QuarkXpress 10 released but you can't download it!

I've always said Quark were crap at what they do. Their software has always had that feeling of being likely to crash at anytime, with terrible UIs and chunkiness that makes the whole experience a white knuckle ride, especially when dealing with important files.

Despite that it's kind of like the situation with Microsoft Office. It's a huge runny pile of poo, and is so runny it's woven into the grass and try as you might you just can't get rid of it. I went over to InDesign for a bit but despite all of Quarks failings, its just much simpler to use, plus all my work is already in QXD.

So today I've gone to download my purchase of Quarkxpress 10 and try as I might I simply cannot get to the file. Im asked time and time again to input my login details and then I just get rerouted back to the front of the store. No download nothing. Im just faced with the option buy Quark 10 which I've already done. So I check out the FAQ - How to download. I do all the silly things it says like turning off my firewall (?) and still no joy. So I call the number that is displayed on every page of their website - its not recognised!!! So my last option is a tiny form that looks like a chimp has put together to ask what the hell is going on. The English is wrong and the form is all over the place. I click submit and I get "Your message has send" but the form was still there saying I needed to input my phone number which I have already done. I mean WTF? Do they have any idea how crap they appear as a company? It's ridiculous.

I have given them so many chances against InDesign and as much as I dislike Adobe's new money grabbing initiative I may switch over indefinitely and simply get a refund because it seems this expensive new bit of software I cant access has been coded by idiots. Maybe thats why I cant access it - because they know themselves how bad it is. That probably explains why there is already a 10.0.01 patch?!

Has anyone managed to download it today?

4.1 was the last good version I agree but I unfortunately need Q10. So I've waited to give them time to sort any launch issues and its only got worse. I need to register my Q7 to upgrade from but it wont accept the serial. I already have an account and I'm logged in but its asking me to create an account (?). I've filled in form after form in an attempt to make contact with them as all other routes dont work, including the phone number, and the forms refuse to accept messages. So how the hell am i supposed to get the product I have bought? I have the serial number (I had to go hunting for it) I cant get a validation code nor an activation code. I had to down load the file as a trial in the hope I can use the codes to make it a full install. How do you get an activation code? Apparently you have to launch the app to get the code? How the **** do you launch the app when you cant install it because you dont have the code?!!!!

Support part of their site is down for pre-planned maintenance on a launch weekend too.

I have no way of contacting them!

EDIT: After trawling the web I've managed to find a phone number that works and after being on hold for about an hour I was told you can't upgrade from 7 to 10 even though their website clearly said "Final day to save!
QuarkXPress 10 is on its way. It doesn't matter what version you're using — we have a deal for you." So I'm waiting for them to honour my purchase and upgrade me from 7 to 10. Either way I am really not impressed by Quark (again).

Liquidstate said:

I just upgraded from Quark 3.something. It cost $349 plus tax. I upgraded because Adobe has lost their mind and is trying to make everything subscription and cloud based. So OK, I know how to use Quark.

The Quark phone support person I spoke was excellent. In my recent experience, that variation is the new normal, regardless of the company.

Anyway, here's how the Quark 10 offer works. First, you upgrade to Quark 9. And then you are given the path to a free upgrade to Quark 10. Whoever you spoke to at Quark didn't understand their own offer, and should have accurately described the upgrade path.

Here's the Quark FAQ page describing the offer:

http://content.quark.com/Buy9Get10-FAQ-US.html

The Quark phone number to customer service is:

800-676-4575 Option #3

Quark's customer support hours are M-F 12 to 6, Sat 11 to 5, Mountain Time.

Knowing this, you should be able to successfully complete your upgrade.

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That phone number is not recognised in the UK even though its listed at the top of the UK store. I still haven't resolved the issue and I'm awaiting Quark to respond with yet another code to help with activation or validation or registration.. or is it.. installation? I have no idea what code I'm waiting for for which part of the four processes to get this to work. The download link they provided didnt even work and I had to download Q10 from the trial downloads page. At the moment its installed as a trial. Its just easier to bloody pirate the thing. I may as well Ive paid for it.

FYI I bought CS6 from Adobe the same day. Downloaded from the link they provided, input the serial and all ten applications work. Why can't Quark do that?

