John Howell wrote:
We just learned about a potential bug in using Finale's Reference Manual
(or whatever it's called) for 2k8, from Daniel Spreadbury on one of the
Sibelius Lists. I'll let David Bailey explain it, since he seems to
understand it and I'm not sure I do, but it seems that MakeMusic may
have turned to HTML software for 2k8 that Sibelius has DROPPED because
it was too buggy and unsupported. One symptom seems to be that it can
only function in certain specific browsers.
Daniel, by the way, works for Sibelius (and wrote the Manual if I
understand correctly), monitors the List, and answers questions freely
and honestly, explaining how to do something for newbies, why something
else can't be done (yet), or whether it may be in the queue for a future
improvement. He explained WHY they've switched from HTML to PDF. It's
refreshingly honest and hands-on Customer Service by someone who
obviously cares about both his product and his customers, something that
MM might do well to adopt instead of hunkering down and hiding.
John
I simply asked Daniel why Sibelius had abandoned HTML in favor of PDF,
especially in light of MakeMusic's abandoning PDF in favor of HTML for
the help system in Fin2008.
Daniel explained that the system they had been using to create HTML help
files had several problems with it: 1) it required the use of Safari on
Macs and IE on PCs and that wasn't changeable; and 2) it had lousy
customer support and had major bugs which weren't being addressed after
several years.
When he said that about Safari and IE, I recalled the first complaints
about Fin2008 which said the help system required Safari for Macs and IE
for PCs and that the user couldn't change that.
So I wouldn't say it's really a bug, but I would say it's a curiosity
that MakeMusic would appear to have adopted a tool which Sibelius
abandoned due to lousy customer support and lack of user option for
which browser to use to view it.
I thought the PDF files worked just fine for Finale's On-Line
Documentation, and am bewildered as to why they would change.
--
David H. Bailey
[EMAIL PROTECTED]
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