QuarkXPress

QuarkXPress is a Desktop publishing (page layout) application for Mac OS and Windows, produced by Quark, Inc. The first version was released in 1987. XTensions technology, which allows developers to create custom software add-ons for Quark products, was introduced in 1992.

Although there are similar applications for the home and small office market, such as Adobe Pagemaker and Microsoft Publisher[?], QuarkXpress has long been the dominant application for professional design of magazines and brochures. Adobe InDesign, launched as a direct competitor, was slow to gather speed, but outsold QuarkXPress in 2002. However, even if this trend continues, Quark's much larger installed base would take years to erode.

However, for much of its history, Quark had a history of doing relatively infrequent new versions, and pricing them at a high level. This, combined with public perception of CEO Ebrahimi's attitude towards their customers, has resulted in a strong negative feeling among many of Quark's customers, which seems to be enhancing competitor Adobe Systems' ability to woo people to try their competing software, Adobe InDesign. Recent new versions of the software have emphasized web development features almost as much as print publishing, which has frustrated some of Quark's traditional print users seeking feature parity with InDesign.

QuarkXPress Passport is QuarkXPress with the added ability to handle multiple language documents.

The recently announced QuarkXPress 6.0 will reportedly offer multiple undos, and enhancements to the table and web page features. Quark has said that it will not support Unicode, nor the advanced layout features of OpenType.

• QuarkXPress 1.0 (1987)

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• QuarkXPress 4.0 (1997)
• QuarkXPress 5.0 (2002)