I have been a dedicated user of freehand since 3.1 and 9 has served me well on
the OS 9's platform. last year I upgraded to OS10 and FH10.4.9. What a
nightmare! I can't togle snap to grid or snap to guides on or off to start. The
transform pallette is screwed also. Is 11 better or is my only option that
little imac in the corner still running the old software? I love the old
version, my vector projects along with output to print was so fast. Any advise
that doesn't include moron coments would be nice.
Thanks!
Waylin

> Is 11 better or is my only option that
> little imac in the corner still running the old software?

Yes.

If I were to chart out the quality of FH releases:

Crap - - - - Pretty good - - - - - Nice!
===========================FH7
==========================FH8
=========================FH9
=FH10
============FH11

-Darrel

>> Is 11 better or is my only option that
>> little imac in the corner still running the old software?
>
> Yes.

BUT...maybe it's time to upgrade to Illustrator. I haven't yet, but in
hindsight, maybe I should have.

-Darrel

Agrred, FH7 is superior to all other I have worked with. I am still using it
under OS9 and mix it a little with FH11 in OSX while trying to get used to it,
but it is too time consuming when I have to get things done fast. So, FH7 is
still my nr 1 program for all I do.

I wouldn?t call Illustrator an upgrade to Freehand though. As I have said
before, if Adobe is not upgrading Freehand to work as intended, I?ll continue
with FH7 and FH11 like it is until I retire.

darrel wrote:
>>> Is 11 better or is my only option that
>>> little imac in the corner still running the old software?
>> Yes.
>
> BUT...maybe it's time to upgrade to Illustrator. I haven't yet, but in
> hindsight, maybe I should have.
>
> -Darrel
>
>

We have both Freehand MX and Illustrator CS2 where I work. I'm starting
to use Illustrator more and more because most of our outside material
now comes in Illustrator format (Wire service graphics) and it is a real
pain to translate them over to Freehand.

That said my coworkers can easily tell which program I'm working in by
what sounds emanate from my desk -- and offer sympathy and what support
they can.

Illustrator has some nice tools that Freehand doesn't have but it makes
it very difficult to use the program. I'm sure part of it is that I'm
still not as comfortable with Illustrator as I am with Freehand but most
of it is the badly executed interface.

So, to come round to my actual point, we'll have to upgrade to
Illustrator at some point in the future but it still might be more
efficient to keep running Freehand if you have a choice. I still find it
easier to translate some files to Freehand than to modify them directly
in Illustrator.

From what I've read about Illustrator CS3 -- IT won't upgrade us to the
CS3 suite yet and they won't say when or if they will -- it sounds like
it's borrowed some ideas from Freehand and I've heard that more of
Freehand will be cross-pollinated into Illustrator with the next
version. Maybe by then it will run enough like Freehand to get me to
stop cursing its name.

-Wes

For me the selection process is a pain in Illustrator; every time i try a new
job in it ? exercising for the future leap sideways ? the temptation to go back
to FH wins over.
Also, both applications have functions i don't use. Like japanese cameras vs.
Leica (except there would not be a Leica of vector drawing apps). I pray for
the time you'll be able to buy a core drawing + text application, then complete
it with chosen Xtra plugins.
A mention for the power of various multipages in the same document for small
jobs : cards, logo, letter, flyer all in the same place, every element ready
for copy-paste. A good creation-oriented tool.
My choice for now is to use FHMx (of which i am very satisfied) until my Power
PC PowerBook dies or becomes obsolete. In the meantime i'll try to get a grasp
on the Kafkaian logic of natural selection in Illustrator.
:-)

Boyan

Thank's to all for the info, I will upgrade to FH11 today and try my luck.

Waylin

every copy of FH10 is a bad one

I too am happy with FHMx (11) but hated - really hated - 10

I'm not sure why exactly - truth is can't remember - but I do remember it
lasting about a week on my machine once and then about two days in a second
attempt and then sitting on a shelf since then.

I have been happily using Freehand 8 but recently I got a new computer, so I
thought that I might as well upgrade to MX (11.0). I have had SO MANY PROBLEMS
with it that it is practically useless to me. After 8 weeks of chasing Adobe
Technical support to resolve my problems they eventually replied that they '
could help me no further as Freehand is no longer been developed'!!!!!
The offered me a free of charge Illustrator in return. Which I snapped up.
My advice would be, that if you are going to spend money on upgrading, get
Illustrator. It is FAR superior!
And like I, when you need to use Freehand, return to your trusty older version.

I loved Freehand 7 & 8, liked 10. But I have a big problem now.

2 weeks ago I had a crash under 10.3.7. So the IT dept bought and upgraded me
to 10.4.10
Now freehand 10 doesn't work. Won't launch. It tries for about 5 seconds and
then the icon in the doc just stops bouncing. An apple certified tech came by
and said something must have
'broken' in during the earlier crash. So IT bought me FH 11. Just installed it
and it won't launch either.

Anyone had anything remotely like this happen? I don't want to switch over to
illustrator!