http://blog.cakewalk.com/windows-8-a-benchmark-for-music-pro duction-applications/

ew

Thanks! Very interesting...
Should be shared with others, because it gives some very useful informations. That Windows 8 performance is better for DAW stuff is of course the most important thing because there are a lot bad findings with DPC latency the last time.

Metro - "Microsoft states that 100 msec was considered to be their goal for acceptable latency!"

Yes, but Metro will not be used for desktop applications like a DAW. Because it lacks also Midi support, it's not very usable.

http://www.gartner.com/it/page.jsp?id=2061815

Gartner Says Windows 8 Marks the Beginning of the WinRT Era

"It is also the beginning of the end of Win32 applications on the desktop," said Michael Silver, vice president and distinguished analyst at Gartner. "Microsoft will continue to support Win32, but it will encourage developers to write more manageable and engaging applications using WinRT."


Basically Microsoft wants devs to move from Win32 to Metro. It will take a while but that is their strategy.

IMO it's more realistic that the next Windows version will not be available as a 32Bit OS. It makes completely no sense to have a 32 and 64Bit OS this days.
But we will not see in the early future that Microsoft will drop Win32/Win64. This time nobody can say if Microsoft will not drop Metro in some years and replace if with a another solution

Yup it seems like Bill Gates evil plan is to eventually dump the classic desktop altogether and try to force us all into making tweaky electro music with flashy clever apps that do all the work.

Let's hope Planet Microsoft doesn't entirely pull the rug out from under our studio chairs in the next 10 years.

Nah, he's too busy these days giving his cash away, its all Steve Ballmer's fault...

Another viewpoint, I noted all details of a fairly heavy project on Windows 7 64 bit, Nuendo 32 bit, 32 bit plugs. Did the same on Windows 8 64 bit. They were identical in memory footprint, number of processes, CPU usage and performance. YMMV.

Forget about Metro and Windows 8 will run all the apps just as fine as before.

Excellent article. Well done Cakewalk!

Microsoft made a bigger push to move developers off Win32 with .NET. It's been, what, 10 years now, and Microsoft Office itself is still Win32. I don't think Win32 is going anywhere.

Roy

This is good news about the performance of 8 Pro, but bad news regarding the initial status of Metro as a music platform. Windows 7 will no doubt eclipse Win XP as the hanger-on Windows that will likely see a very, very long life in studios. It is worth repeating that Windows RT does away, permanently, with the Win32 kernel, so existing music applications are obseletized. It goes without saying that we should assume MS plans to upgrade the capabilities of Metro and Windows RT significantly, but it's a huge disappointment that developers can't begin today coding for an OS that can't do multitasking, midi or even pro audio. Let's hope big, big improvements are planned and that we don't have to wait long for them, because Apple won't be sitting idly on the sidelines, and I don't want to have to use both platforms

Microsoft is on Microsoft's side, not ours.

Fortunately dedicated computers will be able to do the job with XP, W7, or non-Windows OS for many years.

I just read something that will probably push me over the edge and make me buy the Windows 8 Pro: When introduced, there is going to be a promotional that ends on January (1st or 31st I can't recall), and the price will be $39.99. Since I have Vista on my current machine, and since Windows 8 offers better efficiency and performance over Windows 7 (and especially Windows Vista), the price is probably low enough to give my computer a cheap new lease on life with very little cost--something I really need. I doubt I would have upgraded just yet without it. I'll try to find a link to the article I read and post it.

--Sean

EDIT -- I found the link:

http://www.engadget.com/2012/07/02/microsoft-announces-39-99 -windows-8-pro-upgrade-offer-for-most/

For this price, I can't imagine many people not upgrading from Vista to Windows 8. It will be like having Windows 7 stability, efficiency, and compatibility, without the bloat and instability of Vista for only $39.99. A new lease on life for my desktop.