To theses haters below: You can hit that disagree all button all all day long! I am using both Windows and Mac so I know what I am talking about!

I have proof for my experiences I am talking about – What do you have besides your predjudice opinions? … Nothing… exactly… that's what I thought. :D

 

Last edited: Nov 2, 2020

Windows is the best allround OS periode. So I don't understand your ignorant remark.
Linux is garbage as an desktop OS and Apple is overpriced and limited (gaming for example).
Hackintosh is probably the best solution if you don't wanna use Windows, but even then "most" people have a double boot with Windows. By the way the reason why people can buy hardware parts to build a Hackintosh is because of Windows and Windows only. Pretty stupid to hate Windows when your a Hackintosh user. And Apple is on it again with their ARM architecture. It is all about limiting you choice to: Apple.

Linux I don't even count as an real contester on the pro creator og gaming marked. Still pure garbage and don't let any Linux fanboy scum tell you otherwise.

 

Last edited: Nov 2, 2020

Glasswire for Windows is the closest I could find doing a similar job at monitoring processes inbound and outbound connections.
Small program, clean and streamlined interface. Very OSX-like.



Can do a blocking duty as well.
But with my experience, calling home and other way of communicating to the exterior doesn't only happen through exes, dlls for exemple ? I really know few on the subject, but I remember some painful tone2 experiences...

 

If you want a pretty good free firewall replacement, you should try SimpleWall.
I used GlassWire for a while but it only is able to monitor conntections and it doesn't catch all connections.
If you want to block a specific program, you have to open GlassWire, go to the settings and block the process it catched.
By doing this, GlassWire adds a simple Windows Firewall rule and that's it. The problem is, by default it allows all connections
and when you use cracked software that wants to call home, it calls home on its first run.

SimpleWall on the other hand blocks any connection and you have to allow or block programs when they try to connect.
It also monitors every process and doesn't let specific connections go through like GlassWire does.
At first it means a bit more work because you have to decide what gets a connection and what not
but when the configuration is done, it's the best firewall app you can get for free.

 

Done! You're welcome

 

This tread went downhill like boulder. People racing to the bottom is kind of getting old.

People who think their choice is superior because they made it is just tribalism.

People always advocating the lowest cost option, are the same people who cry when the factory in their town closes because one opened up somewhere out in the far east so that they could compete on price.

The guy asked how optimize a PC running windows 10 and now he has 2-4 useful posts on the subject and 3 pages of useless shit brought on by marginal cases of people trying to live on the bleeding edge.

@typical-love

In simple terms you can just deactivate MS Apps and turn off most of the privacy invasions through the control panel. Your build is robust and will run just fine even with some parasitic losses here and there. If you install everything and are having issues because of that parasitic draw, then you should investigate further optimizations.

The best thing you can do for any computer running creative software has always been to max out the RAM, everything else has diminishing returns.

 

Last edited: Nov 2, 2020

1) VST is a mess on Windows, because there's different folder for 64bit VST2, 32bit VST2, 64bit folder for VST3, 32bit folder for VST3, usually whatever first piece of software/plugin defines those paths, are then stored in Windows registry, which then later installers "auto-detect" but some not
defaults in registry may (just an example!) look like this:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\VST]
"VSTPluginsPath"="C:\\Program Files\\Steinberg\\VstPlugins\\"
or this:
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Wow6432Node\VST]
"VSTPluginsPath"="C:\\Program Files (x86)\\Steinberg\\VstPlugins\\"
do note, some audio softwares are not able to handle more than one plugin path, or read list of paths in certain order (I think Reaper does, newer versions can also hide VST2 if VST3 is available, if I remember correct)
also do note, you can create subfolders within VST folder - similarly like on MacOS, in fact some plugins do that without user notice

2) yes, since I've been a hackintosh+MacOS user for some time, I totally love how Little Snitch 4 works, and I can responsibly tell, only alternative I could find on Windows which could get at least remotedly close, is Net Limiter 4 - I usually use it for blocking whole apps, but it can also define let's say lan-only network by interface (when using multiple NICs for ex.)
a small note - used Glasswire before, but somehow relies on Windows Firewall, which in my particular use of Windows "Lite" variants is disabled/removed and so Glasswire fails to install or run at all, and really lacks any advanced functionality to begin with

3) yes there are hosts file, but in newer Windows 10 builds, system monitors it, and may automatically undo your changes in the file, regardless of adjusting read-only rights, it's a new nasty trickery by Microsoft, primarily to prevent people blocking Microsoft telemetry spying

4) avoid portable apps if you can, seriously, Windows is not designed for portable apps, and so using proper install is more friendly way to go, for everyone

5) general tips, well, be aware Windows cannot read/write MacOS filesystems, and MacOS cannot write onto NTFS Windows filesystems by default - I'd advise against third-party softwares to enable read/write of MacOS formatted drives in Windows, since Windows is designed to fck things up,
also be aware you basically cannot use any software or plugins installers from MacOS in Windows environment, I think only exception are Kontakt libraries, but again as mentioned above, you'd really need to store them on "correct" filesystem for best compatibility and performance in your chosen OS

6) as a long-term Windows and MacOS user, also with fair amount of hackintosh experience, and little bit of various Linux distros tests/attempts, I could give you tons of reasons why any of those platforms suck, so it really depends on what you need,
for me personally:
MacOS (or even hackintosh, frankly) is clear choice for less hassle and long-term operation when it comes to audio workflows and other less resource demanding tasks, natively-supported low-latency Coreaudio backend including CoreMIDI is basically plug&play usually,
on the other hand Windows is the choice for those who can afford hundreds of hours to spend on fine tweaks and have the knowledge to choose and build from hardware they can effectively utilize, for ex. audio interface choice is more tricky because of provided audio driver (most likely ASIO hardware accelerated, thanks to Steinberg who could do what Microsoft couldn't past 30 years) being the more important factor than most people realize

oh and PS: congratz on choosing Reaper as a DAW, definitely the best option if you plan to jump between Windows and MacOS for some time

