Finale 2010 Announced

I feel like, in light of Sibelius 6's recent release, I should also point out for fans of the "other side" that Finale has recently opened its next sequel for pre-orders. Yay.

Here's the new features page:

What's New in Finale 2010 - Finale Music Notation Software

Call me a pessimist, but there doesn't seem to be too much significant in there that would make me think it's worth the upgrade...to be fair, most of the things that Sibelius totes as "unique" and "new" for its feature list has been available in Finale already, but my point is that I would have thought Finale would come up with some more significant new features for this version. Especially considering the backlog of requests and suggestions from the users.

Ah well, I guess we'll see.

wow, i just spent a week trying to download Finale allegro 2007 (a free torrent online) and now youre tellling me a finale 2010 came out...... wow i waited so patiently for 2007 to finish downloading and yet im still 3 years behind..... Btw, i dont think theres anything different then finale 2009 besides this "garristan orchestra sounds" thing......

Finale 2009 is pretty solid. I used Finale 2003 at school for 4 years, then got used to Finale 2007 at school, and now recently purchased my own copy of Finale 2009 (promotional discount, yay!). I don't think I want to waste any more time trying to get used to yet another new layout.

One of the biggest 'additions' from Finale 2007 to Finale 2009 was probably the fact that they moved a whole bunch of options into different menu categories... I still haven't got used to where things like the 'transpose' option are now located!

once you get used to it it's soooo much better than before, though

trust me, I've been updating every year since 04, with the exception of 05 :P.

I love the improvements and ease of editing the score....and as soon as I learn speedy entry, I'll be on my way to...GREAT SUCCESS!!!

2010 doesn't look like anything special, and I might copy Nico and not upgrade for once :O! Unless I have the spare cash, which is doubtful as I'm paying for a car and insurance...

... wow i waited so patiently for 2007 to finish downloading and yet im still 3 years behind....

Don't sweat it... I'm still with Finale 2002 and other than my computer not being able to handle it, it's been rather faithful to me. I have yet to come across anything I wanted to do expediently that it couldn't do. I won't get 2010 if it's not that much better according to y'all... do you reckon I could still buy 2009 from them? For less? Or would I have to get it from ... somewhere? (:shifty:) I don't know if they sell old versions...

wow i waited so patiently for 2007 to finish downloading and yet im still 3 years behind

Don't sweat it... I'm still with Finale 2002 and other than my computer not being able to handle it, it's been rather faithful to me. I have yet to come across anything I wanted to do expediently that it couldn't do. I won't get 2010 if it's not that much better according to y'all... do you reckon I could still buy 2009 from them? For less? Or would I have to get it from ... somewhere? (:shifty:) I don't know if they sell old versions...

I'm right there with you guys. I've been using Printmusic 2004 for quite a while! I really don't see the need in upgrading unless they come out with something that's totally revolutionary, or my Printmusic somehow dies. It might be awhile before I upgrade :P

Well.. I for one think that this is going to be a HUGE disappointment on the markets for MakeMusic. If WE aren't going to upgrade, that means a LOT of people won't upgrade... yikes... NOT good for them, right?

I love the improvements and ease of editing the score....and as soon as I learn speedy entry, I'll be on my way to...GREAT SUCCESS!!!

Speedy entry really is fantastic. Once you get good at it you can really crank out the notes.

I really wish my laptop had a num-pad so I could actually use Finale. I can't stand entering music note by note unless I'm handwriting it.

I'm right there with you guys. I've been using Printmusic 2004 for quite a while! I really don't see the need in upgrading unless they come out with something that's totally revolutionary, or my Printmusic somehow dies. It might be awhile before I upgrade :P

lol, I use Print 2004; if I had the money I'd upgrade. The playback system crashes if more than of voices are playing anything more complex than eighth notes.

I never quite understood why speedy entry should be more "speedy" than simple entry.

I have Finale 2007. Four hundred email offers from MakeMusic later, I haven't upgraded in 3 years :blush:

I get their business model but it seems like each year ships with small changes. 2008's big pitches (afaict from my email archive): improved copy-paste, some free percussion sounds, import external audio tracks, and "ScoreMerger, a Finale exclusive."

Maybe ship a version that includes EastWest sounds at an affordable price, and makes it easier to port a Finale file into production-quality sequencer playback (editable midi?) and I'll jump at that even if it costs several 100 bucks. But paying 90 a year for small new features, meh...

Speedy entry really is fantastic. Once you get good at it you can really crank out the notes.

I really wish my laptop had a num-pad so I could actually use Finale. I can't stand entering music note by note unless I'm handwriting it.

*****

A lot of the responses from this thread seem to indicate that many of you don't actually know how to use Finale effectively... and seem ignorant of using its very basic functions.

I HIGHLY recommend that anyone who uses Finale go through the tutorials and Quick Start videos. They produce them for a reason!

*****

As far as the new release of Finale goes, since no one actually has a copy of it, it's all speculation. MakeMusic only released the announcement because Sibelius announced their new version. The only thing anyone knows about it is what MakeMusic has posted on their web site. You would think by your ages, you'd know the difference between marketing and reality...

And I'd much rather have a yearly update with bug fixes and revisions (Finale's model) than have to wait 2+ years to get a massive re-work - at which point you basically have the re-learn the program (Sibelius' model).

Flint makes a good point, it isn't all about the bells and whistles, you also want to make sure the program isn't likely to crash on you! And with that said, Young Composers now sells Finale 2010 for those of you who are interested.

I almost bought 09. I'm still on 06. I hear the video capabilities on 08-09 was worth it.

When I was fooling with 08, there was one thing I hated:

When you copied 10 bars, if you pasted four, it pasted four; '08 automatically pasted ten.

I actually prefer it like this, so I don't have to select the whole section where I want to paste to, but can just click on the top left bar where I want the pasted part to start and it still pastes all staffs/bars. I guess, like so many things, it's a question of ones personal workflow. Hmm, would be nice if you could change that behaviour in any case. I don't know if you can, never looked into it.

I'm still mad about mid-measure clefs in 08, what happened to the little tick box?!

I'm still mad about mid-measure clefs in 08, what happened to the little tick box?!

Definatly not worth 400 more dollars from 2009 to 1010.

Definatly not worth 400 more dollars from 2009 to 1010.

How about I stay with Finale 2002 even when I get a new computer that can handle the likes of 2010? Yeah, I think that's a sound plan. I couldn't stand half the different things in 2009 when I tried the demo anyways.

Who would have thought Finale was going to follow up all of the previous releases with 2010