Why is WINDOWS way better than OSX for Music Software?

[simmerdown]

asio4all too?

[73*]

With Windows, compatibility between versions is almost never a problem.

I think people update for the latest features, and sometimes more efficient use of their OS and hardware.

Plus, if you should happen to get a new gizmo, chances are the latest driver support will be for the newer OSs.

Perhaps this is where I tend to diverge from a large number of people... I build my desktop PCs for audio production, once my system is stable it stays as is. I only purchase something new for the studio if it is compatible with my current configuration or in cases when reconfiguring my system is not likely to cause any OS/software/hardware conflicts.

With my MBP on the other hand I'm not so strict, but that is because I also use it for school work and general net surfing. and I don't use it as my primary studio computer. That said, I still ensure OS updates won't screw up any of my audio related programs or hardware before I install them.

I feel it's a matter of priorities. Audio software and hardware comes first, the OS that the system is built on is a distant second.

Whenever a large change in an OS is on the horizon I usually build a new system to go with it. This is what I did going from a 32bit OS (XP) to a 64bit OS (Win7), and during that change I took my sweet time and ensured I could go (almost) fully 64 bit (except for UAD). A year later I can now say that system is fully 64 bit. It works quite well, and I can trust it's performance. Live won't be installed on it until 9 gets released (I'm new to Live, still demoing).

I guess for these reasons, I couldn't, and don't care about debates regarding OSX and Windows. I've had challenges with both, and have found solutions in both.

[yur2die4]

Asio4all was the fourth thing I installed after Firefox, Live 8, and 7zip

And it did what it is supposed to do.

Are you sure the rumors didn't have to do with a windows beta?

[pencilrocket]

asio is same thing as coreaudio. it's just called differently and maintained by different company.

[Machinesworking]

because OSX is bloated through itoyish updates unlike Windows is slimmed down through vista -> 7 -> 8.

What I love is how you intentionally left out the XP to Vista transition, and let's face it 7 to 8 looks a lot like Leopard to Mountain Lion.
Face it, Windows is just as bloated as OSX, in fact it adds even more unnecessary crap if it's an OEM version.

Did Steve Jobs ruin your parents marriage or something?
One thing I can say in your defense Apple have come back from the dead with a vengeance and if you were happy before thinking of them as overpriced niche market crap then you're probably pretty unhappy that they're now bigger than Microsoft.

http://finance.yahoo.com/news/steve-bal ... 58610.html

In all truth though, I live 20 miles from Microsoft headquarters, the local economy depends on them as much as it does the port and Boeing, so I'm hoping that they pull their head out of their ass sometime soon before the glass house shatters.

[pencilrocket]

FWIW it's not my thread. I answered the reality.
You know this is the result of bloated OSX & iOS....



XP? Are you going to start an argument and compare with Mac OS X v10.1 Puma (2001)? You are very funny.

[Machinesworking]

FWIW it's not my thread. I answered the reality.
You know this is the result of bloated OSX & iOS....

XP? Are you going to start an argument and compare with Mac OS X v10.1 Puma (2001)? You are very funny.

Not your thread? You didn't mention the XP to Vista transition because it painfully makes you look like a hypocrite to, period.

Both OS are becoming tablet friendly in appearance, to deny that Windows 8 is going that direction as well is to be a fool.

Also your best anti Apple sig was OSX Ugly Cat , but in all truth the sigs make you look like a blithering hater with no sense of rationality, which is of course exactly what everyone but you can plainly see.

[steko]

At least with pencilrocket we have our own Jesus Quintana…

Nobody fucks with the pencilrocket!





http://semiaccurate.com/2012/11/14/micr ... as-failed/

http://semiaccurate.com/2012/11/27/micr ... ata-point/

...

The forum definitely needs more Mac/PC threads!

[H20nly]

In all truth though, I live 20 miles from Microsoft headquarters, the local economy depends on them as much as it does the port and Boeing, so I'm hoping that they pull their head out of their ass sometime soon before the glass house shatters.

i was just down at their Mountain View campus. from what i saw they are looking good... for a change. we'll see. first 6 months will be very... eh hem... revealing, but i like where Win 8/tablet (not 8 RT though!!!) is going. Server 2012 was pretty impressive too after the initial shock of the GUI change.

i can't believe what Jobs did to the Jesus aka pencilrocket's family. totally unacceptable!

[re:dream]

I work in both environments.

