Agreed, whole-heartedly. Just tell us if any of the promised revamps of certain tools - lyrics, chords, etc. - are actually being worked on. 

I'm all ears, I also want to know the direction MM is taking! It's very frustrating to say the least.

So, here's something about where this forum is heading. If you find it too much OT, please just ignore it.

I'm aware that there's been some change in the discussions here. At the start this forum bubbled with new ideas, proper, sometimes brilliant, feature requests - now there's an increasing amount of discussions about the forum itself. 

I would like to think that this forum still has a purpose, but then I would need MM to make an effort to prove it so. There's always the solution to close it down, but making it possible to visit and search for topics. What I wouldn't like is this place to become a 'living' memorial.

Anders,

In the early days of Feature Requests, we had MM staffers regularly weighing in, and commenting on future plans. Or at least acknowledging our participation. After a couple of fairly uninspiring updates, I got frustrated at nothing changing. Now, I've been requesting that most feature requests be ignored, because I think that they may be the easy way out for MM, rather than fixing things that need to be fixed. More sizzle, rather than a better steak. If MM wanted to eliminate this side of the forum, I wouldn't be disappointed. People can still submit their suggestions directly.

The "How do I..." side still has value. If only it wasn't crippled by the lousy software.

As gathered from this thread, there are two questions about what to hang on to. The first one, about hanging on to Finale, is probably not that easily answered. But at least some hint from the manufacturer of future plans would be helpful.

The second one should be easier to answer. Is there any purpose in hanging on to this forum? We who still are, invest some commitment and hope in doing so. I've noticed that some of the most knowledgeable and contributive members have either left the forum completely, or just stopped being active here. Why should we, the last of the Mohicans, remain?

Excuse me for being persistent, but it's time that MM entered an open discussion with us. As open as possible, understood.

Hi, Anders and Mike.  I agree with both of you. They should close this forum down, because it's wasting people's time.

Where is Finale going? Nowhere. It was too expensive to redo the old code, especially with Dorico on the horizon, so MM will keep patching it as required by the new Mac OS updates and hold on as long as it continues to make money. Then goodbye. 

I would love to be a fly on the wall at a staff meeting...

John wrote: "It was too expensive to redo the old code, especially with Dorico on the horizon, so MM will keep patching it as required by the new Mac OS updates and hold on as long as it continues to make money."

But what if MM doesn't even want to make money?

John: "They should close this forum down, because it's wasting people's time.

Where is Finale going? Nowhere."

Even if I used the positivist wording "where is MM (this forum) heading?", I can all too well understand your point of view, John.

I wish I lived in the Denver area. I might go and knock on the door...

The stillness of MM is deafening. I don't want to start all over again. I'm working with Finale since 92'. I don't understand their logic leaving costumers in the dark.

I've used the software since its inception. Just don't think they can, or want to handle the formidable code problem previously mentioned. I would very much like to continuing supporting what was a software engineering tour de force, but the company's not communicating about it shows an indifference which should be fully reciprocated at this point. 

For those who do not automatically check the Finale blog, here is an update on MM's plans for Finale.

https://www.finalemusic.com/blog/finale-development-update-october-2019/ 

That’s somewhat encouraging. Still, some “user-facing” development would be appreciated. So, we can look forward to another year of no new chord tool, lyric window, or other long-promised improvements.

My biggest hope is that they don’t break anything else...

Sounds great that they are rewriting the code. Not before time. Sounds less great that they especially point out the workability on fickle Mac as a target.

I'm encouraged after reading this. The fact that they've even posted this update tells me that they do hear at least some of our complaints, and any response is better than none. And yes, if they're re-writing code, they are making sure not to break anything else. As a user, that sounds good to me.

The clear thing obviously is that they respond first to a colossus like Apple (who stole the name from the Beatles) and they first of all fear remaining without breath running after the architectural developments of the operating systems. That means that I will be probably dead before seeing some tool improvement like a correct notation and playback of bending, glissando, slide and so on... problems that are on the table at least since 15 years... not just 2 years. Let's say since the Finale 2004 version! Go look in other forums online and you'll see posts by users on these topics which date back to then. There is so much negativity here so I don't want to add for more but....
It is really the case to say "who will be alive will see"

Do you feel better now?

You mentioned fixing problems that have persisted over the years. That appears to be exactly what Jason Wick, the senior manager of the Finale product development team, and Jon Tschiggfrie were talking about in the linked interview from Finale.

We all know Finale is not perfect, but just whining about it (with strange digressions to take a swipe at Apple Corp.) probably won't be productive. I expect to be alive long enough to see plenty of improvements in Finale--I certainly hope so--even if every item on my wish list is not checked off.

Having read the interview once more, I think I would rephrase my earlier post a bit: It sounds great that they are rewriting the code. They mention Apple's OS upgrades, yes, but also a better ground for future development. Let's see what happens in the next few years. I plan to be around that long at least.

That we have to hear from MM through a blog interview, and not here, shows that this forum is quite dead. In the form it was meant to have.

I always feel better when I say true things that make sense. Thank you very much for the link. But Mr Wick can't surely be proud of that situation.
They had 5 years to write a 64 bit upgrade at Make Music but they didn't.  And they don't have many excuses for not fixing well known problems in fifteen years, What was Mr. Wick doing during this time? Clapping hands to himself? :)
Mr. Wick just responded wick-edly to very mild questions being alot auto-indulgent and minimalist. That's it.
That said I am waiting to see the FUTURE BIG NEWS just like anybody else but I'm also beginning to see other great software growing. And in one year I could migrate to MuseScore for example and I already own Guitar Pro which at a fraction of the price has fantastic tools, in which Finale still fails. I know for sure that  many users already abandoned Finale and continuing like that, they will loose other precious customers.
Saying to those who are working at MM they are doing well is not surely true and not in the interest of the paying users. They need to know they are doing badly instead. Loud and clear.
Peace and Love

Why don't they just listen?!

What makes you think they don't listen? Unlike some, I cannot read other people' minds or motivations, but I know Adobe Photoshop does not help me notate my music--or turn my coffee maker on automatically in the morning. That doesn't make the Adobe programmers insensitive or recalcitrant.

As a pastor I knew once said, "God always answers prayers, but sometimes the answer is 'No'."

I think that most of - if not exactly all - the valuable requests have already been presented on this forum. So, no reason to keep it going really. If MM want to get ideas from here, they got it, and they got plenty.

The low level that this thread has sunk to is mainly an effect of the lack of purpose of this forum, I would think.

My advice is: leave this sinking ship. Not to save your lives, but your nerves, and your energy.