Finale (27) & Windows 11

[Gareth Green]

My apologies if there is already an existing discussion on this. I have searched but can't find anything.

I am being "invited" by Microsoft to upgrade to Windows 11. Does anyone have any experience of this, and has anyone found any issues with running Fin27 under Win11 so far?

TIA for any insights.

Cheers, G.

[motet]

No experience, but Microsoft has always been good about making things backwardly compatible. I can still run Finale 2005b in Windows 10. But there's always a first time, I guess.

What does Windows 11 have to offer to make it worth the risk?

[Gareth Green]

I don't really know; not really sufficiently tech-savvy to understand what the risks are.

The blurb says: "Get the latest version of Windows, with a new look, new features and enhanced security"

But then there is a caveat, which says, "Note: Some Windows 10 features aren't available in Windows 11. Certain apps and features may have additional requirements."

So it seems to me that they are acknowledging that some existing programmes may not run as well under Win11; clearly they aren't going to offer specifics about this ...

Just hoping that someone on here can say, "Yeah, I've upgraded, and Finale still runs with no problems" ...

[motet]

I guess it's too much to ask that MakeMusic be ahead of the curve...

[Gareth Green]

The primary incentive to upgrade is simply that it is currently free; in the future it may not be ...

[motet]

Fingers crossed that it still works.

[motet]

"System requirements" says "Windows 8.1, 10, or 11" for Finale 27, so they've at least tried it. You're wise to seek those who have actual experience, though.

https://makemusic.zendesk.com/hc/en-us/ ... n-Products

[Bill Reed]

Fin25 works fine. Things to look into are you printer, audio interface, etc

[Zoots]

I don't know if your "invitation" took this into consideration but Windows 11 is one that somewhat departs from Microsoft's being backwards compatible more so than Apple. Not all machines will run Windows 11 it has to have a fairly recent CPU chip, my i7 of about 5 or 6 years ago is too old since it is a Generation 4 and needs to be a Generation 8 or9 (??) miniumum and the hardware has to support what is called the Trusted Platform Module 2.0 (TPM) and must have UEFI BIOS.

There is a PC HealthCheck app you can download from MS to check if your PC meets the requirements.
https://www.microsoft.com/en-ca/windows ... ealthcheck

I have 5 PCs and only 1 will support Windows 11 but admittedly, some of it is pretty old stuff.

I guess they wanted to do some "great things" and didn't want to be hobbled by the lesser performing old hardware.

[heinzfan]

There are many articles posted by tech sites about Windows 11. I don't believe MS will upgrade if the PC doesn't meet its technical specs, although there are workarounds for the desperate.

So far I only see a few things that benefit non-office environments.

The biggest caveat when upgrading a Windows system, as mentioned, is device drivers. When I upgraded to Windows 10 my monitor's built-in webcam wouldn't work, and the manufacturer (Dell) wouldn't bother to upgrade the driver. I've heard similar stories concerning other peripherals.

[ttw]

I found no trouble using FInale 27 with Windows 11. I upgraded one FInale computer to Windows 11 (the other is too old hardware-wise) and it seems to work.

I have had driver problems with speakers but these go back to early Windows 10 (and back to 7 according to various internet sources.) Some versions of the Realtek drivers do not recognize the Klipsch 2.1 speakers as having a subwoofer. (Weird as it's a headphone plug connection.) Some older drivers worked (every update meant looking for older drivers) but none of these drivers work on Windows 11. It seems to be some combination of Realtek, Klipsch, HP, and Microsoft at fault. (Lots of suggestions over the years but none work.) ON another computer, I cannot find out why some Logitec 7.1 speakers act funny. The tests from the computer activate all speakers but music doesn't playback on the side speakers. It may also be a Foobar2000 problem; I'm still investigating.

[Gareth Green]

OK, thanks, everyone for the input.

I am now able to report: Windows 11 upgrade executed successfully.
Finale 27 opens and runs without any obvious problems.
Opened most recent file.
Printed a few pages of score and one part without incident.
Playback still works.

So far, so good ...

[ebiggs1]

My four year old Dell XPS didn't qualify for Win 11 and I don't care. Everything is running fine so why temp it?

[Serenity Musician]

I decided to try Windows 11 on my new Dell Inspiron laptop I just purchased a few months ago. Well, the upgrade went smoothly, but then Finale 26 wouldn't run. Well, I should say it ran, but it was like I had just installed Finale and it was asking to authorize it again, which, of course, I could not do. So I sent a message to MakeMusic. Yes, they did respond rather quickly (be still my beating heart). I had to go into my MakeMusic account and unauthorized the copy of Finale for my laptop. Then I was able to reauthorize it when I ran Finale again. All is well. Upgrading my one-year-old Dell desktop to Windows 11 has not presented any problems.

Gary

[Bill Reed]

https://www.finalemusic.com/blog/finale ... indows-11/