For those on Windows:

I keep reading how many folks are not happy with Win 10 and have either stayed on or re-installed Win 7. What are the reasons you have made for your choice of operating system? What are the both the positive and negatives of Win 7, 8 and 10 when compared to each other? Is there something new and improved coming down the pike that will satisfy the criteria for the best possible system for music creation? I am going to stand back and try to absorb the answers as I might need to buy a new computer to replace the ailing machine I am currently using. Thanks.

 

hey superliquid ...im on win10 here, not problems at all and performance is okay ...i think many problems are related with hardware on pc's rather than os ...i chosen 10 because of the updates, dx12, maybe security or not much since microsoft is a problem but i disabled lots of stuff, i re-enable when i need ...i have an i7 4930k, im on x79 chip mainboard P9x79 E-WS, 32 gB ram and RME HDSPE plus expansion ...and im quite happy by now, its been almost 2yrs since i buld this ...

 

Win 10 here as well. No problems and all drivers for my interfaces and hardware work without problems.

 

I have Windows 10, too... somewhere in the garbage bin.

Seriously though, all MS systems newer than XP just get further and further away from being adequate to cope with real-time tasks that need to react within 1ms. The newer the MS OS, the more background tasks that can disrupt the working of your DAW and the audio thread. All that on top of all the crap they've done with the OS.

I think it is time to choose your last MS OS for making music and use it until it falls apart, no Internet - so no need for any updates. I still use XP for some stuff as I'm using a bit older hardware [samplers], and I use W7 on my laptop for making music, and I'm also considering using OS-X.

For Internet and daily tasks I've been strictly using Debian Linux for 3 years now and I'm very satisfied with the setup. When I'm making music - I'm making music. When I'm borwsing the Internet - I'm browsing the Internet... but I can also make music on one computer and browse the Internet with my other computer with Linux as they both have dual boots set up.

 

Win 10. Can't tell any difference from Win 7 performance wise.

 

Windows 10 without problems, really smooth

 

performance wise, its just as good as 7 with the little detail of WHEN its working.

all updates make it pretty unstable since the system keeps readjusting and getting patches and going through this nightmare with the mobile interdependency.

its a bad time for us in both osx and windows, both are into the same shit. all possible bullshit of opening your phone with you pc and opening your pc with your freaking phone and watching the last crap your were watching on your phone on your pc etc all but for us who want stability ,fast reliable systems.

answer to your initial question: WINDOWS 7 IS PERFECT.

ive been on 10 for a year and it works fine, but that is nothing to write home about, its supposed to that that. the problem is the updates that keep messing it up.

if i encounter more problems im going back to 7. there is NOTHING special in W10 for musicians or designers.

You can easily have your PERFECT W7 system for two more years and then maybe take a look whats out there as upgrade.

I can assure you, you aint missing out on anything but totally uninteresting retarded functions and problems.

 

Last edited: Oct 4, 2016

FWIW I haven't had almost any issues with 10. The only two problems I've encountered are that I can't drag and drop into Live because circumventing Win 10's oppressive UAC takes more computer smarts than I have.

And occasionally my Push 2 driver crashes. Then it takes 10 minutes to restart. But that's like once a month.

 

Thanks for all your answers and those taking the poll. Right now it is fairly split up the middle between Win 7 and 10 statistically, but nothing can be decerned or extrapolated from the results in any way shape or form as the questionnaire is much to vague to even venture a guess as to why the choices were made, ie, financial considerations, biases or any other that would actually be pertinent to render an educated result. I added the poll just for the sheer fun of pulling the lever.

I might just buy a laptop for portability although it would not be as powerful as my i7 3770k desktop I am using now. I was looking at an Aspire 15.6" i7-6500U 2.5 GHz dual core with 8 gigs of DDD4 RAM, Intel HD Graphics 520 with both 96GB SSD + a 1 TB SATA HD .. 2X USB 3.0 1X USB 3.1 TYP-C 1X USB 2.0 for Fr.699- Does the Braintrust figure something like that to be alright if I am not stacking tons of synths?