I'm on hold now and what they tell you on the phone regarding the website is wrong too. What they tell you to click on simply doesnt exist. They have no clue what they're doing.

UPDATE: They have told me I need to pay another 20% to upgrade. Guess which software I'm using from now on?

UPDATE2: Looks like I'm not the only one to fall for this as they have now added a line at the top the Quark 10 page saying you can't upgrade from Quark 7 only 8 or 9 despite clearly saying previously you can upgrade from any version.

Liquidstate said:

As I said in my previous post, you have to upgrade to Quark9 first. So the upgrade path is:

1. Use the offer to upgrade to Quark9

2. Wait for the email from Quark announcing the official release of Quark10.

3. Use your Quark9 info to upgrade to Quark10 within the time limit.

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As I said in MY previous post the wording on their website was misleading. It said "It does not matter which version you are using - upgrade to Quark 10 today!".
Only now a few days after the product has gone on sale have they added very conveniently at the top of the Quark 10 page. "Please note: Only QuarkXPress 8 and QuarkXPress 9 licenses are eligible for upgrades to QuarkXPress 10. Users of version 7 and earlier will need to purchase a new full license of version 10. Education and Non-Profit licenses are not eligible for upgrades. QuarkXPress 8 licenses are only eligible to upgrade to version 10 until December 31, 2013." which suggests to me that other people have been misled too.

We bought CS6 alongside the upgrade to Q10 so we already have InDesign to swap over to. While it would mean any artwork we have created in the past would need recomposing for InDesign (and thats a hell of a lot of work - thousands of files we reuse each year) with Quarks attitude about this I am actually quite happy to do it to get away from them. The ball is now in their court after their insistence we pay another 20%. I've said we either get the upgrade or a refund. Just waiting on them now.

spacedcadet said:

There is a relatively decent plug-on for InDesign that will convert old Quark files to InDesign format.

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Thanks I'll take a look.

opeter said:

Hello, can someone tell me, if QuarkXpress can open Indesign files (INDD) or IDML files?

Thanks.

Because the last version I used was 4.11 Passport.

One of the problem of Quark is that their webshop is not working in global manner (look at the Attachment).

Their prices for their product - here, were I live - are simply ridiculous. For the price, that they want for QuarkXpress, I can buy the whole Adobe Creative Suite Deisgn Standard package ...

Ant then if you want to find other (international) sellers:
http://www.quark.com/about/contact/international_sales_service.html

This site is not working.

Server Error
500 - Internal server error.
There is a problem with the resource you are looking for, and it cannot be displayed.

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This is exactly my point about their website. It is utter *****. Sometimes you can log in sometimes you can't. Sometimes you are logged in but it asks you to login again which then gets rejected so your still locked out. Internal server errors abound. Their web forms dont accept messages. The phone number is invalid. The support forum rarely lets you log in so you cant do squat and they sit there with your money while you just get more and more infuriated. In the end after trying to send a long message on the third attempt it went through but by this time is was worded so shi**y they obviously didnt like my tone lol.

I've asked them for a refund via an email address they gave me and they still have not responded.

BT's customer service is the worst I have ever encountered but Quark is approaching that level at light speed and depending on the outcome of this they may very well surpass it and then some.

Liquidstate said:

When Adobe gets to the point where you are renting your business on a monthly basis from them (paying them a monthly fee to open YOUR files), then we'll see how much love they get.

They've already started to get invasive. Last June, I built a website, using BBEdit. When I clicked on the BBEdit icon for the site's CSS typography file, the file suddenly opened up with an Adobe icon. And then all the other CSS file icons changed from BBEdit icons to Dreamweaver5 (which is on my computer because it's part of CS5, but I never use it).

Adobe aggressively changed the preferences for my CSS files. I went into the Get Info boxes and changed the files back to BBEdit. But I don't like companies that change my files on my hard drive without my permission.

I'm not saying Quark is an angelic company. But neither is Adobe now. In regards to Quark, I'll reserve judgment until I can use Quark10 for print.

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I too despise apps forcing changes on my system. Adobe try hard to take over PDF viewing in Safari too.

When Adobe went subscription based I thought I'd give Quark another chance but they've blown it big style and as there is no other alternative I'll be sticking with CS6 for a while.

Just waiting for the Quark refund, well a response to my request for a refund. From this experience its going to be anything but easy to actually get my money back.

