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I picked up an interesting story today on the impending QuarkXPress version 8, which is scheduled for release in August. AppleInsider has disclosed new product features and screenshots of the updated user interface, which looks extremely similar to Adobe InDesign. In addition to a copy-cat UI, Quark has packed several InDesign features into this new version, including native support for Illustrator and Photoshop files and bézier pen tools.
The article doesn't disclose whether Quark will be enhancing support for their QuarkXClusive VDP xTension, which was added to QuarkXPress v6.2 (also known as the HP Yours Truly XTension). In QuarkXPress v7, the existing VI support (which was JLYT only) was expanded to include PPML. My guess is that further VDP enhancements is not a high priority for Quark right now.
Quark clearly has Adobe in their sights with this new release. At the same time, it's interesting to look at the history of third-party VDP XTensions for QuarkXPress. A couple of VDP software vendors who previously offered Quark plug-ins have dropped them in favour of InDesign. XMPie developed plug-ins for QuarkXPress and InDesign, but canned development of their QuarkXPress XTension back in 2004. In March this year, Print On-Demand Solutions announced that they will be "gracefully terminating" Darwin for QuarkXPress in Q3.
Time will tell whether Quark has the right ingredients for a successful recipe this time around.
Posted on Thursday, 15 May 2008 at 8:57 PM | TrackBack: http://www.veedeepee.com/cgi-bin/mt-tb.cgi/135