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Finale 2004 Available for Mac OS X

Posted by pudge on from the but-garageband-looks-so-cool dept.

sunrein writes "After years of Mac OS X being available, MakeMusic has finally announced production and a Jan. 16 ship date of Finale 2004 for Mac OS X. This announcement comes after a public relations fiasco earlier this fall when the release date was pushed back just days before it was due to ship in late October."

3 of 39 comments (clear)

  1. Finale... finally! by scottblascocomposer · · Score: 5, Interesting
    It's about time, really. I've been using Sibelius for two years now, and mainly because it was the best notation software available for OS X. I've been watching this thing with Finale, and occasionally sending them emails asking about it, and now I'm pretty psyched to try the demo.

    What I'm really waiting for, though, is an option in both (or all) programs to save in some open file format. That would mean true victory for us music tech dorks, and longevity for our files.

    --
    To reign is to serve.
  2. Notation vs. Sequencing by transient · · Score: 5, Informative

    It seems that a fair number of people aren't aware of the difference between music notation programs and sequencing software. Finale is for music notation, programs like Cubase and GarageBand are for sequencing. Think of music notation as word processing for sheet music. It's not for putting together tracks on your computer, it's for people like my dad (professor of film music and music theory) who want to compose, say, a four-part bassoon piece.

    --

    irb(main):001:0>
  3. Bloatware? by am46n · · Score: 5, Interesting

    There is no escaping the fact that Finale, though rock solid, has always been, and will continue to be, bloatware and a lesson in bad interface design. Anybody serious about using notation software has switched, or should switch, to Sibelius.

    Finale suffered from:
    -slow redraws (Sibelius was originally lightning fast on the Acorn)
    -crap redraws (display artifacts left behind when dragging. None of this in Sibelius)
    -legacy nested dialogs that had to fit on the screen of an SE
    -crap auto-layout and spacing (Sibelius does this seamlessly in the background without having to be told to do it)
    -music takes ages to notate
    -no FlexiTime
    -no automatic placing of dynamics etc (hard to get continuity of spacing)
    -generally frustrating and confusing to use

    That's why I stopped buying the updates with Finale 2002. However, if they have seriously addressed these issues and offered a complete rewrite, rather than just a further-bloating of the legacy codebase, I might reconsider my judgement. Past experience says not to hold your breath though.