CorelDRAW - Version Upgrades Going Bye Bye, Subscription-Only Soon

[Bobby H]

Well, contrary to past publicity statements from the folks at Corel, it's looking like the company is attempting to strong-arm users into a subscription-only model. I say it's "looking like" because some of the statements on the Corel web site and purchase options are a little confusing. One thing that isn't confusing: it's pretty clear they want all users shifted over to paying at least $198 per year to use the software as a service.

Previously a CorelDRAW user could stick with the existing version he had, wait out a couple version cycles until the improvements added up into enough of an upgrade worth purchasing, and do so for a standard upgrade price. I've skipped several product cycle versions over the years. Most recently I went from version X6 to X8 and then X8 to CDR 2018. I didn't bother with X7 or CDR 2017.

Those days are apparently coming to an end "later this year."

If you visit Corel's web site and check out the product page for CorelDRAW 2019 you'll see a little tab for "purchase options." On that sub-page it contains the verbiage, "Later this year, upgrades (download and box products) will no longer be available. Add Upgrade Protection to your purchase to get future versions at a fraction of the cost or choose a subscription, to always stay current. To purchase Upgrade Protection, simply add it in-cart when you buy CorelDRAW Graphics Suite 2019."

This "upgrade protection" option costs $99 per year. I don't understand what that "protection" provides or the specific dollar amount "fraction of the cost" implies. To me it smells like they want a $99 revolving fee from users to let them have the opportunity to buy a new version of CorelDRAW (probably for at least another $99 on top of the $99 you're already paying) when the new version is released. In effect, the user is signing up for a subscription plan even though he has perpetual license software.

Anyone who wants to continue skipping product versions due to minimal improvements will have to pay the full version price (currently $499) when finally upgrading to a new perpetual license version. It's either that start paying a revolving fee: $99 per year just to have the opportunity to buy an upgrade or $16.50 per month (billed $198 annually) for the subscription version.

It's possible for users to choose staying with an old version of CorelDRAW permanently. But as we've seen, both Microsoft and Apple can make changes to their desktop operation systems that break older, legacy software (and hardware too). At some point the user is forced to upgrade software. That often happens when buying a new computer.

I really have to question the logic behind this policy change to upgrades for perpetual license owners. Corel isn't in the same league as Adobe. They don't have the same kind of leverage over its users as Adobe does. If they think they do it's a delusion of grandeur. Corel may be based in Ottawa, Canada. But the company is effectively owned by Vector Capital, a private equity firm who loaded up Corel with a huge amount of debt to fund acquisitions of other software technology products. I don't have the best opinion of "vulture capital" firms. My mother has worked at a Sears store in Colorado for over 20 years, so I've watched what one of these firms did to put Sears into a death spiral. This change of policy sounds like something stock trader "suits" would dream up rather than people who are keenly familiar with the graphics software market.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

Does this really come as a surprise? Most things in the computer world are going subscription. I would say most people are getting used to it. I know I was one of those that during Adobe's move to subscription only and Corel was saying that you could still get perpetual license was wondering how long that was going to last.

While Corel may not have the same leverage as Adobe, since most of the "bigger boys" (including Adobe) are subscription based, the issue isn't quite the same. You have up and comers like Affinity Designer, but I wouldn't say it's mainstream "big boy" yet. And who knows if they goes this route eventually or not.

Adobe and Corel, it makes sense. ~30 yr old programs, running out of things to "shake it up" with.

But most people have willing gone the subscription route as it is. It blows my mind, but OK.

I do have to wonder how that's going to affect something like Wilcom, where a version of DRAW would come with it. Is Wilcom too going to go subscription (wouldn't be surprised as it's even older then DRAW and Ai (1979 or so)).

It's possible for users to choose staying with an old version of CorelDRAW permanently. But as we've seen, both Microsoft and Apple can make changes to their desktop operation systems that break older, legacy software (and hardware too). At some point the user is forced to upgrade software. That often happens when buying a new computer.

VMing (not emulation, although that is an option, just with much more of a performance hit) is a wonderful thing. I'm able to run 4 OSs at one time (one OS VM within another OS VM (can't do that with emulation)) and some of the programs date back to the DOS days (something can't even do in 32 bit Windows with NTVDM, for those programs that require full screen DOS that is).

 

[scrip]

I'm on the Upgrade protection since 2014
renew every 365 days
and that all I ever have paid to stay current.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

Interestingly enough, the Purchase Options on the Mac version do not mention the change in purchase options coming in later in the year.

