I just got VD2 and already LOVE it.  Man is this thing extensive!

I was going to hold off till 07 (what July?) since I wasnt overly impressed with Finale 06.  But it can use the sounds easier right?

So what I'm asking is, do you recommend upgrading simply for the easy of use with VD2? - I mean repeats in the middle of the bar are great I'm sure, but I'm still trying to get it to play NORMAL repeats properly!!

Just loading the 05 finale map is really a nice touch guys!!!

thanks for any ";chime"; ins.....

Kent

I recommend switching to Sibelius rather than pay for yearly upgrades that just make the program even more bloated and ugly.  Sibelius is easy to learn, only puts out an upgrade when it's worth it, runs smoothly, and the user interface is a million times better. 

And no, I don't work for Sibelius, I'm one of those people who used Finale 98,99,00,01,02, etc. without ever noticing an improvement- ";hey! why won't my diddles and dynamics play back after all of these years!?";  I switched when Sibelius 2 came out and have been extremely happy.

Since you are not impressed with the newest version of Finale, I would suggest giving Sibelius a shot.  Sibelius has a competitive upgrade offer for $199.  Like Jesse, I was a Finale user and switched with version 2.  Everyone I know who swtiches to Sibelius is very happy with their decision.

I third that notion.

If you can hold out until July (if that's in fact when Finale comes out with 2007...seems about right, but only they could tell you that for sure), you can save yourself another hundred bucks or so, which is about what they charge for their updates yearly. Until then, the process of using VDL2 with Finale 2005 would be very similar to the way you'd do it with Sibelius and VDL2. If you were interested in checking into the ";competitive upgrade"; for Sibelius, there's more info on it here:
https://www.tapspace.com/sibelius4.html

From a notational standpoint, I prefer to use Sibelius in my own writing. However VDL2 works well in conjunction with either Finale or Sibelius.

well fine.  I will.....I mean I just did. 

I'm a LITTLE scared.  I've used Finale since 1996...dear Lord, a decade.....

But now having both will certainly be nice.  I hope it's as easy to learn as everyone says, cause I have work to do!! ;^)

thanks everyone for the push into something I've kindof wanted to do for about 2 years now.

Kent

Yay!  Another convert!

When you ask ";what tool";, pinch yourself.  :)

Yay!  Welcome to the club.  There are some nice video tutorials that come with Sibelius and one of them also teaches you the [i]secret handshake[/i]

Look at it this way, if something stumps you with Sibelius, the majority of the people on here are Sibelius users.

well I cant wait to dig in.  It looks SOOO nice on the demo videos.  I hate being the ";expert"; on Finale in my circle.  Just shows how horribly complicated it is.

counting the days...... like rests in an orchestra part.

welcome to the Sibelius club!!!