As an engineering professional, I am used to paying software maintenance to my CAD tools companies for serious tech support and automatic upgrades. The going rate for this is 15% of original price per year. I view the ongoing $80-$90 upgrade as a kind of maintenance. I stay with the latest version, and Coda stays in business. I can understand how it is different for the hobbyist, and that the cost can be too much. But since I publish music, it is a home business for me, the yearly upgrade is not a burden. In fact I welcome the 'partnership' that I and Coda have. While I do not always use all of the new features, I do use some of them. When I look back at what I started with, Finale 2.2 for Win 3.0, and compare it to now, the program has come a long way indeed. I for one, am willing to pay the 'yearly maintenance' to keep up with the advances even if not all of the features are used.