 

[Bobby H]

Does this really come as a surprise? Most things in the computer world are going subscription. I would say most people are getting used to it. I know I was one of those that during Adobe's move to subscription only and Corel was saying that you could still get perpetual license was wondering how long that was going to last.

I get why they're moving to a subscription based setup: it potentially creates far more steady cash flow. In the old days if a software company released a turd-quality upgrade that everyone skipped their revenue would go in the toilet. With users on the hook for at least some kind of revolving bill or subscription they're unable to skip a bad version.

Customers like me can't help but ask, "what value am I getting for paying all that extra money?" For instance, is the upgrade from CorelDRAW 2018 to CorelDRAW 2019 worth $199? In my humble opinion: NO. The improvements are so marginal it's probably not even worth $99.

Corel used to have its full version upgrades on a 2 year cycle, with each upgrade costing roughly $199. Now the price is effectively doubled since Corel has gone to a yearly full version cycle. It's obvious they're doing that on a yearly basis to keep up with the cosmetics of product labeling to compare with Adobe. The upgrading cost is doubled for what looks like diminishing returns with each product cycle.

While Corel may not have the same leverage as Adobe, since most of the "bigger boys" (including Adobe) are subscription based, the issue isn't quite the same. You have up and comers like Affinity Designer, but I wouldn't say it's mainstream "big boy" yet. And who knows if they goes this route eventually or not.

Adobe is subject to the same problem of diminishing returns. They offset that by the giant number of applications and other bonuses included with a Creative Cloud subscription. For me, CorelDRAW is the only legit attraction out of the "Corel Graphics Suite."

Affinity Designer doesn't cost nearly as much as a full version of CorelDRAW. It's literally one tenth the price ($49.99). Autodesk Graphic for OSX is $29.99 and $8.99 for the iPad Pro. While these applications might be promising for future projects there's still the issue of maintaining existing art files and handling art files from other customers. We have a giant pile of Corel-based artwork which requires some CorelDRAW installations. Customer provided artwork is often very Adobe-centric. Combine that with issues of large format printing and that makes Adobe's software a must-have item for us.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

With users on the hook for at least some kind of revolving bill or subscription they're unable to skip a bad version.

With Adobe's cloud, are you not able to keep using say 2016 even if they are at 2019? Doesn't it require installing the new version? Or is it deployed through the update? In which case, could you turn off the update?

I get that your still paying for it (and that's bad enough when your avoiding the latest and "greatest"), but since there isn't a choice, production down time would be more of an issue at that point.

Adobe is subject to the same problem of diminishing returns. They offset that by the giant number of applications and other bonuses included with a Creative Cloud subscription. For me, CorelDRAW is the only legit attraction out of the "Corel Graphics Suite."

Affinity Designer doesn't cost nearly as much as a full version of CorelDRAW. It's literally one tenth the price ($49.99). Autodesk Graphic for OSX is $29.99 and $8.99 for the iPad Pro. While these applications might be promising for future projects there's still the issue of maintaining existing art files and handling art files from other customers. We have a giant pile of Corel-based artwork which requires some CorelDRAW installations. Customer provided artwork is often very Adobe-centric. Combine that with issues of large format printing and that makes Adobe's software a must-have item for us.

That wasn't the point that I was trying to make.

The point is that the subscription model has already been legitimized with Adobe doing it exclusively. Like it or not, they have set the "standard". The majority of the people (at least 51%) have accepted it (don't confuse accepting with liking, they are not the same thing). Corel was the hold out, which once they started labeling yearly and releasing yearly, the writing was on the way. Testing doesn't go quite as smoothly always doing a yearly release cadence.

Shoot, there are some that cheered it on.

This is the bed that has been made.

 

[Bobby H]

With Adobe's cloud, are you not able to keep using say 2016 even if they are at 2019?

Yes. You can install previous versions back to version CS6. In the Creative Cloud app you'll see a list of applications. To the right of each application there is an "Install" button or an "Open" button if the app is already installed. There's a little drop down arrow next to the Open and Install buttons. Click that and select "manage" from the fly-out menu and then select "previous versions." If someone wants to install a new version and continue using a previous version he has to be careful to change settings. By default installing a new version of an application will remove previous versions.

