Got my FinMac2004 just now by UPS, free shipping as promised, though I had to pay Canadian sales tax to the UPS guy.
OK, first look.
Installation went without a hitch. I registered right away by internet, no problem. I had to look up my old serial number, though.
I discovered that I had to download a new driver for my MIDI interface for OS10.2 (Midisport 4x4) and did so, as this is my first OSX MIDI application, and to my surprise everything was just ducky. (Some may remember that I have had problems with my Midiman products in OS9). Strangely, the new OS9 driver doesn't work in OS9, but the old one still works (such as it does) so it stays.
Started her up, and all was well and fairly familiar. I found there was a fair delay between touching a note on my MIDI keyboard and hearing it, (which made me suspect my Midiman again!) until I realised that the Sound Font for playback was enabled out of the box. I turned it off, enabled my MIDI thru, and all was well. I will have to look more into that SOund Font business, though.
I opened an old file and tried some edits. Importation of old files was perfect, as far as I could tell, except some ties seemed to be flipped, but I will check in FIn 2003 to see if they weren't already. Playback using the sound fonts is very cool, as many things play back that didn't through my MIDI setup, such as glisses, bends, jazz shakes, and the like. But there is a heck of a delay, and some sounds are REALLY cheesey, and I mean pure Velveeta. I didn't get a chance to try any other new features, but will as soon as I can.
The one thing that struck me negatively is that re-drawing screens is very slow. Also the time required to gear up for playback is very long. Comparing Fin2004 on OS 10.2 to Fin2003 on OS9, I would say about half the speed. This may be cured by some tweaking. I wouldn't know yet, as I am relatively a newbie on OSX. This could be an equipment issue, rather than a Finale one, but it could prove to be an insufferable pain.
Gotta go now. Please share your insights as you get them, Mac users!
Christopher _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