 

Yes Win 7 is regarded as much user friendlier, easily tweakable as well as not a burden on cpu. I bought my computer with Win 8 which I updated to 8.1 then to win 10. In my experience, Win 10 is bloated, less secure and cpu intensive but no issues performance wise. This overly bloated version is actually a come back to win 7 days as win 8 and 8.1 were made to attract Mac users. You see there was no concept of 'Apps' in windows environment which was first introduced in win 8 and it was not much welcomed by windows users. I had hard time to figure out win 8 as most concepts were new for me. Attracting Mac users caused Microsoft to loose loyal customers but their policy was different at that time. But in win 10 they finally realised and now much of the 'native' windows is back.

I would suggest using win 7 for music production. It's lighter on cpu and equally efficient. Most of the artists I know still using 7 or even XP for lighter use.

 

Sounds like a privilege issue if you are on Windows. Run As Administrator when you start up your DAW and perhaps it will work. I am such a computer geek!

 

Thanks, that all makes total sense to me.

 

ohh yeah, think that i already repressed that travesty of windows 8 lol.
sure, in w10 the freaking apps are still there but manageable. w7 is the same as 10 without the apps. i disabled all of them and deleted the ones i could. The best with 7 is it wont be updating like crazy as 10.

 

Actually that's the problem. Live should be run as admin for everything to work properly, but even if you designate yourself as Admin and turn off UAC, it somehow doesn't treat you like an admin for little things like moving files around. For instance, I have to reaffirm that I want to act as an admin every time I want to delete/move something from a Program Files subfolder. In other words the mismatch of Live as admin, and me as non-admin means that I can't drag files from explorer onto Live

I'm guessing there's some kind of group policy fix for this or something. I've been all over settings and control panel trying to give myself every possible permission.

 

My pc was going crazy with all those useless 'apps' continuously being updated in the background and I was going nuts what's going on. I have zero interest in Microsoft weather, pics sharing, Microsoft Sticky notes and all these annoying BS apps. After much teeth grinding, when I figured out how to disable all that stuff, there was another annoyance waiting for me on Win 8. 8.1 and 10. "Allow an app or feature through windows firewall"...aaarrrggghhh APP again!! Call me old school but these apps may look good on iphone but not on a fukin' pc with a Windows! Trust me if compatibility was not an issue I would happily go back to Win 98 which was one more successful version before XP and 7.

 

Ok, I don't have 10 and only repeat what I read in articles, and probably you've already tried that. But there's at least a minimum chance it might help you. The administrator is NOT the highest priviledged account. There are other accounts, like TrustedInstaller, that will interfere if you try to move or delete files. It might also help in case of dragging. You have to regain control over the files in question and you do that by selecting the folder containing the files and changing the owner, plus changing the rights after that. Here's one article that deals with a similar problem in Win 8.1: http://www.fixedbyvonnie.com/2014/01/folder-access-denied-delete-folder-windows/

As I said, I just repeat things without having tested any of these, but maybe it gives you another hint or something.

 

Win 10 Enterprise LTSB

 

Happy with Win 7 Ice

 

I'm at work so I really only had a minute to skim the article, but I've done the advanced permissions, full control, taking ownership of things, etc.

When I have a bit more time I'll read the article in depth and see if there's anything there for me. Thanks!

 

One thing I have learned to recognise is when Windows 10 is doing an automatic update - the OS gets as laggy as hell and response time is dismal. Programs cease to respond to any outside stimulii. Best then to leave the computer to itself and wait for the 'restart needed'.

I am looking into whether manual updates can be scheduled - at least then you know the system is updating itself!!

After looking I can see you can set your working hours and when Win 10 will restart, only trouble is that after downloading updates it immediately starts installing them and that is what causes problems.

 

Last edited: Oct 4, 2016