I'm on the Upgrade protection since 2014
renew every 365 days
and that all I ever have paid to stay current

You're saying all you have to pay is the $99 "upgrade protection" fee to upgrade from CorelDRAW 2018 to 2019? There's not an extra charge involved on top of that $99? If that's the case it's a little bit better of a deal. Still, it looks like if I paid $199 to upgrade to 2019 I would have to pay an additional $99 to get the upgrade, plus upgrade protection, to get that possible $99 per year upgrade cycle going.

 

[unclebun]

It's still cheaper than the roughly $300 a year I pay Adobe for a single app subscription to Illustrator so that I can open and resave the files I get from clueless Adobe users who don't know how to export something that can be used universally. And it's roughly equal to what I've been paying Corel over the years. I've averaged an upgrade every two years, at $199 (occasionally on sale for $159).

 

[billsines]

I think the handwriting is on the wall for some of this software that has nowhere to go. So to keep the revenue stream coming in, it's on to neverending monthly payments, which, unfortunately, our society wholeheartedly accepts as an acceptable norm.

As for hitting the end of the line for progress, I think phones are just about there too. Where else do they go? A slightly better camera? A slightly better processor? Bigger screen? A screen that folds in half that costs more than most teens' first cars?

 

[Johnny Best]

I was excited they have a Mac version since so many of you love the software over Illustrator. But do not like the monthly payment set up. I will stick with Affinity and Adobe products. I still only use Adobe CS6 because I refuse to do that monthly thing. Affinity products are still a download and inexpensive and I am slowly moving in that direction. And ON1 Photo Raw to replace Photoshop.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

I think the handwriting is on the wall for some of this software that has nowhere to go.

Well, I do think that they have acquisitions to add things on (and/or remove competition) their existing products. But outside some of them revamping their codebase to be more efficient for newer hardware, not really a lot lot left for them (at least on the surface.

I was excited they have a Mac version since so many of you love the software over Illustrator. But do not like the monthly payment set up.

I think if you were to get it out, you could get the perpetual license.

It's interesting to note though, that change in policy warning only appears on the Windows variant options, not on the Mac. Might just be an error, but it's one that they need to correct if that's what it is.

One thing that I do worry about though is that I think there was an X4 user that complained about the popup banner said he copy wasn't legit, even though he called and had it confirmed that it was from Corel. I believe though he was told to upgrade if he wanted that banner to stop. If I'm remembering the situation correctly and if that's how it happened, that to me would be a concern if I had my production computer online and X4 didn't require online activation, these do.

Affinity products are still a download...

Not directed to you Johnny, just a general comment.

If people are considering keeping legacy programs that don't have a download option, I would highly suggest with optical media seeming to losing favor, to "burn" those discs as ISOs (good for backups as well). Most modern OSs will mount an ISO as a virtual optical drive (those that go the VM route for even legacy OSs, the VM software uses those as well for mounting as disc drives in the VM, so the user doesn't have to pass through the physical drive to the VM (if they have it). Use disc authoring software, not archival software. Want the entire file names preserved, archival software (in my experience) just does it automatically without any warning.

 

[Bobby H]

I think the handwriting is on the wall for some of this software that has nowhere to go. So to keep the revenue stream coming in, it's on to neverending monthly payments, which, unfortunately, our society wholeheartedly accepts as an acceptable norm.

I don't think "society" is accepting the situation as an "acceptable norm." I don't think it's fair to blame this on consumers. The real issue is people who depend on this software for their work are stuck with no decent alternatives. The venture capital guys who own many of these software companies (including Corel) know this and are going to price gouge as much as they can until the customer can find a good alternative. This is more than just creating enough of a revenue stream going for the company to be able to afford keeping its development team other employees working. A bunch of this is about selling stock to investors.

Does anyone remember how different the situation was in the 1990's? Does competitive upgrades ring a bell? I remember being able to buy a competitive upgrade of Freehand Graphics Studios 7 just for being a registered Adobe Illustrator 4 user. Those days seem like a distant memory now.

Many of us have long been tired of having to buy new hardware and software on a frequent basis. Today it's not difficult to get a full decade of productive life out of a desktop computer. The laptop I use at home is almost 8 years old and only now starting to struggle with modern software. That's one good thing that's different from the 1990's when many of us were replacing computers far more frequently. Of course back then performance improvements were far greater with each new generation than the incremental changes we see now.

Software has reached a similar maturity level, with many new upgrades these days offering pretty underwhelming improvements. Many of us would probably prefer to just keep using a certain stable version of an application permanently. Unfortunately that's not very easy to do.

