Regarding the eternal “complexity/power vs. easiness” argument goes, I’ll say this: I greatly prefer a program which hides great power and complexity beneath a simplified, INTUITIVE interface over one that smacks the user in the face, so to speak, with its apparent power and complexity. Once I got over the counter-intuitiveness of switching from Finale to Sibelius, I was amazed at how naturally intuitive the Sibelius interface is. Just because a program in complex doesn’t mean it has to be difficult to use. Finale is without a doubt a powerful program; but, have fun learning how to use that power (it took me the better part of ten years). I have better things to do with my time—such as composing.

For me, it comes down to this: using Sibelius 5, I have yet to encounter a notation that I could not create very quickly and efficiently, usually about 3-5 times faster than I could have ever done it in Finale—period. Sibelius is powerful, complex, and easy to use. I wager that I could engrave a very professional looking score in any style (short of a George Crumb or other handwritten/abstract score, which neither program is going to pull off well) about twice as fast as any but the most experienced power user could do it in Finale (and I suspect I may be able to do it faster than the Finale power user too…).

Two other points before I finish:
(1) Regarding engraving: yes, aesthetics are nice, but being a purist about this comes off as rather elitist to me. Debating the subtleties of house styles seems rather pointless. In the final analysis, I care about whether the music is clear and readable, suitable for performance. This has never been a problem for me with Sibelius since I’ve been using the program. The nightmare of having to cut and (re-)edit parts for large scores in Finale was half the reason I switched to Sibelius in the first place; Sibelius’s dynamic parts feature is well-implemented and again, a cinch to use.
(2) Daniel’s point about menu depth and complexity is well put and telling. At the university where I teach, I still have occasion to instruct students in Finale (a situation I am in the process of rectifying). When they encounter a problem (often enough), normally the first thing that comes out of my mouth after opening Finale is an audible groan upon being confronted with all of the buttons, menus, and palettes, and trying to remember where I need to go to help the student fix his or her issue. Just the other week, I had to go into three different menus and dialogs just to change the page size and reflow the staves across the new format. And I should expect a student who’s a neophyte to the program to remember that? I can barely remember it. Terrible.

So, I’ll take the bombshell over the bloated frump any day. She’s even hotter than you think once you get to know her (and just keeps on getting hotter)! And by the way, I’m an absolute sucker for the humor in the manual—my good friend (another former Finale user who I converted to Sibelius, I am pleased to say) and I regularly share the jokes with each other when we come across them. At least the Sibelius manual is concise and easy to navigate; as I recall, you need a burro just to carry around all the Finale manuals.