Just because an open source project isn't releasing a lot does not mean it is losing momentum. Unless you are actually making that conclusion by looking at the source changes and whatnot in whatever they are using to keep the source base up to date (github?).
I think finale will probably be on a less frequent release schedule, like what it is now. They will release something when it's done. Not every summer every year. That was stupid. There were so many "features" that were not that. Like the ability to put in a copyright symbol.....or yet another slur feature that is really just a bug fix or tweak of the last versions which never worked right. So in 2016, maybe MakeMusic will be preparing to release another version of finale after working on it for a good two years. Avid.....I was sort of hopeful they would do something with Sibelius. I think it was protools 8 or 9 that started to have some integration with Sibelius. But then......nada. Avid has been having to retool for the last couple of years, first by uncoupling protools from hardware in version 9, and then in version 11 they have finally shed all their legacy code (new plugin format and no backwards compatibility to older plugins). Their bread and butter is Protools. And it faces a huge onslaught from Logic, ableton, cuebase, reason....to name just a few on the software side and they face tons of competition in hardware. I somehow think Sibelius is going to languish or be sold. Probably languish for another year and then sold. They just have to update it for os x 10.9 and maybe windows 8.1. Other than that, it's a mature cash cow they don't need to really spend any more time developing. Steinberg.....until they ship something, who knows. There are plenty of other notation packages out there that are nice, but don't have a real substantial user base. Plus people using Sibelius or finale generally won't switch. I mean, I sure would have switched to sibelius 5 back in the day, but the ONE thing that kept me from doing that is being able to open my finale files in Sibelius. Not XML or conversion program. If a new player in the notation market wants to get people to switch, then offer native ability to open up Sibelius or finale files. If the notation thing from Steinberg is amazing and leaves finale and Sibelius looking like 1980s cell phone AND offers the ability to open Sibelius and finale files within the program.......then I'd be interested. Sent from my iSomething -- On Sep 15, 2013, at 10:26 PM, Craig Parmerlee <cr...@acticalc.com> wrote: > Just looking for opinions and thoughtful speculation. > > Finale had to go private to get an infusion of capital. But they seem > to be nearing a new product release that has the potential to put them > on a more solid footing. > > Avid acquired Sibelius, and that company seems to be in a real mess at > this point. They released the original development team, supposedly > moving development to the Ukraine. But in the meantime their ProTools > franchise is falling apart. ProTools had enjoyed the position of > dominant DAW in professional, high-end recording studios. But those > studios are dying off very quickly as other DAWs make recording > technology so much more accessible. There have also been some ugly > lawsuits. Avid seems to be saying even less than Finale about the > future of Sibelius. > > The interesting player is Steinberg, which made its reputation on the > basis of the Cubase DAW and the invention of Virtual Studio Technology > (VST) which is now the dominant standard for studio plug-ins. it seems > that most of the London-based Sibelius developers ended up working for > Steinberg, and they are talking fairly openly about their project to > build a new notation product from the ground up. See > http://blog.steinberg.net/2013/09/development-diary-part-three/#more-343 > That's a major effort, and I have no idea when it might result in a > product. But one thing is certain: that product will have a high degree > of integration with the DAW world because Steinberg is all about music > production.playback. > > And then there is the MuseScore open source project. I have not > followed this closely, but it seems to have lost some momentum. The > last release was February of this year. It seems to me they did more > frequent releases in 2012. Their forum does indicate a certain following. > > So the questions that come to mind are these: > > 1) Has MuseScore killed the goose that laid the golden eggs for Finale > and Sibelius -- that is the academic settings? > > 2) I assume most people on this forum believe MakeMusic and Finale will > still be alive in 2016. But will they product be vibrant or mostly in > maintenance mode? > > 3) Is Sibelius dead? Will Avid be dead by 2016? > > 4) Do we expect Steinberg Notation will be a real player by 2016? > > > > _______________________________________________ > Finale mailing list > Finale@shsu.edu > http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale > _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
