You should keep in mind that there are many experienced users who are using Finale v25 with general success and seeming satisfaction. I was a long-time member of the old Make Music forum and base my statement on many comments posted there. If you are satisfied with your current Finale setup, there is probably no good reason to upgrade.

So far as Make Music's lack of reaching out to users, that's just the way they want to do business.

Paul, I'm curious how long you've been using Finale?

I learned way back in the Coda days not to upgrade Finale unless some really, really, useful feature (useful to me that is) was incorporated.

I think there are a couple of issues facing notation software companies now, but they've been brewing for a decade or more. Firstly. they've felt the need to move to the money - film scoring, hobbyists, wannabe producers, whatever. As such, rather than "notation" features, upgrades tend to focus on elements that are peripheral to notation itself. Most of the purely notational improvements are about workflow rather than making a sharp look more like engraved music - they've all pretty much got that down now and it's more about taste.

I always chuckle thinking about when they added "check range" or like how Sibelius warns you if a note is out of range. You could tell then it was moving away from "composers" and "copyists" and more towards "hobbyists". That's not a bad thing of course, but it means the "hardcore" users don't see anything worth upgrading for. Everyone's "composing" for "Flute Patch" rather than an actual Flute. I've seen scores by people whose stature tells you they should know better, have notes that are unplaybale on a given instrument (and no one says anything to them...). So they don't even care if a note is out of range - or many things like that.

When Slurs went from having to be clicked in then shaped manually to automatically attaching to notes and shaping themselves, that's when I upgraded once!

But, if you stay with each upgrade, it'll pay for itself in 3 upgrades. Just re-buy it new after 4 upgrades (becuase that's what you'll have paid in individual upgrades over time) unless there's some great deal (which seems to be rarer now). I've never understood why they have such a silly upgrade structure. It probably loses them more users over time. That was fine in the early days when there was no competition. Now there are powerful programs for peanuts out there.

But absolutely, Rewire would definitely be worth the upgrade if you've struggled in the past with syncing Finale to some other DAW and need that feature (though MM could be a day late and a dollar short as there are often existing workarounds. Tall time signatures as an "easy entry" rather than a couple of steps might appeal to a small set of users only and since you could do it another way, not worth the upgrade to many).

Dashed slurs with tapered ends - well, I could see where someone might *need* that, but I don't think it's going to bring in  a million new users or anything. I do like how with their new features they said "and eliminated dozens of bugs"!!! Oh, you mean bugs that shouldn't have been there in the first place?

But it's like everything now - we have a PS4 and the first thing we had to do when we got it home was go online and update all the system software. The first thing that happens when you buy a new game - even on release day - is it has to go online and download a bunch of bug fixes - because they release flawed games because they can - because people will pay for them and they're fine with it - they release it, and fix bugs later. As long as they make their money on release day, they're happy.

Given MM and Coda's history, I don't expect much from them. I have a 5-pack at a university that we couldn't get to work. 5 IDENTICAL computers, yet only parts of the program would work on each machine - they would all crash at different things - one computer you couldn't get it started, another, you it would crash if you played back the score, etc. I finally gave up trying to fix it after many many many back and forths. And since they already had the money, and since it's university and money works in particular ways, it wasn't like we could return the software (which you can't anyways).

That's why our entire university uses Sibelius instead. But you know, whether they care or not, I don't know. Based on my observations, they don't need to care becuase they have other stuff going on. Whatever.

I'm using it because I found an old copy we purchased and I can use it on an old computer. I'll just figure out as much as I can myself. Oh, and the biggest upgrade from my previous version this one has? Audio Tracks. Other than that, the only differences I see are ability to do things like adjust the color, more (useless) plug ins, and, really, changes to things I liked before, that now don't do what they used to do, or do it differently, which annoys me...

You can update through resellers if you don't want to pay the full price. 

I can see not upgrading if you needed the Movie Window. Otherwise, it's not bad once you get the hang of it. Too bad the scan functionality was dropped but it's available for $100 if you're on a Mac—I bet that the Win version will be released soon. Those of us who upgraded to SmartScore Pro years ago have had the advanced functionality all along—that's available for $200 both Mac/Win.

As both Mac and Windows OS, you will come to the point where you have no choice if you want to continue using Finale and access older files.

I certainly have my issues with 25 but I'm not sorry I upgraded. Whether I do so again or not will depend on many factors such as documentation that suits my needs, something those awful, time consuming Help files are not. 

If I only upgraded once every four upgrades, I' spend so much time absorbing the changes that I'd more than pay double in what my time is worth. People should upgrade as they feel the need. I do it every time. That's why I also got in on the ground floor with Dorico: I know it will take ages to learn the software and wanted an early start, especially with only rudimentary documentation and (so far) incomplete features.

i have Finale 9.  I started with Finale long ago and upgraded a few times.  Then started working with Logic. Now haveLogic Pro 10. 

My problem is that i have older files i'd like to work on. Update and improve some.  I downloaded Finale 14 trial but i cannot authorize it.  I keep getting a request for a serial number....i don't have one.  I'd like to upgrade to the latest 25 version.  Can't talk to anyone from Finale on the phone.

that sucks.  I like the printing layout ability of Finale better that LogicPro X.  Can anyone help?

Ray Patterson, Sr.

You should be able to log into your user account at MakeMusic.com. If you haven't done so in a long time, you may have to jump through hoops to get there and involve support, lot longer available by phone.

Your serial number doesn't change, by the way, so if you have it anywhere, it's the same. You still need access to your user account before you can register and authorize you upgrade. If you're a longtime user, like I, this wasn't always the case. There's even the possibility you don't have a User Account—your serial# will be necessary to set it up.

Once you are able to access (or create0 your account, you can upgrade. Either buy it from MakeMusic or your favorite reseller. If buying from a reseller, you will get a code that you use when in your account to let it know you've purchased. Once registered, you will be able download the latest and greatest—it will be authorized. Many of us had problems updating in the Chrome browser; Firefox works fine — this was an upgrade issue only; normally Chrome works great with MakeMusic.com.

The installer file contains two installers, the second for the Garritan Instruments and Aria player. People often see it and think, "I've installed it already" and close the window. Don't. This is generally the cause of playback problems in later versions. Make sure you keep running installers till there are none left (there are only two).