Which developers are a safe bet for longevity.

[AnX]

no such thing as a safe bet, nobody can predict the future

[imrae]

I never ever used firewire so i will not miss it. I even do not use any audio interface since I do not need it.
But we are at developers here for software and here I still say Apple is the best bet for a long future.

Right, those were other music creators they messed around in the past, clearly you are special and can count on better treatment

This is about the future, not the past

no such thing as a safe bet, nobody can predict the future

Traditionally, past behaviour is considered to be a useful indicator of future behaviour.

[BONES]

I’m still smarting from FXpansion pulling the the plug on some of my favourites. Now IL is pulling its VSTs.
Who can we trust to stick around for the long term?

What does it matter if the products you currently own still work? I kept using Orion for six years or so after development stopped and it never let me down. I still wonder sometimes why I ever thought about shifting in the first place.

I wish companies would in one way or another SAY what they're working on...

If it's a public company, there are rules and regulations that prevent them from doing that so they can't manipulate their share price by announcing things that never happen.

If there is one most safe (for me personally) its Apple. No one wants to hear it but it is like it is. Logic is a safe bet for me and it offer about all I ever need without third party stuff these days (beside some of the better sample libraries).

Woah! Someone's drunk the Kool Aid. No company is worse than Apple when it comes to the capricious culling of products and features. Just ask anyone who set up a video editing business around Final Cut Pro or any film post production house (special effects for movies) who built their compositing pipelines around Shake.

I said "for me personally". I am no Apple fan

Unless you have a very different definition of the word than the one in the dictionary, you are most definitely a "fan".

I never ever used firewire so i will not miss it. I even do not use any audio interface since I do not need it.

Then surely you need to alter your opinion when provided with evidence to show your current opinion is very, very wrong?

[revvy]

I'd say Apple For Logic.

Also, my +10 years old Firewire MOTU Ultralite still works great connected to my Mac via 3 (!!!) dongles in series to go with the latest Thunderbolt.

I'd additionally say the 2 Izotope products I love, Ozone and RX.

Also, Ableton Live.

[AnX]

I never ever used firewire so i will not miss it. I even do not use any audio interface since I do not need it.
But we are at developers here for software and here I still say Apple is the best bet for a long future.

Right, those were other music creators they messed around in the past, clearly you are special and can count on better treatment

This is about the future, not the past

no such thing as a safe bet, nobody can predict the future

Traditionally, past behaviour is considered to be a useful indicator of future behaviour.

Camel Audio

[Ploki]

Voxengo, melda, u-he, fabfilter, softube imo

[revvy]

But as AnX has said, no SW is a truly safe bet IMO, I try not to get too attached.

[Ploki]

If there is one most safe (for me personally) its Apple. No one wants to hear it but it is like it is.

Owners of Firewire hardware may disagree

Really? My M1 works with fireface400 and 800 (15y old)
Also my UFX+

[revvy]

If there is one most safe (for me personally) its Apple. No one wants to hear it but it is like it is.

Owners of Firewire hardware may disagree

Really? My M1 works with fireface400 and 800 (15y old)
Also my UFX+

Yea, weird right?

As I said above my Ultralite Mk I still works connected to Thunderbolt.

[Urs]

So, uh, U-He. Modern cross-platform framework, multiple developers, good community relations.

We do spend a lot of time refactoring my old C99 sins for ultra modern c++17 code though

[excuse me please]

What AnX said. Btw this forum is about software, not hardware. Jussayin'

[XxEDxX]

I'd say the ones that don't have sales all the time because I think this is a bad omen. Also not those who constantly complain how bad certain OS, DAW or plugin formats are. Those that have visions and are setting trends instead of following or copying.

I'd go with FabFilter, BlueCatAudio, uHe. There are more but these were the first 3 that came to my mind.

[uOpt]

1) open source ones. Assuming a compliant license with the right to re-publish (not just source code to look at) you cannot take it away from the community.

2) having Linux versions today is a good sign. It shows that the code is reasonably portable (which usually means clean) and that the developer doesn't drop something at the first sign of being less profitable.

[shorty]

copy protection is important. if the company goes out of business and your bought product uses e.g. challenge/response, you can't change your hardware anymore. had this with cakewalk and a few vst's and won't buy anything with "software centers" or c/r or however they call it.

[Teksonik]

copy protection is important. if the company goes out of business and your bought product uses e.g. challenge/response, you can't change your hardware anymore. had this with cakewalk and a few vst's and won't buy anything with "software centers" or c/r or however they call it.

Kind of limits your choices if you're just going to use Serial Only software or freeware.

For the record all my Cakewalk software still installs and works. I just called up Camel Audio's windows version of Alchemy yesterday and it still works fine.

So it's not just the C/P method but how the developer handles going out of business or ending support on one OS or another. Whether they make provisions to allow their customers to keep using their software or not.

As has been mentioned before there is no guarantee any developer will be around in the future. Hell with the virus and its mutations there's no guarantee we'll be around in the future.