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What is your opinion on XTM Cloud CAT tool?
Thread poster: WolfestoneGroup
WolfestoneGroup
WolfestoneGroup  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:18
English to German
+ ...
Feb 10, 2011

Our company has recently invested in the XTM suite of CAT tools, and we currently have licences available for our translators to use the server-based environment. We are encouraging our translators to use this tool in order become more efficient and increase our productivity, but would like to know if their are any drawbacks or disadvantages to using this tool over others, or equally the advantages and benefits of using it.

Feedback would be greatly appreciated!


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Our company has recently invested in the XTM suite of CAT tools, and we currently have licences available for our translators to use the server-based environment. We are encouraging our translators to use this tool in order become more efficient and increase our productivity, but would like to know if their are any drawbacks or disadvantages to using this tool over others, or equally the advantages and benefits of using it.

Feedback would be greatly appreciated!



[Edited at 2011-02-10 12:02 GMT]
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Emma Goldsmith
Emma Goldsmith  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 17:18
Member (2004)
Spanish to English
my experience with XTM Feb 10, 2011

I did a big project using XTM about a month ago. I had to proofread the work of two translators. The idea of using XTM instead of our usual CAT tool was to draw on the advantage of sharing our TM in real time. I was very interested in this and attended a webinar to learn a bit about it before starting on the project.

Advantages:
It was easy to use. Being familiar with another tool, I found I was up and running very quickly and it all seemed pretty intuitive.

Dis
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I did a big project using XTM about a month ago. I had to proofread the work of two translators. The idea of using XTM instead of our usual CAT tool was to draw on the advantage of sharing our TM in real time. I was very interested in this and attended a webinar to learn a bit about it before starting on the project.

Advantages:
It was easy to use. Being familiar with another tool, I found I was up and running very quickly and it all seemed pretty intuitive.

Disadvantages:
1. Changing from one 10-segment page to the next can take up to 10 seconds. This slow change from one page to the next is terrible for a translator who just wants to read through to check a finished translation. It is also devastating to wait for 5-10 seconds and then see 10 segments just with numbers or crosses (from a table), or with the contents of a set heading that has been translated many times before and turns out to only contain 100% matches. Not being able to scroll through the document was desperate for me.
2. As I was using a licence provided by the agency I couldn't upload my own TMs for reference.
3. A series of little problems: the file list appeared to change order at random; only one file could be open at a time; I couldn't see white space characters; there was no autopropagation.

Our productivity dropped to such an extent that we stopped using XTM and completed the project without it.

Maybe some of these problems have solutions that I am unaware of, but the person at XTM who gave the webinar and answered a couple of my emails before I started the job suddenly went silent when I gave him my feedback at the end of the project...

I look forward to hearing if anyone is using it happily out there. I'm sure that real-time sharing of TMs is the way we will all be moving in the future, but for the moment it's not for me.
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Andrea Torre
Thomas T. Frost
Stepan Konev
Jonab Ali
Max Jeremiah
Anastasia Kalantzi
François ENTRINGER
 
Giovanni Guarnieri MITI, MIL
Giovanni Guarnieri MITI, MIL  Identity Verified
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:18
Member (2004)
English to Italian
Devastating? Desperate? Feb 10, 2011

Emma Goldsmith wrote:
It is also devastating to wait for 5-10 seconds and then see 10 segments just with numbers or crosses (from a table), or with the contents of a set heading that has been translated many times before and turns out to only contain 100% matches. Not being able to scroll through the document was desperate for me.


Wow, was it really that tragic? I never heard anybody talking about a CAT tool in such dramatic way!

Every online CAT tool has its disadvantages and are in general much slower and frustrating... I tend to say no to these projects, since I don't want to be devastated... lol

Jokes apart, sounds to me that XTM has been released too early and still has plenty of bugs... I might be wrong, though.

Edited for typo...

