As a music notation package Finale has come a long way in the many years since it was first released.  Each release has brought about significant improvements and the new Finale 2008 is no exception.  However some of the lingering issues from the past continue to persist even in this latest upgrade.  This article will point out the positives, and the negatives, surrounding this latest iteration of MakeMusic's flagship product. 

  Mozart 9 is a useful and competent music notation software program by a developer named David Weber.  The software is a fairly popular alternative to the more expensive (and fully featured) offerings from Sibelius and Finale.  Mozart is still very functional, and some users will find it easier to use than the other alternatives.

  The MusicReader Solo Pro is a software based music presentation system for Windows based computers. In a similar style to the hardware based MusicPad Pro the MusicReader provides any user with a Windows machine to catalog and work with digitized sheet music files for use in a classroom or in a performance setting.

 

Notation Composer is a full featured, economical alternative to the big name music notation products of Finale and Sibelius.  With most of the same features but at half the retail price, Notation Composer presents itself as a solid notation product with a lot going for it.

 

 

Sibelius Software recently released version 5 of their popular flagship music notation package.  Sibelius has come a long way in the past few years, and the improvements that the company has made in terms of reliability and usefullness have really begun to pay off.  This article presents a review of the Sibelius 5 music notation software (full version) from the perspective of a music educator and amateur composer.