XMetaL 6.0 crashed frequently

[txvia]

Hi, we are in the process of migrating all our docs to DITA and we came across your software; I have downloaded the trial version of XMetaL(R) Author Enterprise 6.0 Service Pack 1 and loved what it does so far. The only problem is that it crashes way too often on our system. I must also add that your app crashes regardless of what we did: It crashed when we edited a file, opened a file, output files to WebHelp, PDF, and so on. To help you better examine our issue, I am providing the configuration of our system below:

1. Operating system: Windows 7 64-bit
2. Antivirus software installed: ClamWin Antivirus

I must also mention that I've read through some of the posts on this forum related to the problem we are having, and found that there are issues with McAfee. I must stress that we are NOT running McAfee in our organization. In addition, we have to run all apps on 64-bit operating system because our core app must run in 64-bit. Therefore running XMetal in the legacy mode is NOT really an option. So here are my questions:

1. If we purchase XMetal, will we be getting the version that fully supports Windows 7 running in 64 bit?
2. If the most updated version of XMetal does not fully support 64-bit systems, what is the timeline for the release that supports it?

As we are currently evaluating XMetal and planning to purchase it soon, your prompt reply to the questions above is much appreciated.

[Derek Read]

XMetaL Author Enterprise 6.0 and 6.0 SP1 do not support 64-bit (as stated in the Release Notes).
In our next major release, probably numbered 7.0, we plan to support 64-bit Windows 7.

[txvia]

Thanks for the reply Derek. Do we know when you plan to roll out 7.0? Is there a release date for that?

One other thing is: If we purchase 6.x now, will we be getting a free upgrade to 7.0? Or do you recommend that we wait until 7.0 is released? Thanks again.

[Derek Read]

Specific date is not known at this time.
When you purchase our products our sales people recommend (perhaps strongly encourage) purchasing "maintenance". Clients with a current maintenance agreement are eligible for support, patches/updates as well as any new releases.

[gcrews]

I remember something about summertime but that’s coming to an end soon :)

[txvia]

Thanks Derek. Do you know once we purchase XMetal 6.x, will we get free upgrades to 7.x in the future? In addition, are all support calls free of charge?

Perhaps you can recommend someone from your sales team to contact us, thank you.

[Derek Read]

Without maintenance you get neither. With maintenance you get both. I don't think sales will sell any products without maintenance.

Note that there is a difference between the forum and support. What you can expect from the forum is explained here: http://forums.xmetal.com/index.php/topic,384.0.html.

If you file a support case through XMetaL Support they will help you through it directly. That is done via email, and occasionally via WebEx (when necessary in extreme cases where support cannot figure out how to reproduce an issue from your description).

[ginafromtampa]

I am having the same problem with XMetal trial version# 6.0.1.030 running on Windows 7 64-bit.  It crashes often when creating DITA topics.  I hope the XMetal 7 version, which I'm told will be released in March, will solve these issues.  As I use it today I will document the steps to reproduce if the crashes still occur and contact support.