Xara Xtreme to be open-sourced
I used to use Xara X under Windows quite a bit, so I am pleased to see that they have decided to make it Open Source – also for the Mac:
Xara is pleased to announce that it intends to make its flagship graphics product, Xara X (in its latest and greatest incarnation, Xara Xtreme), Open Source. Xara is also working to bring it to the Linux and Mac platforms…Gradually we are getting quite a comprehensive set of heavy-duty Open Source applications for the Mac – NeoOffice (based on OpenOffice.org) and the GIMP, to name two of the better-known ones. As well as reasonably priced alternatives from Apple. There are still gaps, however. A good, professional web editor along the lines of Macromedia’s Dreamweaver, for example.
...Ironically, given the dominance of the Mac in graphic design circles, there is no mass-market, high performance, easy-to-use graphic-design tools available for the Mac. For more than 10 years, we’ve had a continuous stream of Mac users asking, begging, that we port Xara X to their platform. By Open Sourcing the product we believe this is now a practical, realistic prospect.
With the likely elimination of Macromedia Freehand by the Adobe acquisition, Expression being acquired by Microsoft (who are unlikely to create any new Mac versions), this leaves the Mac platform with just a single serious player in this space – Adobe Illustrator. This near monopoly is not good for the Mac platform. We hope that Xara Xtreme on the Mac will change the graphics landscape for Mac users.