I have both Mac and PC versions of Finale 25.3. Forced to change from 2012 because of the MAC Sierra OS and boy, after spending several weeks using it daily, I'm getting more and more frustrated.
First, the Tempo tool. Not the first time I complain about this one and apparently others are having tempo control issues as wel This tool used to be all in one and so easy to use. Trying to get MIDI tool to produce the same flexibility is next to impossible and takes a lot of time.
Second, importing or scanning. I'm still trying to find a good alternative to scan music and SmartScore was never that effective. It was as much work to correct all the scanning errors as it was for me to just input the notes one by one. The TIFF import always did a better job. Luckily I still have an old Finale 2012 version that I can use for that. Seems kind of silly though having to go to that much trouble. I'm a composer arranger, so understand the copyright issue, but like William said in another post, if people are going to cheat, they'll find a way. He had the best analogy that I have to share with you..."The solution of eliminating this function to prevent plagiarism is like eliminating the automobile to prevent drunk driving". Well said.
Three, the look of the program. I find the palette icons really hard to see and identify, even with my glasses on. Lyrics icon looks like a lit candle top. Before it was obviously a feather ink pen. Very classy. All the images are darker grey on lighter grey; no contrast. I have to get really close to the screen to see them. At least if the background was white and the images black they would be more visible. Fine if your hell bend on a sterile no colour look. Such a change that the themes are gone. That's another great feature that was taken away.
In the world today, more and more companies design their software to accomodate clients who are challenged. Finale as it is now, offers no possibility of adjusting the look to accomodate people who are visually challenged. With 2012, you could adjust colors, backgrounds, palettes thereby making it easier to see and understand.
I'm not sure what happened when 2014 came in. You had 2 years to improve things and here you are. Was there some kind of corporate take over? It seems like that you lost good people who understood our needs better. It feels now like it's all about business and cutting corners.
I started with Finale 2004 when I was teaching music in high school here in Canada. I would upgrade regularly and never had any complaints about changes made from one version to the next. It always seemed to get better and better, adding things on, so people never missed something they had gotten used to. Then boom............2014 arrives and things start getting clawed back and taken away. The design goes from pretty to, well....."butt ugly" and sterile. I noticed several people are unhappy with it when I read other comments.
Oh well, some companies get it, and other's don't. I thought you guys did but these last two versions just prove otherwise.
If I could go back, I would, but Mac's Sierra won't let me and that's the biggest problem of all.
Disappointed, I remain, Pierre
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