So here is a little update. We are now using InDesign and its so much better I'm actually genuinely stunned at the difference. I can work so much faster and the learning curve is pretty much non existent.

We did however end up buying Q10 but only to buy us some time on newer hardware while we transfer everything over to InDesign. That being said Q10 has actually caused more problems than using InDesign. All our current artwork done in Q7 when imported to Q10 basically needs rebuilding because Q10 is riddled with bugs (loads of them). First of all, all images are out of position they all sit off to the right and below where they should do. So every image needs to be 'updated' (relinked). If you do that however all it does is render a sharper image and move the image into a different incorrect position so basically you have to manually reimport every single image in a document. Its not just a graphical glitch as they print out of position too if you don't reimport.

Q10 is touted as having a new graphics rendering engine... it is so slow it is almost unusable. Q7 is far faster and InDesign is in a whole other league!

Q10 doesnt play nice with fonts. I can have a document with multiple instances of a font but for some reason one of them simply refuses to render the font. It says it cant be found yet there is another text box sitting right next to it with the very same font working fine. So you have to uninstall and reinstall fonts but this doesnt always fix the problem. The best way is to simply choose a different font which is ridiculous.

Q10 simply will not print to anything other than A4. I can only print to A4 no matter what settings I change they never set or save and it defaults back to A4 (on all 3 of our printers).

Spot colours in Q10 simply print as black which isnt a problem when sending to a rip to create plates but how do you proof your work?

Some vital print options have been removed and you can no longer choose 'separations' to print with. You can only have 'In-Rip' separations which causes all kinds of colour problems (on our setup at least).

Q10 simply will not work with 8bit Grayscale or bitmap tiffs. They print as black boxes. I've had to convert all 8bit graphics to 16bit and then reimport. If you use grayscale tiffs for transparencies you're in for a treat.

There are a load more major problems and its simply not ready to be used in a production environment. It is genuinely quicker to recreate EVERYTHING in InDesign than it is to rebuild all our Quark documents in Q10. So thats exactly what we are doing.

Q10 will be the last ever version I use of Quark and I've been a Quark user for 15 years (unfortunately).

I think it speaks volumes that no one else here has actually said they have bought Quark 10.

firedept said:

I am a user of Adobe's programs and have never used Quark. But I certainly can relate to this thread. Yes, Quark & Corel both have a real opportunity right now to finally come knocking at Adobe's door and take advantage. A lot of people are not happy with Adobe's new business model.

Below is a response I received from Adobe in regards to a bug that needs to be fixed in AE CS6. I was told since CS 6's release this would be fixed. There is a post on Adobe's board in regards to this bug. This response came after an update to AE last week. Finally thought I was going to see the fix.

Do not be fooled by Adobe either. They seem to have one agenda and that is push CC. I sure wish there were more alternatives for users. Some of these companies have forgot the customer.

I was choked by Adobe's response. They have been really good over the years, but after a year of requesting and a year of being told the problem will be solved, this is an inappropriate response.

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cjoy said:

We did - and unfortunately it is more of a paid beta than a solid release.
Thus we still use Quark 9 which, especially on the mac, still has a few strong points going for it compared to InDesign. Just like InDesign has a ton of features where Quark is lacking. We use both.

What I wont ever use however is the Adobe CC.
To be at the mercy of Adobe to that extend is not something I am willing to get into. CC forces you to buy every update they release ... I always thought the pressure on upgrading Adobe software merely "because the market has moved to CS XX" was bad enough - but now it is not just pressure, through CC it has become mandatory.

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Oh I'm not fooled by Adobe either. They are there to make money which is fine but when they wipe out any possible consumer choice by buying up the market and then going subscription based thats plain ass wrong - Standard Oil anyone?

Pixelmator is a fine app but is not quite ready for a professional environment just yet but seeing how active the development team are and having spoken to the Pixelmator team I'm confident that Pixelmator will one day be a worthy opponent to Photoshop.

I bought CS6 and Q10 on the same day. I phoned Adobe and they tried to push CC on me and I flat out told them I didn't agree with the subscription model; you all know what happened with Quark hehe.

The next few years are going to be very interesting in the graphics industry. I'm hoping the guys at Pixelmator can pull a few surprises.