[Edited at 2011-02-10 13:46 GMT]


 
Dr. Andrew Frankland
Dr. Andrew Frankland  Identity Verified
Spain
Local time: 17:18
Member (2007)
English
+ ...
Agree with Emma Feb 11, 2011

As one of the translators on the project Emma referred to I fully agree with her comments. The fact I couldn't use my own TMs or glossaries was a major drawback, and the lack of autopropagation was a real pain in the posterior. The loading time for each page was also far too long (using a 10 MB ADSL connection). I found that my productivity dropped through the floor with XTM Cloud and I was delighted when the decision was made to finish the project with Tag Editor.

I've worked on se
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As one of the translators on the project Emma referred to I fully agree with her comments. The fact I couldn't use my own TMs or glossaries was a major drawback, and the lack of autopropagation was a real pain in the posterior. The loading time for each page was also far too long (using a 10 MB ADSL connection). I found that my productivity dropped through the floor with XTM Cloud and I was delighted when the decision was made to finish the project with Tag Editor.

I've worked on several projects with the same client since then and all have been in Tag Editor and have gone without a hitch.

In summary, I fail to see any benefits to the translator arising from use of this tool. The client, obviously, benefits by not having to email their TM to the translator.

HTH,

Andy
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Thomas T. Frost
Stepan Konev
Nils Ramsauer
 
Pzit (X)
Pzit (X)
English to Italian
Slow... Feb 13, 2011

I tried XTM and dropped it immediately - and I don't feel too guilty for a hasty decision: XTM immediately proved to be too slow to even try it out. I don't know, I might have been unlucky but it just didn't pass the test. Importing files was a real pain (it was NOT an issue with format, nor size). I tried several times, my Internet connection was fine, yet the import process could never be completed. That put me totally off. I mean... I couldn't even start using it... no thanks.

Vickie Dimitriadou
 
EKNXTM
EKNXTM
Local time: 16:18
Straight from the horses mouth...XTM International comment Feb 14, 2011

Hello!

Thanks for putting up this topic.

Emma raised valid points and I am glad to say that in the new version, due for release early March, it is possible to see up to 500 segments in the on-line translation workbench, this is much better than 10.

@Stefano, this was due to the unprecedented number of new accounts that were registered on the 15th December, it was about one new account every minute. There is a fair amount of computer power used when that ma
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Hello!

Thanks for putting up this topic.

Emma raised valid points and I am glad to say that in the new version, due for release early March, it is possible to see up to 500 segments in the on-line translation workbench, this is much better than 10.

@Stefano, this was due to the unprecedented number of new accounts that were registered on the 15th December, it was about one new account every minute. There is a fair amount of computer power used when that many new accounts are created in such a short period of time. Today, the servers are ready for anything!

We always love to hear feedback so that we can respond and improve.

Please contact me at anytime on [email protected]

Thanks.
Elliot


[Edited at 2011-02-14 13:31 GMT]
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Anna Kowalsk (X)
Anna Kowalsk (X)
Local time: 17:18
Polish to English
+ ...
About XTM May 19, 2011

Hello everybody!

I'm reading your posts and I must admit I'm shocked. My experience with XTM is nothing but positive! I started using the free trial and was really impressed with the speed of the tool - the file upload was quick and I was using the program from several different locations, so the Internet connection had nothing to do with it... Right now I'm using the latest 5.5.1 version - you can have up to 500 segments on the page. And what I found most appealing - the support is
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Hello everybody!

I'm reading your posts and I must admit I'm shocked. My experience with XTM is nothing but positive! I started using the free trial and was really impressed with the speed of the tool - the file upload was quick and I was using the program from several different locations, so the Internet connection had nothing to do with it... Right now I'm using the latest 5.5.1 version - you can have up to 500 segments on the page. And what I found most appealing - the support is actually helpful, i.e. they respond to your e-mails and use your suggestions for improvement. You must admit this doesn't happen often!

Cheers
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David Kimb
 
Stefan Trappen
Stefan Trappen  Identity Verified
Germany
Local time: 17:18
Romanian to German
+ ...
An obstacle, no tool May 22, 2011

After numerous projects done with XTM I could add much criticism. That tool is simply an obstacle and lacks a lot of features which are essential. There is a risk not mentioned in the above discussion: split-seconds of interuptions (a routine) can lead to losses of translations or parts of it.