The software industry, distributors of operating systems (Apple & Microsoft mainly) and digital-based criminal activity (hacking, spreading malware) has created an environment where security patches and other improvements to operating systems frequently break older versions of software. I can't help but wonder if that is deliberate. We see all kinds of sleazy things coming to light from those at the top. So I don't think it would be all that far fetched for companies like Microsoft and Apple to employ "black hats" to create situations that make these patches and upgrades necessary. Very often when someone finally gets around to buying a new computer he's often forced to buy a bunch of software upgrades at the same time because the old stuff won't work anymore.

It's interesting to note though, that change in policy warning only appears on the Windows variant options, not on the Mac. Might just be an error, but it's one that they need to correct if that's what it is.

There's no $199 upgrade option for the Mac version of CorelDRAW 2019. Windows users cannot cross-grade to it. The only choices are buying the $499 full version or signing up for the $16.50 per month subscription plan. I don't know if the $99 "upgrade protection" option is available in the cart for anyone purchasing the full Mac version of CorelDRAW 2019.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

I don't think "society" is accepting the situation as an "acceptable norm." I don't think it's fair to blame this on consumers. The real issue is people who depend on this software for their work are stuck with no decent alternatives.

For some (yes, this is just "some", not "all", not even the "majority"), I speculate that this is more mental (in that they believe that they don't have an alternative) then they really don't. Not everyone mind you, there are those that do need specific programs.

Does anyone remember how different the situation was in the 1990's? Does competitive upgrades ring a bell? I remember being able to buy a competitive upgrade of Freehand Graphics Studios 7 just for being a registered Adobe Illustrator 4 user. Those days seem like a distant memory now.

Embroidery software is still done that way (or at least it was the last time that I bought one about 4 yrs ago, before I switched platforms).

Many of us have long been tired of having to buy new hardware and software on a frequent basis. Today it's not difficult to get a full decade of productive life out of a desktop computer. The laptop I use at home is almost 8 years old and only now starting to struggle with modern software. That's one good thing that's different from the 1990's when many of us were replacing computers far more frequently. Of course back then performance improvements were far greater with each new generation than the incremental changes we see now.

Depending on what hardware you get, with a rolling release distro (Win 10), may not get that type of life out of it.

I still have a working Win 95 laptop. Don't use it for much except "wowing" people that didn't grow up with Win 95 (although my fav is Win 98, which I run on my Lenovo ThinkStation whose specs blow out the ole Win 98 laptop that I used to have).

Software has reached a similar maturity level, with many new upgrades these days offering pretty underwhelming improvements. Many of us would probably prefer to just keep using a certain stable version of an application permanently. Unfortunately that's not very easy to do.

It used to be software was trying to catch up with hardware, seems like we are in the reverse now.

The software industry, distributors of operating systems (Apple & Microsoft mainly) and digital-based criminal activity (hacking, spreading malware) has created an environment where security patches and other improvements to operating systems frequently break older versions of software.

Security patches should not break a system. The "other improvements" part, yep, that's more then likely where the breakage is coming. But security patches themselves shouldn't break things, unless they are poorly implemented.

Now, I did have some sympathy with MS as their are far more hardware/software configurations out there then compared with Apple, but they still have their issues on occasion as well. Once they forced all updates on users (and it looks like their Enterprise users are going to get the same update treatment), that's when sympathy (and my usage) for Win 10 went out the window.

I can't help but wonder if that is deliberate. We see all kinds of sleazy things coming to light from those at the top. So I don't think it would be all that far fetched for companies like Microsoft and Apple to employ "black hats" to create situations that make these patches and upgrades necessary.

I wouldn't be surprised if it was deliberate, but I would be speculating. Whenever I think of updates purposely having issues with it, I think of that line from Tomorrow Never Dies.

Forcing security updates is one thing, but to also force "feature updates" (that last year alone don't think they ever got right first time out, y'all ready for the Spring update?), is where the problem is having it's biggest impact.

Very often when someone finally gets around to buying a new computer he's often forced to buy a bunch of software upgrades at the same time because the old stuff won't work anymore.

With Win 10 being a rolling release that it is, won't even have to buy a computer to be at the point having to deal with upgrading other stuff as well.

