After trying to do something meaningful with Reaper and Cubase for a couple of years I decided to download the Live 8 free trial. A few hours later I still can't get the smile off my face and I've achieved more in those hours than in the previous two years using the other DAWs mentioned. The direct links from the application to video tutorials are a massive help. The tutorial video on beat creation actually treated me like a musician, not a computer scientist! The contextual help is also sophisticated. In short, I'm sold.
I'm running the trial on a 2 GHz Core Duo notebook running 32 bit Vista that I share with the family. I plan on buying my own notebook in about 6 -> 9 months. Haven't decided on Mac or PC yet but either way it will run a 64 bit OS.
If I buy 32 bit Live 8 now for use on my current 32 bit Vista machine, I will be buying something that will not make the most of 64 bit technology when I get my new machine. It seems logical to wait for a 64 bit version of Live 8, unless there will be some sort of upgrade path from 32 bit to 64 bit Live 8 possible without forking out a heap of extra $.
The other question is, would a 64 bit version of Live 8 work on my 32 bit Vista machine? I want to consider this scenario in case a 64 bit version of Live 8 comes out before I can afford a new notebook.
Yet another question is if I bought 32 bit Live 8 now, would I get access to a download of a Mac version in the future if I were to make the switch to Apple? You can have it installed on two machines I see, can this be one on Mac and one on PC?
Finally, is Live 8 Suite the same thing as Live 8, only with extra sounds and instruments? I want a bunch of sounds and instruments, but I don't think I would make full use of a heap of extra sounds and instruments yet as I'm still learning to walk.
I know I want it. Any advice appreciated as I don't want to make an expensive mistake.