Good luck for everyone, who likes to work with XTM.

Stefan


Jakov Milicevic
Vickie Dimitriadou
Thomas T. Frost
Stepan Konev
Jonab Ali
Nils Ramsauer
 
RE: An obstacle, no tool May 24, 2011

Dear Stefan,

Thank you for your feedback. I am very sorry to hear that you are unhappy with XTM. As the technical architect of XTM I am obviously very interested in any criticism of the system. We take our end users very seriously. We do have many very satisfied users, but are always open to suggestions for improvement.

I am keen to hear from you exactly what features you consider lacking and any additional points that you feel would improve things for you.

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Dear Stefan,

Thank you for your feedback. I am very sorry to hear that you are unhappy with XTM. As the technical architect of XTM I am obviously very interested in any criticism of the system. We take our end users very seriously. We do have many very satisfied users, but are always open to suggestions for improvement.

I am keen to hear from you exactly what features you consider lacking and any additional points that you feel would improve things for you.

Regarding your last point, did you raise this with 'support at xtm-intl.com'? Our support team is very responsive and efficient.

Best Regards,

AZ
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Jerzy Jeczalik (X)
Jerzy Jeczalik (X)  Identity Verified
Poland
Local time: 17:18
English to Polish
I am quite happy with XTM Jun 21, 2011

I have worked on a few XTM projects, things went pretty smoothly actually. Pretty good support for freelancers as well. The workbench was easy to use for me. Unlike most CAT tools it is very intuitive and just lets me get on with the job of translating. I wish all CAT tools were this easy to use! It automates most things for you. XTM takes care of all your memory - no problems with backups etc. All your memory and terminology is held for you.

 
Nora Diaz
Nora Diaz  Identity Verified
Mexico
Local time: 09:18
Member (2002)
English to Spanish
+ ...
Chiming in Jun 27, 2011

I saw this thread a few days ago but didn't feel qualified to give an opinion, as I was just getting started with XTM. However, as I come to the end of my first large project with XTM, and after signing in for a trial account to look at all the features, these are my impressions:

1. I have to start out by saying that I'm a Trados/Studio user and have been for many years, so in a way I expected certain things from XTM based on my experience with Trados, which I realize now may not be
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I saw this thread a few days ago but didn't feel qualified to give an opinion, as I was just getting started with XTM. However, as I come to the end of my first large project with XTM, and after signing in for a trial account to look at all the features, these are my impressions:

1. I have to start out by saying that I'm a Trados/Studio user and have been for many years, so in a way I expected certain things from XTM based on my experience with Trados, which I realize now may not be the best approach.

2. I have done two things over the past week with XTM: I've been working on an actual project set up by a client and I have been trying a small group account where I have complete freedom to set it up anyway I want. I have come to the conclusion that most of my frustrations with the actual project regarding TM and terminology management have to do with the way the project was set up by the client and not with the tool itself. Other than that, the workflow has been smooth, the manual is clear and I was able to some extent to create my own settings, such as shortcuts, to make things flow more smoothly. I didn't experience any of the slow flow some colleagues have been describing here.

3. This has been said before and I have to agree with it: the support at XTM is phenomenal. Several people have been in touch with me to answer my questions, no matter how insignificant, and today two very nice support people from XTM actually called me and we had an online meeting so that we could discuss some behavior I was seeing in the program. They agreed that it was unusual and said it would be fixed by tomorrow. I have never before experienced that level of service. And that was just for a trial account.

4. The one thing the support staff confirmed for me today is that XTM is still in the process of implementing term recognition in their cloud-based tool. So until that is implemented, that's definitely something that's missing in that for me is a major component for a good CAT tool-based workflow.

Having said that, I quickly found a very good workaround to this limitation I've actually started to use even with Trados and Studio: using a text expander as a substitute for a term recognition feature in XTM and as a supplement to Multiterm in Trados products.

You can see how that works in a blog entry I made here:

http://noradiaz.blogspot.com/2011/06/adding-text-expander-to-my-translation.html

I plan on adding some XTM screenshots, but it looks basically the same as with Studio, which you can see on the blog.

