DanL: Somewhat parallel story here but with a different ending: after using BIAB from the earliest versions my last upgrade was a "superpak" in Aug of 08. For the first time in years I missed that crucial upgrade in midwinter, so I'm running BIAB 2008.5 with RT 1-12's and to get the range I think I need in 2009 (country, blues, rock) I'd have to spend US$379. Given the cost of development of RTs, that may be a good deal but it's getting too rich for me. I have used the program to make mp3s and wav's of a huge range of roots music, esp gospel & blues. My little research grants pay for upgrading Finale for notation, which I have kept current over 15 years, but not for BIAB so I've paid for it out of my own fixed income pocket. I don't really need BIAB for the research project--I just enjoy playing with it so much. Besides, when I've been interviewing musicians from the 40s and 50s and we're discussing some old nearly forgotten piece, like "Got any rivers..." I can have a passable arrangement of it ready to talk about in detail in just a few minutes...

If I had upgraded to 2009 last winter maybe the cost wouldn't look so steep right now but unless there is a better deal down the road in Dec I think that after many years I'm going to be off the wagon in a few months, or at least rattling along behind the crowd in a legacy version...