. They provided no marketing, no support and no development of the tool which then consequently and unsurprisingly didn't expand it's user base. The brilliance of mTropolis can not be overstated in that, even now, 5 years after Quark killed it, there is an *expanding* user group on yahoo groups.
After Quark killed the tool, the user base tried various methods to get the source or at least a development licence from Quark to no avail. Apart from the one million dollar price tag that Quark put on the dead code (which the user group could obviously not afford) they stipulated that "all negative comments pertaining to Quark" must cease before they would think about it because there was such an outcry.
I do *not* wish that company well.
Re:Quark is a dinosaur (Score:1)
Quark shortcuts in InDesign (Score:1)
Everybody just chill! (Score:3, Insightful)
As for the Quark vs. Adobe(PM, InD) argument, that could be changing. Adobe burned some bridges by stating there was not going to be future updates on Pagemaker and then shoveling that POS InDesign 1.0 to us. But InDesign 2.0 is very cool! I like it alot and I'm using it more. Quark Killer? I don't think so. But it might split my project load with Quark.
I use hammers to pound nails, and screwdrivers to turn screws. I'll use the software that works best for the job at hand...and none of them do everything perfectly, so save religion for church!
--
I'm sorry, but your opininion seems to be wrong.
Re:Everybody just chill! (Score:1)
whatever (Score:3, Funny)
What's all that stuff good for? Almost all printed matter that I come across that is actually worth reading is black-and-white, has a simple layout, simple fonts, and simple typesetting. High-end typesetting seems like an obsession akin to high-end sports cars or expensive antiques. And for high-quality color images, I rather go on-line.
Re:whatever (Score:3, Insightful)
You never read magazines? Or even newspapers? How about that box of cookies? The package your latest computer game came in? Music CDs?
All that stuff was done using this type of gear, and probably done in Quark, Illustrator, Photoshop, et al. Even that simple stuff.
Yeah, I work in the industry too...
Getting back to the Quark discussion, they have always had contempt for anyone but them selves. The CEO once said all their customers were crooks! I use the program everyday. I think it's a great program, BUT it's still riddled with bugs, and the fact that they didn't do an OS X version is just crazy. Anything they say is just an excuse to cover their ass. At home I run OS X 99% of the time, only booting into 9.2.2 to run Cubase VST. I use InDesign 2.0 now, and it's a great program. I don't miss Quark at all.
At work we are still using 9.1 and Quark ... but that will change at some point.
Re:whatever (Score:2)
No, generally, I don't. News is now conveniently available on-line, and all the other stuff is just packaging. Fancy packaging generally suggests a lack of good content to me, and publishers would be better off keeping things simple as far as I'm concerned.
Re:whatever (Score:1)
Guess you don't read books then either huh? That's pretty dull, if you ask me. Not everything is news, and you usually can't get all the content online. My point was that everything you see around you that is printed probably made it's way past one of these programs (and was most likely created on a Mac too)! I think most people would object if everything looked like it came from a typewriter.
Fancy packaging is all part of the presentation, just like eating at a nice restaurant vs. Burger King.
Good design is art. There is more to life than the bare essentials.
Re:whatever (Score:1)
For what it's worth, the phrase that can strike fear in any prepress dept's heart is: "...it's just a simple one-color job..."
(Lately our black-only cheap-and-cheezy stuff has been going to a Canon high-speed toner on paper printer that probably cost more than any of us will make before retirement.)
Quark lost my business years ago (Score:1)
Re:Quark lost my business years ago (Score:1)
Exactly! This is why they don't have an OS X version yet, and they are blaming it on Apple!
Quark has basically been a hack of a program all these years.
We haven't upgraded to 5 yet here at work, but I did use the public beta version, and yes, they finally updated Quark to look like System 8! I bet the widgets use some hard coded WDEFs instead of the Mac Toolbox though! They say the next version will run on OS X... in another three years maybe?
Long live PageMaker (Score:1)
Quark as an App (Score:1)
It's still got the same open and save boxes as we used when we had 80s punkrocker haircuts.
It needs more upgrading than most apps to work on OS X.
I may very well switch, but not this year. (Score:2, Insightful)
More and more Presses are accepting PDF files these days, so it's not as big of an issue if they don't carry InDesign. More troublesome is if you receive ads from clients that are in Quark, and you have to maintain both programs (and, consequently, both environments), just to be able to accept the ads.
Also, there's the consideration of the various plugins (or XTensions, if you are speaking specifically of Quark), as well as applescripts and the like. You lose whatever you had for customized workflow when you switch, so there has to be time to get everything working in a reasonably similar manner before you switch. If you have a database driven workflow, breaking that is seriously going to suck. On the other hand, chances are that Quark will only upgrade 5 to OS X, not 4, so it will break all of the plugins anyways.
Finally, there's the budget. In my case, I'm not going to be able to afford all of the upgrades until next year, chances are. I'm not in a big rush to go to OS X, but it's definitely in the plans. I want to stop the computer from crashing. If an app drops out here and there, no big deal, but if I can reduce the number of restarts per day to close to 0, then I will consider that a huge win. The question is, which will be the better program when it's time to switch? Even given my time frame, I bet it'll be InDesign.
=Brian
From a software developer, and user standpoint (Score:1)
But what else is there?
Quark's Nebulus Industrial Crap (Score:1)
Introduction to writing Plug-Ins for InDesign (Score:1)
For more information about creating plug-ins for Adobe products, go to:
For more information about Adobe InDesign, go to: