Opening files on Mac and Windows

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Musicdoc
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Sep 12, 2018 10:00 pm
Finale Version: Finale v26.2
Operating System: Mac

Post by Musicdoc » Sun Mar 29, 2020 7:10 pm

I recently registered and installed a second copy of Finale 26 on a laptop running Windows 10. Until now all of my Finale files have been created on an iMac with Mac versions (obviously). Are the 2 operating systems interchangeable? For example, if I save an arrangement created with Finale 26 on my Mac to a cloud service or USB drive and then download it to my Windows laptop, will Finale for Windows open it seamlessly? If so, do I save and upload it as a musx file or XML? Finally, will the reverse transfer (Windows to Mac) work as well? Thanks in advance for your help.


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motet
Posts: 8231
Joined: Tue Dec 06, 2016 8:33 pm
Finale Version: 2014.5,2011,2005,27
Operating System: Windows

Post by motet » Sun Mar 29, 2020 7:11 pm

It's supposed to work, but why not just try it?

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Peter Thomsen
Posts: 6605
Joined: Fri Jul 25, 2003 6:47 pm
Finale Version: Finale v27.4
Operating System: Mac

Post by Peter Thomsen » Sun Mar 29, 2020 7:40 pm

The file format is the same in Windows Finale and Mac Finale.

However, the fonts used in the Finale document must be installed on both computers.
This is also true for all other documents, such as e. g. word processing documents.
But you probably knew that already.

Beware that newer Finale features are not available in older Finale versions.
If e. g. a document was created in Finale v26, then you can open the document in (the older) Finale 2014, but Finale 2014 does not understand the document’s use of (newer) features from (the newer) Finale v26.
But if I understand you correctly, you have Finale v26 installed on both computers, right?
Mac OS X 12.6.9 (Monterey), Finale user since 1996

Musicdoc
Posts: 4
Joined: Wed Sep 12, 2018 10:00 pm
Finale Version: Finale v26.2
Operating System: Mac

Post by Musicdoc » Sun Mar 29, 2020 9:52 pm

Yes. Both the iMac and laptop are running Finale v26.

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