 

thanks for the article, that's a good read,
I wonder though, what makes you think Windows would be any better in that regard?
I mean, in 2 views:
1) user not being able to let an app hijack system (roughly put, a definition of malware)
2) operating system doing things in the background without user consent or notices

not that I would want to start some conspiracy spying wars, but (simplified) given the idea motherboard's BIOS can live on its own, access contents on connected drives, and call online, before any OS starts, makes no OS totally safe, even Linux

 

Didn't expect anything else from you. You're reliable and predctable in your behavior – being the intellcually challenged "individual" you are. :D

 

@tzzsmk
The steps Apple do on their new OS version feel like they're hiding/removing some customer rights.
Its like your favourite Café where you were able to order coffe from your favourite brand or their proprietary label
and now force you to use their brand only without allowing you to see where the coffee is from and whether that
brand supports the farmers or not.
It feels like they want to hide something from you without giving you the chance to see what it is.
Yes, you can also see it from the side of malicious tools but when you have to pay it with your freedom
of what information goes out and what not, than it's not worth discussing (at least for me).

In the case of Win10, you're still able to get informations about the processes, connections and collected data packages
and you can prevent all of that easily (with a bit of knowledge).

I also don't like Apples new "Anti Repair" philosophy:

If it continues like that, you won't be able in the future to fix any of their machines on your own.
In case anything breaks, you have to go to an Apple store and pay a lot of money for replacement,
even if there's nothing to replace (I suggest you the channel of Louis Rossman for that term).

I mean they're already using a custom m.2 ssd connector in their new Mac Pro which forces customers
to buy a new ssd from Apple only instead of swapping it with a normal ssd.
That leads into freakin high prices, for example:
1TB = $600
2TB = $1000
4TB = $1600

Beeing able to install any brand of m.2 ssd would cost about
1TB = $100
2TB = $230
4TB = $470

Thats up to 5 times more money in comparison.

On a PC or regular laptop you're still able to repair/replace most parts on your own or get them fixed in your
local computer repair store for small money - even swapping the whole Motherboard works in some cases.

So my concerns are not only about the OS itself, it's about Apples whole philosophy.
But that's just my opinion. Everyone should make his own thoughts on this topic.

 

Last edited: Nov 3, 2020

BTW the block reroute URI/IP function on every router and cable modem I've had since 2010 is better than any hosts file rerouting. Your hosts file can be empty but nothing will ever leak out because it will never get past the point of exit.

As far as cost of parts the ignition coils on a Lamborghini are the the same identical ones on a Passat. If you order them from Lamborghini they will charge you more than the VW parts guy. If you look on the coil it will even Genuine VAG and the same identical part number.

Things cost what people are willing to pay for them and that is OK for some people and not for some others. It's the same thing with tools, tires, and even restaurants. A burger from Five Guys might have meat from the same exact cow that one from McDonalds down the street has. In life we all make choices and not always out of ignorance, so whatever you choose be happy with it and let other people choose what they want to as long as they are not pissing down your leg.

 

I read somewhere it's possible to boot from PCIe slot any NVME drive on MacPro, so theoretically their proprietary drives can die anytime, and user can boot from their own SSD of choice,

matter of fixing on your own is tricky - I have experience with enterprise support (as a company tech customer) and I can tell for sure devices which user can open (even accidentally) are more likely to suffer from damage/failure - sure having everything soldered onboard is not nice for repairs, but usually doesn't fail as often as mechanical connections, and I think next-business-day replacement becomes cheaper and more efficient option anyway - that said though, there should be certain compromise, like for ex. upgradeable RAM, disk, fan, no need for others I guess, something like law-defined 5-year warranty might force manufacturers into making less shitty products perhaps..
speaking of "regular" laptops, back in the day I had very nice MSI GE60, internal HDD died, and within warranty service they had to replace motherboard, entire cooling circuit, half of the chassis, and the HDD - not sure what went wrong, but that laptop totally seemed as fully user-serviceable, and frankly it works great now almost 8 years old...

 

OMG hardcore-geek cosplaying!!

Yeah yeah.. whatever... you forgot I killed JFK

 

funny that no osx lites or customized osx out there...says much(edit : i mean cause it seems not possible and not cause nobody wanted to)...and yes the older osx are better than windows for music , and has better explorer...but apple gear is scam
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catalina is even heavier as windows10 in puncto telemtry and control dictatorship
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r4e on point as always
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must have hit you hard if you had to do this childish signature , doe xup

 

Last edited: Nov 3, 2020

Your setup would make an excellent hackintosh, btw ;)

 

I knew it would be another one for the gallery, so I gave him what he needed, like any good pusher does – servin' these fiends since '99. Predictable af… ;)

 

probably with a AMD graphic card. I pleased with Windows so no need

 

More childish than downrating 15 posts of mine in a row? That's a mature hobby for ya
I don't mind them but my "ratings received" profile page is almost unusable now

 

You mind about ratings? Than behave like you deserve them! You disagree wih something? Put arguments behind it - don't hit the "X" hit the dislike button! If you don't have arguments, move along! So that's what you get for trolling. By the way: it was 10 not 15 posts. It was a lesson. And no surprise – you didn't get it.

 

Last edited: Nov 4, 2020