New MadCap products!

[LTinker68]

This press release mentions some new products coming from MadCap --> http://money.cnn.com/news/newsfeeds/art ... 2008-1.htm. I like the sound of X-Edit and X-Edit Express.

Here's a short excerpt:

Authoring
-- MadCap Blaze -- the new, next-generation authoring solution for creating long, complex print documents provides advanced authoring capabilities; output to multiple sources, including Adobe FrameMaker and PDF, Microsoft XPS and Word; and integration with MadCap Lingo, Flare, Capture, Analyzer, and X-Edit.
-- MadCap Flare 4.0 -- the latest version of Flare for single-source print and online publishing offers "master project linking" of common elements across multiple projects; direct output to PDF and XPS; and enhanced print publishing with the incorporation of Blaze functionality.
-- MadCap X-Edit -- the new robust document environment makes it easy for "occasional contributors" to create short documents, as well as edit and send documents to Flare or Blaze users for inclusion in projects. It also supports native PDF and XPS; and integration with MadCap Lingo, Flare, and Blaze.
-- MadCap X-Edit Express -- the new light version of X-Edit is a free solution for sharing, reviewing, and annotating Flare and Blaze
projects.
-- MadCap Press -- the new XML-based page design and layout solution enables the design of traditional "glossy" media, including newsletters and magazines, using multiple article flows and graphics. It also uses variables and conditional text to customize content for different audiences; and supports PDF and XPS output.

[helen]

The beta version of Blaze is now available as a free 30-day trial release, which can be downloaded at http://www.madcapsoftware.com.

*hunts around* Where?

Oh never mind, I found it.

[RamonS]

YEAH!!! MadCap X-Edit Express will be a great thing, especially when it is even easier to use than Word. Yes, it has to be on the level of Notepad and not be more complicated than Wordpad at the most. Many times subject matter experts are neither tech writers nor do they know much 'about computers'. Those folks who don't know of the concept of document styles and solve everything by inline styling.
Damn! Too bad that I don't work as a tw anymore, this would make my work so much easier.

[Richard Ferrell]

For more information on all of new products check out

http://www.madcapsoftware.com/

[MikeKatz]

YEAH!!! MadCap X-Edit Express will be a great thing, especially when it is even easier to use than Word. Yes, it has to be on the level of Notepad and not be more complicated than Wordpad at the most. Many times subject matter experts are neither tech writers nor do they know much 'about computers'. Those folks who don't know of the concept of document styles and solve everything by inline styling.
Damn! Too bad that I don't work as a tw anymore, this would make my work so much easier.

Hopefully this will solve the editor issues we have been discussing, but it remains to be seen.

[Andrew]

Looks like they are really going the route of full CMS solution. Should be interesting to see how it all plays out.

Oh, and the v4 Master Project Linking stuff sure sounds sexy; hope it lives up to its potential!

[forfear]

With so many growth areas in Madcap let's hope they don't lose product their quality or spread themselves too thin.

Madcap is really doing well nowadays, with Flare as the flagship.

Their CVS, is a replacement for RoboSource Control which will definitely work better with all the doc projects. Am sure there'll be something in there specifically for doc and kb projects. Integrated build management is brilliant.

X-Edit sounds like Adobe Contribute and Adobe InCopy. If text editing is the forte, then a clean minimalist simplified interface (minimize distractions when writing), Thesaurus, Word Counts, Paragraph counts, Grammar keyboard shortcuts, behind the scenes Intellisense, Heavy Duty regular expressions for Find and Replace will definitely be quite useful.



With new products new challenges definitely. Exciting times. David vs Goliath.

[NorthEast]

I like the look of a lot of that, esp Team Server and X-Edit.

The relationship between X-Edit and X-Edit Express isn't too clear.
X-Edit Express says it's "free", but I'm not sure if that means it's free in the sense that I can download it and use it with my Flare projects (without either me or my contributors buying anything else), or free in the sense that if I buy X-Edit then my contributors (who don't have Flare) can use it for free.

[forfear]

I like the look of a lot of that, esp Team Server and X-Edit.

The relationship between X-Edit and X-Edit Express isn't too clear.
X-Edit Express says it's "free", but I'm not sure if that means it's free in the sense that I can download it and use it with my Flare projects (without either me or my contributors buying anything else), or free in the sense that if I buy X-Edit then my contributors (who don't have Flare) can use it for free.

I think it means its free for anyone to use. Its a bit of an inspired phrase from the whole SQL Server Express editions, vs SQL Server 2005 commercial editions.

Nonetheless yeah i think i am beginning to draw comparisons between a lot of products with others
Adobe Contribute - Xedit
Adobe Framemaker - Blaze
Adobe InDesign - Press
Microsoft VSS/RoboSource Control/TFS - Team Server
Camtasia/Captivate - Mimic

However there are some notable specials though like
Capture, Analyzer, Echo and Lingo are rather unique in what they are actually offering users (as a package) though. Single-sourcing all the way through words, pictures and sound.

[forfear]

Saw the post by legendary forum and tech writing blog poster paul mc pherson on Blaze.
Since he made a rather convincing case for Blaze, i signed on for the pre-release and am downloading the trial now...i don't usually do this..

since he said its got pretty interesting features that Flare 4 would have some of...so ..... for me that was the clincher..

Two words.

Flare4. When?

[Pat Aiello]

Looking for Flare4 and the xedit products. When will they be available.

Pat

[KevinDAmery]

The betas just started recently, so soon but not imminently.

[Richard Ferrell]

The Only beta's we currently have open are for Blaze and X-edit you can sign up for these by going to the followign pages.

X-edit
http://www.madcapsoftware.com/products/xedit/

Blaze
http://www.madcapsoftware.com/products/blaze/

[Pat Aiello]

Rick,
I have signed up for the Beta download of Edit Express ... I might be being too caustious here. But you say it is compatible with Flare 4. Will I be able to validly test it using Flare 3.1?

Pat Aiello

[Richard Ferrell]

It will work when V4 ships, and It will work with the current beta of Blaze, and you can sign up for the Blaze beta to test with it.. It has not be designed to work with Flare v3.1

[CharlesJet]

Good grief they've been busy in La Jolla...

Okay, I just did several blog articles about MadCap. I was initially going to log in here just to pop off smart to Richard Ferrel & tell him that another Web 2.0 Tech Support article was up on my blog, but...

Since there's some buzz here about X-Edit and X-Edit Express, I did post an article last week about them quoting Paul's blogpost. Adobe and MadCap’s Cold War: Who’s the Superpower Today?

My only whinge is about the name X-Edit. Too many syllables for me so I whine about it. More tongue in cheek; I'd rather they concentrate on a killer app than a killer name.

I actually logged on tonight looking for a source talking about Silverlight and MadCap's announcement that they'll support Silverlight output as well as the Adobe AIR interface. If anyone has an external link I can use, just post it up and I'll follow it...