So, in conclusion, so far I'm happy with XTM, it's my first cloud-based translation experience and I think it definitely has a lot of potential, especially when it comes to projects that require collaboration.

For now, as I discussed with the sales person who contacted me, I feel that the pricing structure at the freelance level is a little off. I think the word limit is too low for a serious, full-time translator, and I feel anxious just thinking that I will use up my word allocation before the month is over and I will have to end up paying more to finish my work. Perhaps it is difficult for me to wrap my head around that because it's a completely new business model, and because even though it was expensive, with Trados I have complete control over my projects at all times and there are no world limits. In addition to that, I'm a little put off by having to pay for three months up front, and would like to see a per-project pricing option added instead.

However, if I were just starting out, this would definitely be a very attractive option for me as a freelancer.

But for any projects that require a team working together, I would definitely consider XTM, as it allows you to share a TM and a termbase in real time and on the cloud, which would save the team leader the cumbersome process of exchanging TMs and keeping them up to date, and distributing them back to team members.

I almost forgot, but there is one added bonus to using XTM: output formats. This was one of my very first questions before I started trying XTM. As much as I love using Studio, I don't use it for the bulk of my translations because my clients for the most part still require bilingual Word files. As most of you know, Studio doesn't offer the ability to output a bilingual Word file. Well, XTM does.

In trying to find a way to output bilingual Word files in tools other than Trados Workbench, I tried both Wordfast Anywhere and XTM. While both tools produced a bilingual Word file, the one from Wordfast didn't have the right look, while the one from XTM was indistinguishable from one produced by Trados. So that one feature, would be a significant deciding factor if I had to choose between Studio and XTM, because Studio may be laden with features that XTM doesn't yet have, but what good does that do me when I can't output the kind of file my clients require?



[Edited at 2011-06-27 22:13 GMT]
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Sharon Xu
Sharon Xu  Identity Verified
China
Local time: 00:18
English to Chinese
Too slow and frustratin when encountering server problems Sep 25, 2013

I'm working on a big and urgent task on XTM. But somehow, it is interrupted every 5-1 minutes. I'm going crazy because the deadline is a just a few hours. What I could do is to working 5 minutes or so then re login the system (it will take more than 5 minutes sometimes). Then I work on it for another 5 minutes.

More worse, I can't get any help because of time difference. The server is locoated in EU, but I work in Asia. I don't want to use it again in such case.


Jakov Milicevic
 
XTM Offline Version Sep 25, 2013

Dear Sharon,

I appreciate that fact that you may be having problems when accessing the XTM servers from China. We now have an offline version of the XTM Translation Editor that is based on Microsoft Excel that will work with all version of Excel from 2007 onwards.

In your Projects view click on the project and select 'Manage files', then in the 'Offline translation' column select the 'cog' icon and choose the 'Generate Excel' option. You will then be able to downloa
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Dear Sharon,

I appreciate that fact that you may be having problems when accessing the XTM servers from China. We now have an offline version of the XTM Translation Editor that is based on Microsoft Excel that will work with all version of Excel from 2007 onwards.

In your Projects view click on the project and select 'Manage files', then in the 'Offline translation' column select the 'cog' icon and choose the 'Generate Excel' option. You will then be able to download a fully comprehensive version of the file including all terminology and matching in an Excel 'package' which you can open in Excel. You will need to enable macros. It will download thee current state of your translation so you will not have to reenter any translation.

Once you have finished, simply upload the Excel file.

Best Regards,

A.Zydroń CTO XTM-INTL
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wonita (X)
wonita (X)
China
Local time: 13:18
How to save translated file in XTM? Sep 26, 2013

I am working with XTM for the first time. So far, I cannot find the saving translation function. Is the translated file saved automatically?

Many thanks.


 
XTM Intl
XTM Intl
United Kingdom
Local time: 16:18
RE: Sep 26, 2013

Hello,

If you've not changed your default editor settings than all translations will be saved automatically. When you translate segment and move to the next one, translated segment will change status to green and translation is saved in Translation Memory database.

Kind regards,
Przemysław Nowak (XTM Support)


 
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