Quark delays native Intel Mac support

***AppleInsider*** · 05-23-2006, 09:55 AM

First on AI: Macintosh users eager to run an official release of QuarkXPress 7 natively on their new Intel Macs will be disappointed to learn that Quark has rolled back the Universal Binary release of the software by several months.

As expected, Quark on Tuesday began shipping the major upgrade to its market-leading design and publishing software world-wide. But contrary to comments made by the company at Macworld Expo in January and in previous marketing materials, the Macintosh version of the software is not a Universal Binary capable of running natively on both PowerPC- and Intel-based Macs.

Instead, the system requirements for QuarkXPress 7 state that the software will operate under Apple's Rosetta PowerPC emulation environment when run on Intel Macs.

The decision not to ship QuarkXPress 7 as a Universal Binary appears to have been made last minute. A close inspection of the QuarkXPress 7 retail boxes reveals that both "Mac" and "Universal" logos are printed on all copies. However, the "Universal" logos have been covered with a "Mac" logo sticker.

In continuing its development of a QuarkXPress 7 Universal Binary, Quark has renamed the Quark XPress 7 beta program to "Quark XPress 7 Universal Binary Beta."

According to a source familiar with Quark's product plans, a patch that will be released in August will update the shipping versions of QuarkXPress 7 to a Universal Binary.

Representatives for Quark were not immediately available for comment.

The QuarkXPress 7 upgrade combines new and enhanced design features with multi-channel publishing, collaboration, and job-driven workflow capabilities to simplify and speed up the creative development process for print and Web publishing.

Through Composition Zones, Job Jackets, transparency, OpenType, Unicode, and many other new features, the software also improves the ability for creative professionals to work together, optimize design, and minimize production errors.

QuarkXPress 7 will retail for about $750 with upgrades costing about $250. Official pricing has not yet been released.

[ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

Vox Barbara · 05-23-2006, 10:17 AM

Quote:

Originally posted by AppleInsider
Macintosh users eager to run an official release of QuarkXPress 7 natively on their new Intel Macs will be disappointed to learn that Quark has rolled back the Universal Binary release of the software by several months.

...

Actually, does anybody has first hand experiences concerning
Rosetta and QXPess 7? Maybe i'll come back.

Robin Hood · 05-23-2006, 10:20 AM

The race is on: Quark versus Adobe.

Who can release a Universal Binary first? Amazingly, Quark is winning so far: they already have a public beta of Quark 7 as a universal binary available, which I've done some testing with and, surprisingly, it seems to work well.

But perhaps Adobe can catch up, especially now that Quark stumbled?

I, for one, am excited!

ecking · 05-23-2006, 03:01 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Robin Hood
The race is on: Quark versus Adobe.

Who can release a Universal Binary first? Amazingly, Quark is winning so far: they already have a public beta of Quark 7 as a universal binary available, which I've done some testing with and, surprisingly, it seems to work well.

But perhaps Adobe can catch up, especially now that Quark stumbled?

I, for one, am excited!

Quark in this case, Adobe can't drop by august it's just not in the cards.

CharlesS · 05-23-2006, 08:13 PM

Quote:

Quark delays native Intel Mac support

Well there's a big surprise right there...

wilco · 05-23-2006, 10:06 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by Robin Hood
Who can release a Universal Binary first? Amazingly, Quark is winning so far:

How is it amazing? Quark has one product to put out, while Adobe has an entire suite.

the_snitch · 05-23-2006, 10:12 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by wilco
How is it amazing? Quark has one product to put out, while Adobe has an entire suite.

It's amazing because Quark are generally pretty slow when it comes to anything. They only just realised that people hate them and are moving to Adobe.

ClimbingTheLog · 05-23-2006, 10:49 PM

August, eh?

Quark generally knows more about what's happening inside Apple than most companies. They're still very important in publishing even if they do deserve to have their automatic external defribulators hooked up to their license management system.

So, I'm betting they decided to wait to ship a 64-bit version for the new MacPro's with the universal binary. The timing's just too good.

clonenode · 05-24-2006, 08:32 AM

Well, this is just another reason to NOT to upgrade from 6.5. And I'm a G5 user, so the Universal Binary doesn't matter - but still, I will wait for the inevitable version 7.1 - UB or not.

Longsilver · 06-05-2006, 07:05 AM

A further problem with adopting or returning to Quark, for European users, is the pricing. Conversions from British Pounds and Euro to US Dollars were done on xe.com.

US Apple Store:
QuarkXpress 7 - $749.95
Passport Edition - $1499.95

UK Apple Store:
QuarkXpress 7 - £879.01 (≈$1657.71)
Passport Edition - £1049.00 (≈$1977.96)

Ireland Apple Store:
QuarkXpress 7 - €1299.00 (≈$1683.97)
Passport Edition - €1549.01 (≈$2008.08)

So, for the basic version of QuarkXpress 7 the UK customer pays an extra $907.76, a mark-up of 121% on the US price. The Euro customer pays an extra $934.02, a mark-up of 124% on the US price.

If my figures are correct, and I think they are, then it would be cheaper for me to get a flight from Europe to the US, buy a copy of QuarkXpress 7 there, and then fly home to Europe than it would be to buy the thing in Europe in the first place.

Can anyone explain this? Is the product offered to UK/Eurozone customers sufficiently different from the US version to justify this price difference? Are Quark buying an individual airline seat for each and every copy they ship to Europe?

See also:
http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index...e=1&pagePos=16

Chucker · 06-05-2006, 07:11 AM

Part of it is the inclusion of VAT (US prices exclude this), part of it is EU customs. The rest of pure arrogance on the company's part.

