Robert Patterson schrieb:
If MM's strategy works, then Finale will be around a long, long time. However, it may no longer be the program of choice for high-end engravers. (Although that remains to be seen as well.) In any case, much as I personally wish MM would stick to notation needs for Finale, I believe MM has chosen the best (perhaps only) strategy with which they can grow and prosper.
I personally doubt that very much. What I see will happen is this: The main package will be SmartMusic, which includes Finale or parts of Finale as a notation editor. This will secure MakeMusic the educational market, but not in the notation field, where Sibelius has already taken over (perhaps not in numbers but with the V4 update certainly in "fame"). With MM's current strategies I see no future for Finale as an engraving tool. Currently Sibelius may still have shortcomings in certain areas where Finale works well. But the Sibelius people will do anything to correct them for the next big update, and that's going to be when the market is going to decide who is going to win the run. Chances are it won't be Finale.
I am also worried from another perspective: I fear that Sibelius is already taking so much of the market away from Finale that MM will stop the Mac development. Perhaps not in the next two years, but I somewhat doubt that by that time there is enough of a Finale Mac market to justify the move to Intel.
So, whether I like it or not, I have to look around and actually hope that Sibelius improves even more, so that by that time it will be a good alternative for me.
You are correct that Sibelius's claim to have won however many Finale users doesn't really say much. There used to be a market dominated by Finale (by almost 100%). Then Sibelius cut in and took away some percentage.
Johannes -- http://www.musikmanufaktur.com http://www.camerata-berolinensis.de _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
