Die, Quark!

Adobe is really romancing companies to get them to switch to InDesign. It has made huge leaps since 1.0, which I still liked over Quark even then. We may switch to it, but it's going to take a while given the current workflow.

Quark has really screwed up. They're losing ground daily. I can't help but wonder if Quark execs were twiddling their thumbs while the other companies sped on by?

Maybe I was a little harsh with the title of the thread. The last thing I want is for Adobe to take over and monopolize the industry. What would stop THEM from eventually treating its customers poorly?

I have a feeling Quark will, in time, get their act together and remain a strong competitor.

But this begs another question; would the entire industry be prepared to buy two programs and their subsequent license schemes? I think not.

ineresting. Japan prepress is stuck in the stone age. i thought everything is high-tech in Japan.

My sister was doing a little networking last week and she met an older guy who was telling her about a great program called Quark Illustrator 4. He was going on about how great it was. Meanwhile my sister is biting her lip on the whole thing because of what I've told her about Quark, plus the fact he didn't even know the name of the program. She's in marketing and I've already got her on the InDesign bandwagon. This guy was totally out of the loop on things. I thought it was a pretty amusing conversation. In the future InDesign will have to get the word out to people like this guy to fight the notion that Quark is the industry standard. It is for the time being, but that tide is changing very quickly.

As mentioned above, Quark is loosing ground every single day. I personally think "everyone" will be using InDesign in a couple of years. It's simply better. But who knows, Quark might have something up their sleeves

Alexander wrote:

As mentioned above, Quark is loosing ground every single day. I personally think "everyone" will be using InDesign in a couple of years. It's simply better. But who knows, Quark might have something up their sleeves

There was a thread a bit ago about Quark and someone made the comment that basically Quark is screwed. They take forever to release their products and they are so far behind the 8 ball here. Not only do they have to try and innovate and be progressive, but they have to catch up to where InDesign is already and fix the brutal flaws that are inherent in their program. It just isn't going to happen. Quark is just too lathargic a company to pull up their socks and get it together. Quark has been coasting for 5 years(or more) on the status of being the "industry standard" instead of actually doing something innovative. Adobe already has Quark by the balls given all the other industry standard software(Photshop and Illustrator) are made by them, so it should be easy for Adobe to angle Quark out eventually. it just makes sense to use software that was built to work hand in hand.

"Back in the day" Quark was it. I would just smile when I received a Quark file (I'm a prepress monkey). When they finally released Version 6, I was elated. Finally my favorite layout program was osx native. Without going into the details, i issued a scathing letter to the higher-ups at Quark. I was pissed, sad, and i awe at the terrible support center and activation key nightmare that was Quark 6. They have made improvements since that time, but I think Adobe is too far ahead now. I now tell my clients to move to Indesign instead of Quark. The management at Quark rested on their laurels while Adobe made the commitment to make their products solid and user-friendly. Now, I rarely open Quark and cringe when I do (like I did with the first version of Indesign).

Though I rarely open Quark at all anymore, I will say that it is still a fantastic "Output" application for pre-press pros. Because it does so very little, there's not a whole lot that can go wrong with a Quark file unless you start bringing in images from other apps.

InDesign was created for (gee, you couldn't guess by the name) DESIGNERS. This is where many people can't or refuse to draw the line of distinction. ID was created to be a full design app, not simply a page layout app like Quark.

I'm not sure Quark will ever completely go away (though I wouldn't care if it did), but I have a sneaking feeling that it will be forced into a niche of "output only" mentality simply because they can't compete with Adobe in making it more integrated and full featured.