The past four days have kinda been a nightmare. I was locked out of my Mac version of CorelDRAW because of the formatting on the pop-up that asks you to sign in so you can receive new version alerts and sales made it impossible to fill in the fields. I never thought twice about it before and I would just sign in and move on. I never thought that Corel would make the software unusable until you agreed to view ads. I'm including pictures of what the pop-up looked like for the first two days versus what it was supposed to look like.
Am I the only person to be affected by this?
Doesn't this make my stand-alone version of CorelDRAW adware? A stand-alone version of the software should not need to maintain an internet connection to run if work isn't being accomplished in the cloud. I really am curious to know if I am the only one who lost time because of this issue. Is this just a Mac problem?
Corel has been made aware of a sign-in issue today (May 30th, 2023) which only affect CorelDRAW on Mac. (Windows is fine)They are currently working on resolving the issue.
They may want to revise the opinion that it is only an issue on the Mac. The true underlying issue is that this formatting blunder revealed that CorelDRAW will lock users out of the software if they don't sign in. That makes CorelDRAW a form of adware since it is coded not to move on without connecting to the internet.
The pop-up event draws over other Windows until resolved. The stand-alone versions of CorelDRAW don't get "access to important online services and content" since that is reserved for subscription licenses. What you will get after signing in are updates regarding sales and new releases to the Get Started Tab (or window on a Mac). In other words, CorelDRAW forces you to sign in so they can serve you ads.
If you are on the subscription service, that is forgivable. For those like me using a stand-alone version...well, you aren't using a stand-alone version at that point.
For a clean installation of CDGS Mac, this issue had been fixed.
For actual users still facing the issue, it is recommand to perform the following:1. Go to user’s home folder,2. Remove the current user’s Messages folder3. ~/Library/Preferences/Corel/Messages4. Re-Launch app
You may need to sign-in again once, to authenticate your product.
If this is not working for you, please contact support (www.coreldraw.com/.../ and ensure you have your serial number handy.
What would make an installation of CDGS not "clean"?
I already have access to the app again. I signed in when CorelDRAW phoned home with a less mangled pop-up window. I have been using and upgrading CorelDRAW since version 9. If uploads of pictures were allowed I could show you every CD all the way up to X6 when I started getting serials direct from Cleverbridge.
Nobody seems to be getting the issue. Corel would not let me access the stand-alone version of CorelDRAW until after I signed in to my account. This action allowed Corel to continue extending ads and product announcements. Requiring internet access to enable viewing ads and product announcements is not supposed to be a condition of using a stand-alone product.
I am not claiming the formatting issue is not fixed. I can access DRAW fine now that I have signed into my account.
Making a connection to the internet and signing in to my account should not be necessary to use stand-alone software. Pretty much by definition. It is supposed to stand alone.
Apparently, Corel has instituted some policy that, from time to time, forces re-authentication of the software for the purposes of serving ads and product announcements.
It should not be a requirement to agree to view ads and product announcements to continue using the stand-alone software.
My copy of CorelDRAW 2021 was bought online directly from the Corel website as every version I have purchased since I got my first one from Fry's Electronics. I assure you this is not an issue of pirated software behaving badly.
The issue is that Corel is forcing users of older versions of CorelDRAW to reconnect and receive ads in order to have continued access to the software they sold as a stand-alone application.
I am not talking about the bug, I am talking about the feature that should not be there.
To elaborate a bit more on what the actual problem is:
I don't fire up CorelDRAW to see what is happening in the world of Corel.
I start up CorelDRAW because I have an idea I want to evolve. A project I need to finish. A goal I wish to accomplish.
A pop-up about signing in for updates serves no purpose but for the potential monetization of my distraction.
When the positioning of that pop-up creates an opportunity for complete obstruction of my objectives, I need that to be seen as a problem. A serious problem.
Stand-alone software (already verified and registered) does not need re-verification in perpetuity.
All older than current versions of CorelDRAW I own, once signed in do not ask to sign in unless you sign out.
That's awesome. I truly believe that.
If there were never a pop-up asking me to sign in before allowing me into the software, that would have been the case for me too. But it wasn't.
And since there is no technical reason for that to be the case (signing in before using the software) that should be the way it is going forward so that there is never a chance for this to happen again.
Knowing that it didn't happen to you is awesome but doesn't do anything to resolve that it happened to me. It also does not help keep it from happening again or to anyone else.EDIT:
And more to the point, if it were not a requirement to sign in, there would never be a reason to sign out. Because the use of the program does not require a sign-in unless one is using features that the stand-alone version has no access to. They can require a sign-in when I fire up a tool that requires an internet connection.