Reading through the Corel user forums on this topic it doesn't seem like there is any obvious condition that brings up the "illegal software" message. Some of the people receiving the message said they were registered users, had user accounts, etc. The thread Unclebun linked does at least show a couple of fixes for getting rid of the message.
Maybe it's yet another CorelDRAW bug, something rooted in their messages system: the thing that brings up the pop-ups in the lower right corner of the workspace or big in the middle of the screen when quitting an older version of CorelDRAW.
WildWestDesigns said:
I do think though a combination of subscription model and their very lackluster 2019 release. That's going to be a 1-2 combination that may very well lead to a death knell. Unless 2020 (this yearly release cadence is a crock) release quashes all those concerns and I do mean all of them. It has to get back on to par stability wise.
It was a big mistake for Corel to adopt a yearly release schedule. Even on the previous 2 year schedule they were struggling to pack enough improvements and new features into CorelDRAW and other applications to make those upgrades decent. It's easy to understand why they moved to a yearly update schedule. First, they wanted to give off the appearance they were "keeping up" with Adobe and its yearly release schedule of Creative Cloud applications. Next
(and this is really the big one) the venture capital honchos had dollars in their eyes. "Hey, we've been getting loyal CorelDRAW users to spend around $200 once every 2 years to upgrade, what if we can make them spend $200 EVERY YEAR? We'll double our revenue! Hookers and blow for everyone!!!"
I can sort of see paying $99 per year to always have the latest version of the CorelDRAW Graphics Suite. But $198 per year for, at best, a paltry level of upgrades and often unstable software is not an acceptable proposition. I strongly doubt Corel will be growing its customer base at all with that arrangement. The only thing they appear to be doing is angering existing users, many of which are long time users. Those users will likely stick with the old software they have as long as it keeps running. If forced to buy something new they might shift to something else.
One thing that would really hurt Corel is if one of the lower cost rival drawing programs became really good at opening or importing CDR files. Inkscape can open CDR files but isn't real great at it. But it's better than nothing. I've had to use Inkscape to open ancient CDR files made in CorelDRAW 5 or earlier
since the recent versions of CorelDRAW will not do it.
visual800 said:
and this kids is why you dont need to register any software or accept any updates....actually not registering the software would keep them from trying to send updates.....I get so damn sick of getting on here and telling you guys to stop updating stuff. YOU DO NOT NEED UPDATES if your stuff is running good and its being productive dont update it
Unless you're using a copy of CorelDRAW X5 or earlier you MUST at least activate the software, which usually also involves signing into a Corel user account.
Given the history of CorelDRAW releases,
installing updates is actually a good idea. This goes way back to versions released in the 1990's. The initial release would always have some kind of issue with it. Most versions of CorelDRAW had at least one or two substantial updates and maybe even a "Hot Fix" or two spread over the course of a year or 18 months. The last bug fix would usually leave that version of CorelDRAW operating in a pretty stable condition. Then the next upgrade would be released and we would repeat the cycle all over again.
Another reason for installing updates is the threat of malware. Some pieces of malware use vulnerabilities discovered in applications as a path to gain control of or take down a computer system. I remember a few of Adobe's applications having to be updated over this.
(Make an .ISO from a disk and mount/burn the disk)
