So,
as I understand it, the reason Dorico 4 is delayed to early next year is so that it can be released with the new dongle-free system (can’t wait !!!).
Does it mean that in the meantime adding some extra new features that were initially not planned for this version is now being considered ? 
Anyway, really excited to see what’s coming and finally being able to multitask thanks to the dongle-free system !
my understanding is that it was always planned to release it with the new licensing system so the small delay in original release schedule is most likely just to make quite sure that this works smoothly. But you never know!
No, the delayed release does not mean that Dorico 4 will suddenly gain a whole new load of features that it would not otherwise have had. We were originally planning to release in mid-November (next week in fact) and the new planned date really is quite early in 2022. In between the middle of November and the start of 2022 comes Christmas and the New Year, and we would like our colleagues – both in the Dorico team, and in the broader cross-functional team that is working on Steinberg Licensing – to be able to have some time with their families over the holidays, and not be slaving away adding further new features at short notice to the software.
I am reasonably sure that you will not find Dorico 4 short on new features and improvements. I have no doubt that everybody will find several things from his or her own personal wish list that are not there, but I also hope that the many, many cool new features and improvements we’ve been working on will make Dorico more useful, more pleasurable, and more powerful for everybody.
yeah I was just teasing and being cheeky, have a well deserved time off you and the team and can’t wait to find out what v4 will bring !
In addition, the team always spend an incredible amount of time on line helping users after a new release, and it is well (and fair) that they have some family time before the release rather than still be offering extra support leading right up to the holidays.