MOTUnation.com

I had no idea Overture was still around - haven't used it since Opcode. Not likely to, either - the current version looks a lot like Encore.

There's nothing wrong with using a simpler notation program. I have been using Encore for church work such as choral arrangements and praise band sheets since DMCS no longer worked in OS 8 (I bought Overture to convert DMCS to standard MIDI so that I could open them in Encore). I participate on the support forums and can't believe that there are people charging money to 'engrave' scores using Encore - they're constantly complaining about the features it lacks. Compared to Finale, Sibelius or even Notion, Encore is the notational equivalent of Tinker Toys.

Some projects require using the grown up software. I have been using Finale since 1998 or so for large projects and/or where I needed it to look great.

Now that the current version of Encore neither opens most old files nor works in 10.4, it's time to abandon ship and use Finale for everything. Fortunately, my G4 can convert older files into versions that open in Lion - depending on the age, I sometimes have to do this in OS 9. That is what comes from not buying Finale when I first saw it at MacWorld 1987, I suppose.

The one thing Encore always did better than Finale was to parse MIDI files. I may still use it for that, saving the results as XML to port over to Finale.

I still have a valid license for SmartScoreX Pro. Unfortunately, it doesn't work very well in OS 10.6/7 and, apparently, there are no plans to fix this. I may run it on my G4 for the few times it may come in handy - or just chalk it up as a complete waste of my money.

Well, I missed the upgrade and now it is $139.95. Oh well...

But... MakeMusic also did a mojor upgrade this summer and instead of charging for it, they just gave it to users. Probably trying to avoid F2013. So you;re really getting F2013 - kind of like Mahler trying to avoid his "9th" symphony.

There was a special running on the competitive crossgrade so I grabbed it last night for $134 or thereabouts. It's being sent in a box though so I haven't installed it yet. I also ordered the highly recommended book by Mark Johnson, "Finale 2012: A Trailblazer Guide".

A close friend and former employer (I worked in his classical record store while in music school) had earlier sent me some Finale files of his score examples from some personal Broadway-style rearrangements, that didn't open in the demo version. I'm hoping they'll open in this version, but he has not yet upgraded from Finale 2011.

My copy arrived today, and I installed, registered, and updated it as soon as I got home. Very simple process, and even the quick reference guide is a pretty good start. My third-party "user manual" arrived at work today and will be brought home when next I drive. But I was able to make some elementary use of the full program tonight and already it seems the best notation package. It is definitely true that demo copies are a hard way to judge due to limitations.