I wrote:
1) FinMac 2004 for system 9 is unusable. Period.
2) FinMac 2004 (a, b, AND c) for OS X is slow and gets slower the longer you use it. Nudging items with the arrow key used to be the fastest way to adjust slurs, expressions and articulations. Now you have to wait and wait. And there are those bugs with multiple files opened which have been well documented here. I could go on...
Eric Dannewitz replied:
Haven't used OS 9 in like............forever. Since OS X Finale, I haven't needed to use it.
I found that FinMac 2004b was quite a bit faster on my lowly G4 cube (450Mhz), and I don't have any speed problems with my G4 933 at home. Maybe you need to invest in better hardware? Max out your ram, get a faster hard drive, etc.....
I have a new system: 1.33 GHz, 1 GB Ram, PowerBook G4 17". It should be more than adequate to handle Finale 2004.
I am writing scores that have 50 staves (opera) and I find that the Finale makes me wait to enter information or tweak placements. The waiting gets longer the longer I've been in the program without quitting.
The same scores in Finale 2003 on my other computer (G4, Mac OS 9, 533 MHz, 786 MB Ram) are fast and almost never make me wait.
In Finale 2003, TGTools align/move dynamics and hairpins is faster AND more useful than the new expression features in 2004. Sure, you can also use TGTools in 2004, but for some reason this operation takes a long time. I don't think this is Tobias' fault, but rather something that is built into Finale.
The new expression features in 2004, such as mixed fonts and broken text lines are great, but the alignment does not include hairpins unless you use TGTools. TGTools with hot keys in 2004 has a real speed problem.
With the development of OS X, many of us invested in new equipment to 1) stay current with clients, 2) avoid obsolescence, and 3) possibly improve the efficiency and power of our tools. After putting time and money into making this all work it is devastating to find out that the previous version of the program is better, only we can't go back there. (At least not with the 2004 files.)
Finale 2004 looked good on paper and with OS X compatibility, it was supposed to give us a performance boost. This is why I'm so upset that we will have to wait with a faint hope that Finale 2005 will do the job.
-Randolph Peters _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list [EMAIL PROTECTED] http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
