Keith Reeder

Lee, 
the whole point of using Windows is not to have to put more effort into installing a program than will be needed to actually use the thing.
If we wanted to tool around with fixes, workarounds, additional downloads, troubleshooting and such nonsense, we'd be Linux users.
For myself I'm 100% compliant with the system requirements; I've tried every published workaround (and more besides); and I still can't get past the splash screen. 
There are umpteen posts on the forum decrying Serif's decision to fix something that wasn't broken by using MSIX - it's time that Serif took the hint and went back to an installation approach that just works.
 

I don't think you get to decide what's "useless", Ronny: particularly when the point being made - that we can apparently expect more from a pretty grim piece of Open Source software than we can from a supposedly cutting-edge, customer-focused commercial solution - is precisely to the point.

Blimey, there are some serious luddite Karens on this forum. *smh*

Really? I mean Really??? It seems you wouldn't be happy if they gave it away, and delivered it personally to your door... 😲

It couldn't be clearer: a little shot of fire extinguisher to put out the fire...just a little shot. After the 14th, we'll do as we please.
God Mickey, master of the App, we bow down at your feet, but take no notice of the beggars who hinder our steps towards you, we will make them bend.

I have nothing useful to add here other than a "+1", but I thought I'd share that I was excited by the announcement of V2 I got in an email today and contemplated buying the entire suite, so I went to download a trial to check it out. The .msix extension of the downloaded file immediately made me do a horror movie "oh no... oh no NO NO!" double take in real life.
Needless to say, I will hold off on that purchase. Offer it as an option for people who want it or even make it the default if you must, but please, have alternatives. There is nothing wrong with having the option to download an application as a simple self-contained .zip archive without even an installer attached to it, for that matter. I remember having to install, copy out the files of, and then uninstall the V1 applications because Microsoft's older yet equally stupid MSI scheme left ~600 MB installers around for each one hidden somewhere on your C drive.

We clearly originally did not plan to distribute the MSI generically so there is quite a lot of testing & fixing required. We are likely to release MSI installers when we do the first patch, so hopefully before Christmas. At the moment some functionality like StudioLink and Edit in are non functional. Sorry this is far from straightforward given the way the applications share downloaded content and created assets/brushes.
We need to address these and anything else we find before MSI installers are made available more generally, or we will just be introducing more problems than it resolves.

Serif is very, very far from being a monopoly!
First, Linux is an OS, one that supports both free & paid apps. Second, another alternative is the 'buy once' revenue model, which Serif offers.

Has your tinfoil hat fallen off?
🙄

Has your tinfoil hat fallen off?
🙄

Our future is in the hands of big business, which uses its monopoly to submit us as they to they pleases.
It is a gentle descent into a trap . In the long run, it is likely that most software creators will impose subscriptions on customers.
The alternatives are free software, of which Linux is one of the engines.
Affinity is riding the consensual wave because of the too small Linux market; it's a pity; it would be the beginning of a dike bursting.
But one can dream... There are many people who use gimp because they have nothing else.
The low price of affinity is a serious asset.
In the meantime, let's not have too much tenderness towards our supplier, it's only a company that exists to earn money with its products and to support its employees.
It has no feelings; only interests... and that's normal.

I don't think you get to decide what's "useless", Ronny: particularly when the point being made - that we can apparently expect more from a pretty grim piece of Open Source software than we can from a supposedly cutting-edge, customer-focused commercial solution - is precisely to the point.

With no mention of the need to use an app installer - which doesn't help anyway: Photo 2 apparently installs, but on opening I get a splash screen and nothing else. 

Lee, 
the whole point of using Windows is not to have to put more effort into installing a program than will be needed to actually use the thing.
If we wanted to tool around with fixes, workarounds, additional downloads, troubleshooting and such nonsense, we'd be Linux users.
For myself I'm 100% compliant with the system requirements; I've tried every published workaround (and more besides); and I still can't get past the splash screen. 
There are umpteen posts on the forum decrying Serif's decision to fix something that wasn't broken by using MSIX - it's time that Serif took the hint and went back to an installation approach that just works.
 

Exactly.

Indeed. I can only assume that an unfeasibly large number of Serif customers are still on dial-up...
🙄
Seriously, Serif: one of the main reasons (the main reason, for me) that so many people are on fibre broadband and other fast connections is so that they can comfortably deal with larger downloads.
 

