New Corel "This Beta version has expired"

[somcalmetim]

Tried to load latest corel today and it gives me...



I have the subscription and wouldnt have even downloaded the new 26 version it if I knew it was still "Beta"...
Tried to log into my account on Corel.com to download the update and it says "The system is under maintenance, please try again later"

Is this just me?

Just got off chat with Corel and it didn't sound like they knew the website was down...cant download patches or log into account/see Serial Numbers or load CD2026


CD2025 seems to work but anything I did in the last couple days is saved in 2026 "Beta" version...wtf

UPDATE::
Had to uninstall and reinstall after the website came back online...back into CD2026 and back saving the last few days work to CD2025, might just stick with it.

 

[Timotyen]

Why don't you buy a full version?
A full version that requires no registration or activation.
I bought one last year and haven't had any problems since.

 

[somcalmetim]

Uhhh, I have the subscription so I get all the latest full versions. Version 2026 was not advertised as a Beta.

 

[Timotyen]

Uhhh, I have the subscription so I get all the latest full versions. Version 2026 was not advertised as a Beta.

With the purchase of the full version, you pay once and have no extra costs or hassle.

 

[somcalmetim]

Buying the full version (i get the same version as you from the subscription) has nothing to do with my problem...the Corel Authentication Server was down for maintenance...

 

[Timotyen]

Buying the full version (i get the same version as you from the subscription) has nothing to do with my problem...the Corel Authentication Server was down for maintenance...

The full version I purchased does not require a connection to the Corel Authentication Server.

As I said before, no registration or activation is required.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

The full version I purchased does not require a connection to the Corel Authentication Server.

As I said before, no registration or activation is required.

I am unaware of any product that Corel sells that doesn't have some type of activation to it. Most software now, unless it's OSS, requires activation at some point. At least through the typical channels.

Buying the full version (i get the same version as you from the subscription) has nothing to do with my problem...the Corel Authentication Server was down for maintenance...

This is one of the inherent problems with the SaaS model and one that just has to be accounted for and moved on. Server upkeep can happen with any version though, so staying on one will only go so far. Having said that, I would make sure a copy of the installer and the serial numbers are offline and I would disable auto updates to give the best chance of staying on the older version depending on how long you want to stay on that version (at least until the activation server cuts off that channel for that version). When updating, I would probably take a look at what the "about" section says for that particularly version before activating and making sure "beta" is not in the description. At some point they would have had a "beta" before it gets released to the masses (at least one would hope), so it's fairly easy to get things mixed up even on their end.

This is just the "perk" of always being on the latest and greatest.

 

[unclebun]

The 2026 version is not beta. I downloaded it back in April and didn't get around to installing it this week. The installer seems buggy and crashed multiple times. I had to contact Corel Support to get help with it. It screws with Visual C++ because it tries to install it itself, and apparently doesn't check to see if you have a newer version already installed. They had me repair my Visual C++ installation and then the installation was able to complete.

 

[somcalmetim]

The 2026 version is not beta. I downloaded it back in April and didn't get around to installing it this week. The installer seems buggy and crashed multiple times. I had to contact Corel Support to get help with it. It screws with Visual C++ because it tries to install it itself, and apparently doesn't check to see if you have a newer version already installed. They had me repair my Visual C++ installation and then the installation was able to complete.

Ya i had went and "Repaired" my C++ already trying to sort out a few random disappearing crashes in cd2026..

Because it all happened at the same time not sure if it was authentication server or uninstall/reinstall after I could get into my account to "download the new beta" ....that I still dont think was advertised as a beta in the CD2025 prelaunch ads that said i qualified for the new version as a subscriber (I assume they were probably also selling the new version)... I still didn't use it right away...still just toying around with it...had a few crashes and don't really need more AI but this is also annoying...

Corel tech support is actually kinda crushing it though... Unless they're trying to sell me something, I've never had any other larger tech company actually get backed me with actual techs to support me.... Sometimes it's above their head, but we've worked through a few things in the past and I'm always surprised they actually do follow up and try to fix stuff.

 

[unclebun]

I am suspicious the 2026 version is causing problems after installing it--even when not open. Browser is glitchy now, email app having troubles. Corel 2025 is crashing despite having been rock-stable previously.

 

[WildWestDesigns]

I am suspicious the 2026 version is causing problems after installing it--even when not open. Browser is glitchy now, email app having troubles. Corel 2025 is crashing despite having been rock-stable previously.

Having 2 versions of the same program can cause stability issues like this. Shoot, even having 2 different serial numbers of different versions can cause problems. You mentioned the C++ library, that is usually also versioned between program versions, so having 2 different program versions could overwrite the libraries that the other needs.

The only way that I would suggest having multiple versions is if there are isolated from one another (binary archives or even just a single application file with everything statically linked, which in most cases not going to have). Doesn't mean that this will always be the case, some vendors are better at this compared to others, but this is a standard problem with multiple versions on the same computer.

 

[unclebun]

My computer with separate installation folders for every year of Corel Draw from X6 through 2022 and 24 and 25 would argue otherwise.

If they did something different between 25 and 26 then maybe I'd agree. But prior to installing 26 all of them worked fine installed at the same time.

On the other hand I have been seeing things here and there that some recent Windows Update is causing similar problems for many different people in many different applications. Nothing official yet.

 

[somcalmetim]

Having 2 versions of the same program can cause stability issues like this. Shoot, even having 2 different serial numbers of different versions can cause problems. You mentioned the C++ library, that is usually also versioned between program versions, so having 2 different program versions could overwrite the libraries that the other needs.

The only way that I would suggest having multiple versions is if there are isolated from one another (binary archives or even just a single application file with everything statically linked, which in most cases not going to have). Doesn't mean that this will always be the case, some vendors are better at this compared to others, but this is a standard problem with multiple versions on the same computer.

Ya i tried to keep an old pre 2020 version of Photopaint running to maintain an old plug-in but a couple versions ago the old PP plugin stopped working and had to change workflow through PS instead of Photopaint...chatgpt helped me kinda hack it to work but it only worked the first time...

 

[WildWestDesigns]

My computer with separate installation folders for every year of Corel Draw from X6 through 2022 and 24 and 25 would argue otherwise.

Fallacy of tradition. Nothing stopping it from being the case at this point. They aren't going on the same libraries and I'm willing to bet even Windows updates aren't affecting those libs for the older ones, with the exception if it removed symbols from the included base of .dlls. The user32.dll or kernel.dll etc had changed drastically.

If they did something different between 25 and 26 then maybe I'd agree. But prior to installing 26 all of them worked fine installed at the same time.

It doesn't necessarily have to be with Corel itself, it could be within the dynamic libs that they ship with it.

On the other hand I have been seeing things here and there that some recent Windows Update is causing similar problems for many different people in many different applications. Nothing official yet.

A. That's pro forma with Windows and B. Updates themselves could cause issues/rollbacks/corruptions with the C++ libraries as well. One of many reasons that I'm not a fan of always connected, perpetually updated software, particularly in a production environment.

 

[unclebun]

Found the problem. OneDrive Sync was using 100% of memory. This happens when it gets stuck in a sync loop because of corrupt or missing files--which probably happened because of the botched installation of CorelDraw 2026. Uninstalled Corel Draw 2026, reset OneDrive Sync and everything is back to normal with memory usage at less than 25%.