Sadly, this isn't unusual. Adobe prices, for instance, frequently suffer the same problem.

Longsilver · 06-05-2006, 04:56 PM

More on this pricing issue from MacWorld:

http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index...e&NewsID=14848

It sounds as if Quark are just ramping up the price to the maximum point where they think they can get away with it. And you're right - Adobe seem to do something similar. (I think you're right about the arrogance, too.)

05-23-2006, 09:55 AM	#1
*AppleInsider* Kasper's Automated Slave Join Date: Nov 1997 Posts: 6,155	Quark delays native Intel Mac support First on AI: Macintosh users eager to run an official release of QuarkXPress 7 natively on their new Intel Macs will be disappointed to learn that Quark has rolled back the Universal Binary release of the software by several months. As expected, Quark on Tuesday began shipping the major upgrade to its market-leading design and publishing software world-wide. But contrary to comments made by the company at Macworld Expo in January and in previous marketing materials, the Macintosh version of the software is not a Universal Binary capable of running natively on both PowerPC- and Intel-based Macs. Instead, the system requirements for QuarkXPress 7 state that the software will operate under Apple's Rosetta PowerPC emulation environment when run on Intel Macs. The decision not to ship QuarkXPress 7 as a Universal Binary appears to have been made last minute. A close inspection of the QuarkXPress 7 retail boxes reveals that both "Mac" and "Universal" logos are printed on all copies. However, the "Universal" logos have been covered with a "Mac" logo sticker. In continuing its development of a QuarkXPress 7 Universal Binary, Quark has renamed the Quark XPress 7 beta program to "Quark XPress 7 Universal Binary Beta." According to a source familiar with Quark's product plans, a patch that will be released in August will update the shipping versions of QuarkXPress 7 to a Universal Binary. Representatives for Quark were not immediately available for comment. The QuarkXPress 7 upgrade combines new and enhanced design features with multi-channel publishing, collaboration, and job-driven workflow capabilities to simplify and speed up the creative development process for print and Web publishing. Through Composition Zones, Job Jackets, transparency, OpenType, Unicode, and many other new features, the software also improves the ability for creative professionals to work together, optimize design, and minimize production errors. QuarkXPress 7 will retail for about $750 with upgrades costing about $250. Official pricing has not yet been released. [ View this article at AppleInsider.com ]

05-24-2006, 08:32 AM	#9
clonenode Registered User Join Date: Jan 2002 Posts: 382	Well, this is just another reason to NOT to upgrade from 6.5. And I'm a G5 user, so the Universal Binary doesn't matter - but still, I will wait for the inevitable version 7.1 - UB or not. c l o n e n o d e o n e o f m a n y

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05-23-2006, 10:20 AM	#3
Robin Hood Registered User Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 490	The race is on: Quark versus Adobe. Who can release a Universal Binary first? Amazingly, Quark is winning so far: they already have a public beta of Quark 7 as a universal binary available, which I've done some testing with and, surprisingly, it seems to work well. But perhaps Adobe can catch up, especially now that Quark stumbled? I, for one, am excited!

05-23-2006, 10:49 PM	#8
ClimbingTheLog Registered User Join Date: Mar 2004 Posts: 63	August, eh? Quark generally knows more about what's happening inside Apple than most companies. They're still very important in publishing even if they do deserve to have their automatic external defribulators hooked up to their license management system. So, I'm betting they decided to wait to ship a 64-bit version for the new MacPro's with the universal binary. The timing's just too good.

06-05-2006, 07:05 AM	#10
Longsilver Registered User Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Dublin, Ireland Posts: 11	A further problem with adopting or returning to Quark, for European users, is the pricing. Conversions from British Pounds and Euro to US Dollars were done on xe.com. US Apple Store: QuarkXpress 7 - $749.95 Passport Edition - $1499.95 UK Apple Store: QuarkXpress 7 - £879.01 (≈$1657.71) Passport Edition - £1049.00 (≈$1977.96) Ireland Apple Store: QuarkXpress 7 - €1299.00 (≈$1683.97) Passport Edition - €1549.01 (≈$2008.08) So, for the basic version of QuarkXpress 7 the UK customer pays an extra $907.76, a mark-up of 121% on the US price. The Euro customer pays an extra $934.02, a mark-up of 124% on the US price. If my figures are correct, and I think they are, then it would be cheaper for me to get a flight from Europe to the US, buy a copy of QuarkXpress 7 there, and then fly home to Europe than it would be to buy the thing in Europe in the first place. Can anyone explain this? Is the product offered to UK/Eurozone customers sufficiently different from the US version to justify this price difference? Are Quark buying an individual airline seat for each and every copy they ship to Europe? See also: http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index...e=1&pagePos=16

06-05-2006, 07:11 AM	#11
Chucker Registered User Join Date: Dec 2001 Posts: 5,066	Part of it is the inclusion of VAT (US prices exclude this), part of it is EU customs. The rest of pure arrogance on the company's part. Sadly, this isn't unusual. Adobe prices, for instance, frequently suffer the same problem.

06-05-2006, 04:56 PM	#12
Longsilver Registered User Join Date: Feb 2006 Location: Dublin, Ireland Posts: 11	More on this pricing issue from MacWorld: http://www.macworld.co.uk/news/index...e&NewsID=14848 It sounds as if Quark are just ramping up the price to the maximum point where they think they can get away with it. And you're right - Adobe seem to do something similar. (I think you're right about the arrogance, too.)

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