Rating: 
Summary: IMPROVED.....BUT.....
Review: "CorelDraw Graphics Suite 11 Upgrade" spots an improved interface. All the major components: CorelDraw 11, PhotoPaint 11, and R.A.V.E. 2 have become easier to use, while at the same time donning new graphics capabilities. Still, experienced versatile users who have tried comparable software, will tell you that this software needs to grab a few more items in order to match both "Adobe Illustrator" and "Macromedia FreeHand".
In CorelDraw, the most significant additions are new drawing tools, symbols, and shaping tools; (all of which provide extra flexibility for drawing elements). PhotoPaint received a red-eye removal brush, improved Web capabilities, and a new cutout tool. The R.A.V.E. or Flash animator's text manipulating strength has increased. It also boasts of a library docker for symbols.
However, the fact is that either the equivalent of these enhancements or their superiors are present in the latest "Adobe Illustrator" and "Macromedia FreeHand" suites. Any user who has tested these software will vindicate me. Again, this "CorelDraw Graphics Suite 11" runs slower than both 'Illustrator' and 'FreeHand', which is the main reason why versatile users regard it as being less polished. Another fact about this Corel software is that its hunger for memory is voracious. Don't rely on the recommended 128MB of RAM that is written on its packet. If your PC's RAM is less than 512MB, this software may compel you to buy extra RAM modules; or else, you may not enjoy the luxury of having more than two other Applications open while running it. If you do, your PC may resort to a snail's speed after some minutes, in order to carry on with its rudimentary tasks.
But apart from these few negative issues, this software will serve you well. It is not bad at all!
Rating: 
Summary: Fast and Powerful
Review: Corel Graphics Suite 11 is by far the best product for illustration and digital imaging that I have used yet. These full featured applications are powerful and robust enough to allow graphics professionals to be as creative as they need without being bogged down with hidden commands, or unfriendly tools. The user interface is intuitive and smart giving creative flexibility and yet is not overwhelming to new users.This new version of Graphics Suite has many new features that allow the graphic artist to go the extra mile in their design, and I have found that power and ease of the applications allows me to be far more productive then with competing products. If you are new to Corel you will enjoy how easy it can be to use these applications. You will also enjoy the ability to make many different types of graphics, such as vector and raster images as well as fully interactive Flash animations. If you are already familiar with Corel you will appreciate the new features and the added power that Corel has put into these applications.
Rating:
Summary: Buy It
Review: Corel is still the slowest most inefficient "Drawing/Illustration" software out there. These other two reviews are almost certainly not legitimate consumer opinions.
If you want a half-baked but "feature Packed" package to play with, knock yourself out, if you are a professional avoid at all costs or at least bring a book to read so you can keep yourself awake while waiting for Corel to sort itself after ever minor function. Horrible stuff.
Rating: 
Summary: Don't believe it!
Review: Corel is still the slowest most inefficient "Drawing/Illustration" software out there. These other two reviews are almost certainly not legitimate consumer opinions.
If you want a half-baked but "feature Packed" package to play with, knock yourself out, if you are a professional avoid at all costs or at least bring a book to read so you can keep yourself awake while waiting for Corel to sort itself after ever minor function. Horrible stuff.
Rating: 
Summary: Another "legitimate" consumer user, whatever that means
Review: I'm not sure what Keith W. means by a legitimate user, but I've been using Corel since version 6. I am also very comfortable with the Adobe products, and Corel is still my application of choice. I find the Corel suite not only intuitive and quick to learn, but also much more suited to a user who wants to customize processes and create unique scripts.
Rating:
Summary: The song remains the same
Review: In the last ten years I've purchased Corel 3,4,5,6,and 7. I distinctly remember every version being slow and buggy. You'd buy the software and then have to phone Corel until they'd agree to send you software patches to fix the problems. But since there were never any complete solutions, I kept upgrading to newer versions, hoping maybe eventually, they would work out all the problems.
I lost my hope around corel 7, but recently decided to upgrade again. After all, they've had at least 5 years to design better, faster routines. Guess what - Corel 11 is even slower than Corel 7. Now it seems to be popular these days to blame all speed problems on insufficient RAM. But I don't buy it. Corel 11 is really not that much different than Corel 7, and I think 5 years of development should give massive speed improvements. I also think that it is very arrogant for software developers to build their systems a way that forces the end user to upgrade his computer.
The other issue of bugginess is also still with us. Immediately after getting the software, I was informed that I should get the servicepak in order to overcome some of the bugs.