I used to work entirely on PCs. Then I acquired a Mac, specifically for music. That got to be so frustrating an experience that I went back to PC. Right now I have switched my usage around: the PC is for making music at home, whereas my Mac is my day job machine - and my tool on the very rare occasion that I perform.

There's advantages and disadvantages both sides. On the one hand, for some reason or other there is way more free and cheap VSTs and stuff available for PC than for Mac. D blue's glitch, for example. Many of my favourite plugins and bits of software simply were not available for Mac.

On the other hand, for performing, Mac Powerbooks are way better than any windows based notebook I have looked at. Laptop after laptop that I used - even those that the shops assured me were OK for audio -- had DPC latency issues up the wazoo.

My sense is that the situation now is exactly the inverse of that which obtained in the 1990s. In those days, Macs were machines for creatives; PC were office-space workhorses. Right now, Apple's target market is consumers, not creatives. Their machines are nice, stable, easy-to-use, reliable all round generalist machines. But if you want souped up performance and specialization, a PC can often do better. As a friend puts it, Macs are like BMWs: nice to drive, fast, safe and reliable. But if you want to haul a load of cement, or drive at 300 km down the race-track, or go offroad, you don't use the beemer: you get a specialist, purpose designed vehicle.

So I love both my machines. On my PC at home I have ooooooodles of disk space, all the plugins I love, my old still-working copy of wavelab, etc. But when I DJ for my long suffering friends, the Mac comes out, and I know the ride will be glitch free and smooth

[wjbuchanan]

I think each platform has its benefits and disadvantages.

Apple systems have limited SKUs so this means that the hardware is consistent, you pretty much know what you're getting with a Mac. Windows systems are highly varied, so even if you have a great spec on paper you can end up with a sub par trackpad or screen.

Coreaudio is dead easy to configure and offers low latency out of the box. I've read some reports that ASIO performs better than Coreaudio but I can't vouch for this personally.

One thing that really gets me about OSX is the power saving features. Apple have made great strides in order to make battery life better with their laptops, but have removed any ability to customise power settings. In Windows, you can switch between "Power Saving" or "High Performance" but in OSX the CPU power state is reduced when the system is idle - with no option to turn it off. This means that the CPU takes a little more time to reach full power when load is put onto it.

That's what kind of kills it as an audio platform for me, it's obviously great for a consumer but for a pro audio user I believe it reduces performance.

I hear musicians and artists say that the Mac is the only platform for doing professional work, and I believe that this was probably the case 10 years ago. However, Apple have changed dramatically and are more geared towards the consumer market as it's more profitable. The reputation as a "creative" platform has stuck with them probably due to a lot of people starting out with a cheap PC and expecting much more.

I have an older Mac just now, but given that I spend most of my time in either Live or a browser I don't know if I'd purchase another one. Saying that browsing through Windows laptops can be a bit of a minefield, and with a Macbook I would be confident I'd be getting a good screen and trackpad. Plus, the new Windows 8 touchscreen laptops look great - I can see myself launching clips from the screen while I play with the other hand.

One thing that concerns me is the upgradability of future models - upgrading the RAM or HDD on the new iMac is reportably "practically impossible"!

[beats me]

But what about the Metrofication of Windows?!? WAAAAAAHHHHHH!!! No good can ever come from standardization across different types of hardware. I don’t like change. Change never works for me. The tricycle I got when I was 5 years old is still my main mode of transportation and the maintenance and upgrade costs are far cheaper than that automobile bullshit.

[simmerdown]

win7 is the new XP, a stable workhorse...... keep it, love it

[Goddard]

If you go through some of Penisrocket posts you will realize that he's nothing but Windows and PC fanboy.
He doesn't give a shit about Ableton Live. It's all about his love to his Windowsdriven PC and eternal hatred to Apple products. His argument about Apple products being overpriced suggest he simply can't afford one.
Wouldn't it be nice of us if we collected some money and bought him a nice MacBook Pro?
It would help him with his dementia.
Or maybe he's already on Microsoft paycheck and trolling about Windows superiority is his job?
Maybe Penisrocket is Steve Ballmer himself?
Skål!

[regretfullySaid]

It's almost too easy to believe he's Ballmer...
It's easy to picture Ballmer in the Apple store going up to people, pointing at them and saying "macfag, macfag" as everyone just shakes their head in disappointment.

And then the people in whitecoats come and drag him away in a straightjacket as he chuckles wildly with eyes bouncing around like he's trying to follow the invisble flies that are swarming around him.

Ballmer smh