Well, after all of the annoyances finale has given me over the years, (like randomly glitching out and that ANNOYING loud beeping noise that makemusic couldn't fix since the '07 edition) I'm actually considering switching. What are the best/worst features of each program, and if you switched, do you think it was the right choice? Sorry if this is in the wrong forum, but I thought that this was the best place for it. :P

I have never tried Sibelius but you should check their page and download the Demo and test by yourself. Clarinetist created this thread not too long ago: http://forums.ichigos.com/showthread.php?16655-On-using-Sibelius... About the loud beeping noise I have never heard it.

I already downloaded the demo, and it is pretty damn cool. And that's an epic fail on my part for not noticing that thread. XD So someone please delete this one. xP

edit: Or sticky it instead. Haha. :P

Ah ha, instead of getting it deleted by your request, it's stickied!

Anyways, I tried Finale only briefly and found its playback feature rather awkward to use. I don't really have any complaints for Sibelius. It offers a lot of convenience in that you can customize just about everything.

So, I just got a copy of Finale 2011, and I've been copying midi files into it to see what some of my favorite old videogame songs sound like when played with the Garritan instruments, and I'm surprised at how similar the real instruments sound to midi ones. It looks like it's the people playing the instruments that make the biggest difference in sound - not the instruments themselves.

So that's really cool, since I'm a musician, and really uncool because I also want to be a composer, and it looks like Finale isn't going to play songs naturally without a lot of instruction from me.

Edit: Oh. I was playing back with the Smart Synth midi thing, instead of the samples. Oops, hahah. XD
I don't understand how this crazy program works. Oo

To be honest, I have both, and sibelius is easier for me to use. unfortunately I only have the demo for that so I can't save anything :(
However, finale has makes better midis in my opinion. (I have the 2010 version, but I'm new to it still)
But finale is kinda irritating for me since it takes more time to learn to use (in my opinion) compared to sibelius.
Which is why I use musecore most of the time lol.

Oh, also. If any of my Ichigo's buddies run on a Mac, please give me a PM. I need some help with Finale. XD

There isn't much difference on the mac version; the program still runs the same, it's just that you use AU's instead of VST's, and the keyboard shortcuts are different. :D (and easier to use imo)