"Dave Plowman (News)" wrote in message
...
In article ,
Iain Churches wrote:
Sibelius is now at ver 8.xx and is now the best selling
(and most expensive:-) of all the music software options.
It has left Finale, Notation, Encore, Lillypond and the others
far behind, and for years has been the programme of choice
for music colleges,conservatories, and schools around
the globe. Thousands of composers and arrangers partake
in the Sibelius score exchange scheme.

http://www.avid.com/sibelius

Good to know it's still going strong. Sadly, I can't even fire up mine as
it needs a screen resolution that modern monitors can't do. But then not
being a composer, haven't much need for it.

You don't have to be a composer or arranger.
If you have an interest in music it is a very intuitive learning aid.
There is even a dedicated keyboard available.
http://www.sibelius.com/products/keyboard/index.html

XP is mature enough not to need further changes. It is remarkably
stable, so (as they say) "If it ain't broke, why fix it? "

On a stand alone machine, OK. But most of the updates involve security
measures. Which you'd likely be best to have if the machine is used
online.

Very few studio DAWs are connected to the internet, except
perhaps when the software developers want to test or down/upload.
My machine was connected for about fifteen minutes with Norton running,
on the day it was commisssioned and has never been online since.
I am told computers run faster without virus protection.

Material comes onto the DAW via USB stick, which I scan with
F-Secure on a laptop beforehand.

Iain