While it is a widely used format PDF is not open to any more or less extent that the ETF format.
I consider it open enough when I don't necessarily need any Adobe product to read or write them. (Mac OS has built-in support.) PDF's are ubiquitous enough that we can count on them as much as we can count on *any* digital format. That is, a long time but certainly not forever. However, their current ubiquity likely assures a migration path to some future format, for those who are still paying attention to them.
Might this be in part a MAC issue, due in part to the complete change in the MAC OS?
In part, perhaps. But there was a major transformation (along with about a 3-year hiatus) in both Finale and the company between Fin2.6.3 and Finale 3.0. Finale 3.0 was essentially a new product from a new company. And while Finale 97 was not nearly so drastic a change, it too represented a major jump to being the first version in the "modern" era. (Files created in Finale 97 are the earliest file version that can be upgraded to the current version without a substantial risk of having to re-edit the file.)
I don't think MM's corporate memory extends back to Fin2.6.3 days, even if one or two old-timers may still be there that were there then. There have been two major transformations in the product as well as at least two major transformations in the company. I think these have had much more impact on their ability to support Fin2.6.3 than any OS changes. Plus, OS changes happen on all platforms. I wonder if the old 16-bit FinWin 2.x version will run on WinXP.
-- Robert Patterson
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