Customer Reviews

MakeMusic Finale 2008 [OLD VERSION]

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Finale, if you don't know, is a music notation layout program, with a built-in sequencer. I've been using Finale 2008 several hours a week since it was released. First off, let me just say that Finale 2008 is VASTLY superior to 2007, which gave me endless headaches. Finale 2008 is much better, but it still leaves a lot to be desired.

The double-edged sword of Finale is its flexibility: you can do pretty much anything you want with it, if you devote the hours necessary to learn how and then do it. On the other hand, some of the most basic things are ridiculously complicated. If you don't know how to do something already, be prepared to spend an hour looking through the help files or online, unless you are lucky like me and can just ask someone who is a Finale expert.

While Finale 2007 gave me problem after problem, 2008 has been, thankfully, much tamer. The number of bugs and "gotchas" seems much smaller now, but the crappy interface still remains.

So why do I use Finale even though it is a UI nightmare? Because it's still faster than writing by hand.

Yes, it can make trouble at first, but once you figure out the the options and toggles and such, it is a smooth ride from there, with the delightful garritan personal orchestra, which is ultimately the difference between finale and finale allegro and the reason it typicly costs about $300 more.