Originally created by Passport Design, it is now owned and distributed by G-VOX.
Click on Products, scroll down to Encore.

G-Vox has released PC version 4.5, and 2 MAC versions. Encore costs new users $399. Upgrade price for registered 4.21 users is $70, plus $20 if you want the CD-rom version. You can buy and download it.

Music Time Deluxe is the cutdown version of Encore. HOWEVER, it's apparently NOT compatable with Encore. One of my correspondents who uses the Mac version of MTD sent me the PC copy of MTD so we could experiment to determine compatability. He could open my Encore files, but I could not open his MTD files either in MTD-PC or Encore. For purposes of making lead sheets, MTD seems to be able to do what Encore does, but lacks several convenience features that make life much easier, notably the customizable tool bar, which forces one to relay on the menues. This isn't so bad for making the occasional sheet, but for intensive work, the Encore tool bar saves a lot of time and clicking.

Encore is one of the major programs among musicians, so if you want trade files with other musicians, this is the one to get, unless you have Finale or Allegro, which are the professional programs. However, they are a lot more difficult to learn and use than Encore, and Finale runs about $6-800; Allegro is about $100. Finale 2000 and Allegro 2000 both open Encore files, BUT only the visible elements, NOT the programming associated with some symbols, etc.

$399 is a lot of money to pay, but Encore is a terrific program, very easy to learn and use.
 

Revised 10/5/02