The entire thing is an exact replay of my experience ten years ago.
Don't get me wrong, I really like the software - otherwise I wouldn't have upgraded so many times. But the software should be perfect before the company ships it and ... get ready to laugh at me ... the software should be capable of running quickly on a DX-100 486 with 32 megs of Ram under Win95. That was what I was using in 1996 and Corel 7 still ran faster than today's version on a Pentium. Ha Ha Ha
Rating:
Summary: The song remains the same
Review: In the last ten years I've purchased Corel 3,4,5,6,and 7. I distinctly remember every version being slow and buggy. You'd buy the software and then have to phone Corel until they'd agree to send you software patches to fix the problems. But since there were never any complete solutions, I kept upgrading to newer versions, hoping maybe eventually, they would work out all the problems.
I lost my hope around corel 7, but recently decided to upgrade again. After all, they've had at least 5 years to design better, faster routines. Guess what - Corel 11 is even slower than Corel 7. Now it seems to be popular these days to blame all speed problems on insufficient RAM. But I don't buy it. Corel 11 is really not that much different than Corel 7, and I think 5 years of development should give massive speed improvements. I also think that it is very arrogant for software developers to build their systems a way that forces the end user to upgrade his computer.
The other issue of bugginess is also still with us. Immediately after getting the software, I was informed that I should get the servicepak in order to overcome some of the bugs.
The entire thing is an exact replay of my experience ten years ago.
Don't get me wrong, I really like the software - otherwise I wouldn't have upgraded so many times. But the software should be perfect before the company ships it and ... get ready to laugh at me ... the software should be capable of running quickly on a DX-100 486 with 32 megs of Ram under Win95. That was what I was using in 1996 and Corel 7 still ran faster than today's version on a Pentium. Ha Ha Ha
Rating:
Summary: Buy It
Review: It is far better than it has ever been, and I have been a "legitimate customer" since release version 2. I was forced to switch to Illustrator at one point, and I could not wait to leave that behind. CorelDraw has it all, and is far more intuitive and user friendly than any Adobe package.
Rating:
Summary: CorelDRAW kicks Illustrator ...any day!
Review: Keith W. states: "These other two reviews are almost certainly not legitimate consumer opinions." As a 12 year veteran of this program, I most certainly am a legitimate consumer and this is my opinion: In 1990, I took a computer certificate program and one of the applications I learned was CorelDRAW [ver. 1] -- a new vector drawing program made by a little Canadian company that set out to show that the graphics industry didn't need to revolve around Adobe or MACs. I have successfully used CorelDRAW on a daily basis in commercial print shops and more. I have sent my projects to third party printers with no production problems because CorelDRAW is able to save to so many "acceptable" file formats to satisfy anyone. I have seen CorelDRAW grow and mature from version 1 to version 11 and I still say it beats Illustrator hands down, not only for its ease of learning and intuitive interface, but for value of dollar. Many features that Illustrator has only recently introduced in its Version 10, CorelDRAW had already implemented several versions earlier. No, I'm not a Corel Corp employee. I'm simply a consumer that loves CorelDRAW, has used it professionally for over 10 years with consistent, high quality results and has shown others the value of this remarkable program. If I was stranded on a deserted island with a laptop and my choice of one program, CorelDRAW would be my choice.
Rating:
Summary: Easier to learn, to me.
Review: This is my fifth version of Corel Draw, I started using it at version 7. I always thought of it as being difficult, so I saved up enough money to purchase Adobe Illustrator, because I had seen some work that was done with Illustrator, so I thought maybe it would be a lot easier to use. After trying to use it I ended up reverting to Corel Draw. I consider DRAW to be much easier in terms of its intuitiveness and simple accessible GUI. Adobe tries too much to uniform all of the GUI's in their apps, making it difficult to have access to "certain" features. I have created flyers, Newsletters, post cards and other types of content creation with DRAW, I do not recommend you use it for page layout though it's not as lenient as other dedicated DTP programs, but it does get the job. Don't get me wrong though about Illustrator, its a great app, but for people who are already comfortable in the Corel Draw environment and are using the program for years now I recommend you stick with it. PhotoPaint is not what it says, forget about it and buy the master of them all, Adobe Photoshop, especially version 7, the power of that program and the capabilities it has for editing photos is amazing. RAVE, is no different from version one but I guess it would have seemed odd if they had not included it in version 11, I would also suggest you stick to Macromedia Flash or Flash MX.
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