I'm working on a Windows XP computer--not a true XP, it's an upgrade on top of Windows ME. I use Finale 2003. I have had a lot of trouble with pdf files. I can create them without a problem and they look good enough on the screen, but when they print out, sometimes the line over the 1 or 2 ending prints in half tones. This is inconsistent--I can't find a commonality among the files with the lines that don't print correctly. But also, in the bars for the final measures of the music, the thinner line to the left of the heavy line doesn't print correctly. This happens every time, but again only on hard copy, not on the screen. I use an Oki B6200 postscript printer.

I discovered that if I open a problematic music file in NotePad 2005 and create the pdf from NotePad, then all of the lines print properly. However, this is a pretty big pain, and once in awhile NotePad scrambles the original file. 

Here are my questions for the Forum: I am going to buy a new computer and want to be sure in advance that I can create pdf files from Finale that will print accurately. I don't know if the problems with the faulty lines were caused by not having a true XP computer. Has anyone here had good success with creating accurate pdf files in Windows? What OS will work the best for this? If I upgrade to Finale 2004 or 2005 will the problem resolve, even on the system I have now? Should I consider switching to a Mac?

Thanks very much for any advice you can give.

Sue Songer