MakeMusic Inc. announced Wednesday that it’s accepting pre-orders for Finale 2006, the latest release of its music notation software for Mac OS X and Windows. Finale 2006 will ship in July for US$600. Academic pricing is $300, and upgrades from Finale 2005 cost $99.95.
New features in Finale 2006 include improved music playback using a built-in Kontakt Player from Native Instruments and the Garritan Personal Orchestra Finale Edition, a collection of more than 100 instrument sounds. Studio View integrates key sequencer tools into each music staff so users can teach music composition and arranging using standard notation instead of computer symbols. New professional controls including TempoTap and Engraver Copy and Paste improve professional editing.