Well this customer wasn't asked about it, and he definitely would not have voted for the mess Serif has got itself - and its users - into here.
I wonder if you'd get the same result now, Mark? Sounds like a "bright" idea that hasn't survived contact with reality... 

Hello,
When you buy a tool of any kind... camera for example, you don't ask the customer to be an expert in electronics and optics to assist the design shortcuts of the manufacturers.
The problem with computers is the tradition that comes from the origins of this tool and that forces us to think that a customer must also be a geek or at least comfortable with the intricacies of this technology.
Affinity is a tool and nothing else, no more than Win11 or OS thingy:
you buy, you install, you use the tool.
The expertise lies in the handling of the tool and not in circumventing the inadequacies of designers who still think that it is the clients who must adapt to their whims and not the other way round.
Mickey Mouse has instilled in people's heads that it's normal to buy buggy, poorly designed products...and this idea persists.

I don't think you get to decide what's "useless", Ronny: particularly when the point being made - that we can apparently expect more from a pretty grim piece of Open Source software than we can from a supposedly cutting-edge, customer-focused commercial solution - is precisely to the point.

Lee, 
the whole point of using Windows is not to have to put more effort into installing a program than will be needed to actually use the thing.
If we wanted to tool around with fixes, workarounds, additional downloads, troubleshooting and such nonsense, we'd be Linux users.
For myself I'm 100% compliant with the system requirements; I've tried every published workaround (and more besides); and I still can't get past the splash screen. 
There are umpteen posts on the forum decrying Serif's decision to fix something that wasn't broken by using MSIX - it's time that Serif took the hint and went back to an installation approach that just works.
 

I don't think you get to decide what's "useless", Ronny: particularly when the point being made - that we can apparently expect more from a pretty grim piece of Open Source software than we can from a supposedly cutting-edge, customer-focused commercial solution - is precisely to the point.

What about the first parts of my comments?
Serif will never eliminate the need for install support. You quoted MS statistics. That is a strawman argument. 

Mark,
I may be (although I'll bet you I'm not) speaking entirely for myself here, but frankly I could not care less what Microsoft wants: my contract is with Serif, and I want - I've paid you for - a solution that works for me, not for Microsoft.
Your obligation is to me, not to Bill Gates.
Realisticallywe all know there's only one acceptable end-point for this car-crash of an issue, so why doesn't Serif just bite the bullet and give us a tried-and-tested installation solution that just works?

I don't think you get to decide what's "useless", Ronny: particularly when the point being made - that we can apparently expect more from a pretty grim piece of Open Source software than we can from a supposedly cutting-edge, customer-focused commercial solution - is precisely to the point.

Oh I just read the reasons for the switch. As a professional in the software industry responsible for a large, complex Windows application, I’ll give you my view on the most of the reasons.
  “MSI had an installation success rate of ~85% (and we have many requests to our tech support team for v1 install failures). MSIX promises a 99.9% success rate.”
We have an MSI installer. Sure, it fails sometimes, but it’s probably less than the 0.1% claimed for MSIX. We are not flooded with “it doesn’t install” support calls. Maybe we just have an amazing installer?
  “MSI requires admin privileges to install.”
Whether admin privileges are required or not depends on what the installer does. Our MSI installer does not require admin privileges, providing it’s installed into a directory that doesn’t require admin rights for write access. We offer our users a choice.
   “MSI apps are not sandboxed from other applications.”
You do not need to use MSIX to sandbox an application. We’ve successfully sandboxed our EXE / DLL / MSI desktop application. It can be done if you keep dependencies local.
  “MSIX can perform in-app delta updates which are smaller and faster.”
Windows Installer supports deltas, or did I misunderstand? See “Delta Patch” in the Microsoft documentation. https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/msi/d-gly
  “MSI cannot guarantee that an uninstall will leave your machine in the exact state prior to install.”
Again, it depends on how your application works. Our install is registry-free and installs into a single directory. It can be uninstalled by deleting the folder or via the uninstall.
  “MSI does not require a digital signature. MSIX does (this means any MSIX that appears to be from Serif, will be guaranteed to be from us and only us).”
Technically true, but misleading. Surely what matters is that MSI files can be signed. Presumably the v1 MSI files were signed?
 
My guess is that this is more to do with the fact that developing Windows Installer installations is a pain, and nobody wants to do it. But we do it because it’s what customers want.
 
Having said all this, I have paid for the whole lot as it is a staggeringly good offer. I just hope it installs!