Mid-August in England. Days of decisions and dichotomy with the most likely, is it going to rain or not? On such a hot, wet day recently I was at a pick your own farm deciding whether to get vegetables or salads. In the end sneaking into the middle of the sweet corn to munch on an illicit cob, it’s sweet, white milky juices trickling down my chin. By far the best way to eat corn on the cob.

If only design software was such an easy choice. In years gone by it was simple – QuarkXPress or nothing but the arrival of Adobe’s inDesign has turned the whole industry on its head. So much that the print industry has to have both at hand to maintain compatibility with clients and bureaux. Even then, life is not simple because some DTP dinosaurs are still using QuarkXPress 4, a legacy of the mid-1990’s.

When Apple, the choice of all discerning designers, moved to Unix-based Mac OS X, Adobe produced one of the first true Mac OS X applications, the late great inDesign 2. It was so far in advance of then current version of QuarkXpress, 5, that it attracted users in droves. It had its faults but at least it ran ‘native’, unlike QuarkXPress which stuck in the ‘Classic’ emulation mode. However, this was actually more stable and on a fast Mac, better than under the old operating system Apple had abandoned. Many companies stayed with QuarkXPress and the industry was in the software doldrums.

Apple deliberately stopped making computers that could run the old operating system leaving many design companies chugging along with antiquated equipment to retain full use of their beloved versions of QuarkXPress. Quark eventually released XPress version 6, compatible with Mac OS X. This pleased the hangers-on immensely, they could buy new computers at last. It wasn’t a true OS X application, just a ‘carbonised’ version of XPress 5. As such, deprived of most of the features of the Unix hidden under OS X.

Meanwhile, Adobe released Creative Suite 1, then 2. These heavy-duty, integrated sets of software contained every application print and web designers need, including the venerable Photoshop and inDesign. The suites are not only cheaper than stand-alone QuarkXPress but leagues ahead in features, stability and usability.

And so we reach today. Quark has come up with version 7, complete with inDesign-emulating transparency, layers, drop shadows and other goodies, whilst Adobe has lagged behind Quark because its software runs in emulation mode on the new Intel powered Macs. I have learned to hate them both as an increasing number of bugs emerged.

DTP software is something I’ve used since the mid-1980’s. It has never been entirely stable, always complex but at least QuarkXPress 5 and inDesign 2 and CS1 never let me down. Not so with the latest offerings. Adobe’s Help System has a copy of Opera 7, ancient software, hidden deep within its ‘package’. Opera 7 is something my Mac always choked on for some reason and including it in Creative Suite 2 meant that choked on it too.

My last piece of work, a 256 page large format book destined for the US market (full of photographs) was all set to go to the imaging house. They are still using QuarkXPress 6 but as version 7 saves back to 6 it should have been no problem.

Bad thought! QuarkXPress 6 could not open the files saved by QuarkXPress 7.0.1. Thank goodness I’d kept a version 7.0.0 – the pre-Intel compatible and original QuarkXPress 7. Saving the files from that solved the problem otherwise that cold, sinking feeling in the stomach would have meant redoing the job from scratch. All 10 files and 2.4 gigabytes of it.

These are just two of the many Ouch! moments the latest versions of QuarkXPress and inDesign bring up. I could also mention resizing in-line graphics, opening files with duplicate fonts active, converting older versions of files, creating PDFs with the OPI XTension installed, using text run-arounds and clipping paths…

So which do I use for the next job I do? Buggy XPress or inconsistent inDesign? Decisions, decisions, decisions. Thank goodness it’s nearly September.