Or at the very least do everything possible to make XML import as painless as humanly possible. MakeMusic’s one-year window is heinous in this regard. Such a project to make things as easy as possible for disenfranchised Finale users would ideally take three-to-five years.
FEATURE REQUEST: Extra resources put in by Steinberg to alleviate the bleeding edge of the pain of XML import from Finale.
FEATURE REQUEST: To be able to open Finale 27 files directly, and perhaps even Finale 26. Perhaps Steinberg could simply buy Finale from MakeMusic and maintain it for a limited time to get Finale’s digital legacy preserved.
My problem, again, is the stark way in which it was done. No headway. No opportunity to buy the program before end-of-life.
In the ideal realm, I would have made a Finale 28 to bring in MacOS Sequoia, kill off bugs, firm up XML for export-considerations, and prepare the program for end-of-life such Finale’s digital legacy among users could be preserved.
Alas, MakeMusic didn’t ask me, and I’m realizing I have more Finale files than I originally thought - lol.
My suggestion would be to have the Finale devs turn over the .mus to MusicXML conversion module to the Dorico team to build into the Dorico interface. Not a perfect fit but for those of us who do not have Finale access any more but a ton of old .mus files a gift from heaven.
Dorico has made a financial sacrifice already to help ease Finale users’ transition. It is not reasonable to expect the small Dorico Development Team to divert work improving Dorico for current users when XML import is a viable, if not perfect, solution, especially considering what Michael Good has said.
One should know that MakeMusic has said they plan to extend the original one-year sunset on authorization to give Finale users more time to convert their file backlogs.
MM is also working to allow those who use the upgrade path from Finale to Dorico to get a free Finale upgrade to version 27.4.
And I made my last post before finding out about MM’s relaxing the re-authorization scheme, which I think will help everyone immensely.
You’re right. @Steinberg really is going out on a limb, here. What I was talking about was Yamaha allowing @Steinberg to pool more resources into additional personnel, if need-be. There is no way the Dorico crew could possibly handle all the Finale stuff alone.
Unfortunately, even with the influx of thousands of new Dorico users resulting from Finale’s demise, we won’t have the opportunity to grow the Dorico team in the short term.
Steinberg has been out on a limb for more than a decade supporting our team and giving us the space and time to build Dorico from the ground up. They were pouring money in for years before we were able to sell even a single copy, so there’s already been a huge investment in our team and our product.
Whatever growth in revenue we see in the future from the influx of new users from Finale or elsewhere, Steinberg has many needs across the organisation as a whole, and there are many demands for additional people in other parts of the business.
So it is our expectation that we will remain the same size team as we are at present for the foreseeable future. Small, but perfectly (?) formed.