New service pack for CorelDRAW X4

Today, Corel is making available the first service pack for its CorelDRAW X4 graphics package, the latest edition of the first great illustration app for Windows. In my experience with the package (I wrote a book on version 6 way, way back, and I reviewed version 1.0 for Computer Shopper two decades ago), it's my opinion that X4 could use some help in the stability department.

Though Corel's marketing is touting SP1 for its increase in the number of cameras supported for RAW images, a check of the change log shows SP1's main focus is stability improvement. Since simply moving the X4 palette around can crash the program, I'm hopeful that Corel has paid serious attention to its users' complaints. Of course, being able to actually download SP1 will help; in my experiences today, X4 is certain it already did download it. When it tries to install SP1, though, that routine naturally fails. Maybe it's a firewall problem (that's always a candidate), though I'll keep you apprised as to what I find.

3:38 pm ET February 16, 2009 - As a general rule, don't try to download Service Pack 1 from the Welcome Center screen inside CorelDRAW itself. It's apparently trying to leverage the Web browser for this purpose, and in doing so, it doesn't play nicely. Instead, you should download SP1 from Corel's Web page directly (this is the English-language version page).

Eureka! It is as if the sky opened up for this application. Already, we've noticed the snappiness that characterized Corel's applications from a decade ago, appears to have returned. And the ability to open up old Corel art from the '80s and '90s without crashing the application, has returned also.

Here's a 12-year-old illustration I did for a technology piece for Computer Shopper back when it was still the size of a phone book. Under X4, this illustration -- which uses a funky transparency trick along the sides of this "crystal" -- crashed the app; here, it doesn't.

I've also been able to open up some art dating back to CorelDRAW version 2.0, which is way, way back in the Windows 3.1 era. Version 1.0 art still cannot be translated, however, for reasons that are sad only from an historical standpoint, but otherwise understandable. I hope to have more good news on CorelDRAW X4 SP1 in the coming days.