www.synthzone.com has links to many freeware(free)and shareware(usually low priced but often quite good)programs.Noteworthy composer is a well known shareware program that has many users.Sibelius is in my opinion the best by far it is much more intuitive to use than Finale which is the main competitor.It seems to be the case,from what I've read,that most Finale users jump ship to Sibelius once they try it but not the other way around.Sibelius has every feature you can imagine that might be useful for notation as does Finale but I have used both and Sibelius slaughters Finale for ease of use and intuitive interface.I would recommend Sibelius if you can afford it.Logic audio platinum by Emagic has the best notation features of the main sequencing programs(progs that can record midi and audio)it also has the ability to let you use virtual instruments and audio effects it is also pricey but is an excellent piece of software.