There's no $199 upgrade option for the Mac version of CorelDRAW 2019. Windows users cannot cross-grade to it. The only choices are buying the $499 full version or signing up for the $16.50 per month subscription plan. I don't know if the $99 "upgrade protection" option is available in the cart for anyone purchasing the full Mac version of CorelDRAW 2019.

Regardless if there is an upgrade option for a previous installation or not, a policy change from offering dual licensing options to one that we are all thinking is going to be subscription only should still be mentioned. At least in my mind.

 

[scrip]

Yes. You can install previous versions back to version CS6. In the Creative Cloud app you'll see a list of applications. To the right of each application there is an "Install" button or an "Open" button if the app is already installed. There's a little drop down arrow next to the Open and Install buttons. Click that and select "manage" from the fly-out menu and then select "previous versions." If someone wants to install a new version and continue using a previous version he has to be careful to change settings. By default installing a new version of an application will remove previous versions.



You're saying all you have to pay is the $99 "upgrade protection" fee to upgrade from CorelDRAW 2018 to 2019? There's not an extra charge involved on top of that $99? If that's the case it's a little bit better of a deal. Still, it looks like if I paid $199 to upgrade to 2019 I would have to pay an additional $99 to get the upgrade, plus upgrade protection, to get that possible $99 per year upgrade cycle going.

Paid the fee in 2014 and just the protection since then. yep!

 

[kcollinsdesign]

$16.50/month??? Who cares! I'll spend that on lunch! I'm just glad those guys get to keep their jobs and give Adobe a run for their money!

I mostly use Adobe, but Corel Draw is a hoot for Illustration and actual "drawing." "Painter" has the same advantage over Photoshop for the same reasons (anybody that wants to do freehand illustration and painting should absolutely check out those products, if for no other reason than how fun they are).

PS: My avatar was done in Painter. Maybe not everybody's style, but it was a blast creating it!

 

[WildWestDesigns]

$16.50/month??? Who cares! I'll spend that on lunch! I'm just glad those guys get to keep their jobs and give Adobe a run for their money!

When Adobe starting offering both licenses, I priced it out. For what I needed, it would take me 7 yrs (this was back in 2012 by the way), buying the set outright the 1st year, then upgrading every year after that, before it would actually cost more for the subscription. That's upgrading every new release to stay current at the prices for the time. Why by now, I would be saving money. They fact that I didn't have to go beyond CS6, even more savings.

I've never really been a user of DRAW, never installed it, even though it came with Wilcom when I was using that program. I would imagine that it would have a similar result as well. Similar result of paying more and having less control over the program as well. At least for me.

I mostly use Adobe, but Corel Draw is a hoot for Illustration and actual "drawing." "Painter" has the same advantage over Photoshop for the same reasons (anybody that wants to do freehand illustration and painting should absolutely check out those products, if for no other reason than how fun they are).

I never considered Ps to be a painter type application, so with regard to painting, Painter is the better choice. I know my mom loved using that program. I tried it out once. Wasn't bad at all, but I never played around with it long enough to really appreciate it. Now I am a fan of Krita (which is along the lines of Painter).

 

[bannertime]

Welp, glad I went with a new CC subscription. Gave Corel a shot for my personal use and decided to stick with Adobe. Doesn't look like I'll be missing out on much now.

 

[Bobby H]

$16.50/month??? Who cares! I'll spend that on lunch! I'm just glad those guys get to keep their jobs and give Adobe a run for their money!

It's one thing if you have only one computer running the software. Multiply the cost to five computers and it becomes annoying. Three of those production computers are running copies 2 or more versions old since it wasn't necessary for them to be running the latest version. Now all of those licenses will have to be brought up to date if they are to remain upgrade-able. Buying the $199 upgrade plus the $99 "upgrade protection" enrollment is $298. That cost times five is $1490. Then there's the added issue not every computer running this stuff is brand new.

Then there's the matter of principal. This upgrade from version 2018 to 2019 is pretty underwhelming. The new Mac OSX version is really the only truly significant development. If the Mac version had not been announced I'm sure many of us would be wondering why this is even being called a full version upgrade at all. Yet with this very incremental development Corel is radically changing what it costs to run this software. It feels kind of like a tax hike.

 

[decalman]

I use x5 . Works like a charm.
I keep my work laptop OFF-LINE.
I ain't paying nothing.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

I use x5 . Works like a charm.
I keep my work laptop OFF-LINE.
I ain't paying nothing.

Nice thing about X5 is that it was also the last one that didn't require online activation. Bad thing is that it's still 32bit.