If you had to stick to one DAW, which one would it be?

[BONES]

Personally I never really mention what I think of Microsoft, because I don't see the point of getting into arguments with people about which greedy corporate giant they use.

Who is going to argue in favour of Microsoft? They have f**ked me over badly on several occasions. They are a complete bunch of c**ts but at least they're not Apple or Google. Mostly it's Apple users I have issue with, it's a f**king cult!

It's a big fat duh that WORKING PROFESSIONALS use the tools they've chosen.

WTF would you know about "working professionals", darling, and why would anyone care when they make up about 0.01% of the KVR community?

I don't know you're age. It's possible you're a child which might explain things (to degree that is) but YOU...are CLEARLY NOT fluent in ANY of these DAWs.

Did I already ask you which of us had an album in the charts at the moment? I think I did but clearly you weren't able to follow my line of reasoning in asking that question. Hardly surprising, you don't seem too bright.

[Seafire Mk2]

Who is going to argue in favour of Microsoft? They have f**ked me over badly on several occasions.

How?

[BONES]

Zune, Windows Phone, Windows 8.

Zune was far and away the best digital music ecosystem ever, the closest thing to a proper CD or vinyl collection. If It wasn't for Zune, I would never have bothered digitising any of my CD collection. Zune HD remains my all-time favourite gadget and the Zune ecosystem was the best way to manage my mp3s that I've ever come across. But just when streaming music was taking off and they had a huge headstart - Zune Pass predates Spotify by several years - they decided to dismantle the whole ecosystem. f**king morons.

Same for Windows Phone, they had an opportunity, when Android was a basket case, to establish themselves as the alternative to iPhone, which they completely botched. Before I bought my first smartphone, I spent an hour or so in a shop trying out an iPhone, an HTC Windows Phone and a Samsung Android phone, side by side, and the experience on the Windows phone was clearly superior, so that's what I bought. They had some brilliant apps; there was a weather app that remains the best I've ever seen and there were so many features that took years to appear on other platforms. I'd go back to Windows Phone in a heartbeat, I f**king hate Android.

Windows 8 remains my favourite OS. It was a full rethink of how a user should interact with their computer, tailored to modern hardware. It was a stroke of genius! Microsoft screwed the pooch by deciding at the last minute to remove the Start button so that everyone's initial experience with it was horrible. I was beta-testing and it had been there until about a month before release. We all tried to tell them to put it back but they wouldn't listen. I reckon whoever signed off on that one little decision cost Microsoft billions of dollars. I still have a tiny 8" tablet running Windows 8.1 and it is such a joy to use, even though I don't have much software on it (it's only got an Atom processor).

So yeah, f**k Microsoft!

[ghettosynth]

Rare, but I agree with Bones on Windows phone. I liked mine and it solved the problems that I need a phone to solve with a U/I that worked for me. I liked little things though. Being able to change the size of the icons made it faster to use.

[machinesworking]

Who is going to argue in favour of Microsoft? They have f**ked me over badly on several occasions. They are a complete bunch of c**ts but at least they're not Apple or Google. Mostly it's Apple users I have issue with, it's a f**king cult!

Been to both campuses, not surprising since I'm on the west coast. Being closer to MS than Apple I get far more MS level cultists than Apple, but that's not any surprise really. I don't care for corporations in general, but I think it's dead obvious that both MS and Apple would be far far worse if the other didn't exist! I can tell you employees from MS do seem worse than the Apple ones I know in terms of slavish devotion, but that's probably more about the Apple ones being much higher up in the company and retired, couldn't care about any of it if they wanted to.One thing I find funny is Gates it turning out to be a much worse person than Jobs, what with the Epstein files and it turning out he was asked to step down after an investigation into him sexually harassing his employees.

I wish Linux was a viable option, it's dammed near close these days, but it's still (IMO) more work than it's worth. Plus it's pretty much Reaper, Renoise and Bitwig for anything solid.. we know how you feel about those DAWs!

[eLawnMust]

Well, If You Had windows 95 & at least 16 MB RAM You could go with Making Waves, which is still commercially available... Has kinda buggered plugin scanning but other than that pretty deluxe...

[BONES]

Been to both campuses, not surprising since I'm on the west coast. Being closer to MS than Apple I get far more MS level cultists than Apple, but that's not any surprise really.

Really? That must be a very American thing, I've never known anyone to have much of an opinion on Microsoft, either way.

I don't care for corporations in general, but I think it's dead obvious that both MS and Apple would be far far worse if the other didn't exist!

I don't know about that. Steve Jobs was an out and out c**t, Bill Gates is basically a nice guy who was paranoid about being gobbled up by IBM if he took his foot off the gas for even a second. And look at what Gates is doing these days, then remember that under Jobs, it was Apple corporate policy not to give money to charity.(I believe it was one of the first things Tim Cook changed.) The culture is set by those guys and I know which one I'd prefer to see running my company (although I am sure shareholders would prefer the other one).

One thing I find funny is Gates it turning out to be a much worse person than Jobs, what with the Epstein files and it turning out he was asked to step down after an investigation into him sexually harassing his employees.

Yeah, don't believe everything you read, especially about Gates. He's been a target of the Far Right since he started spending his billions helping poor (black) people in Africa, instead of handing it out to (white) people at home. Someone as socially awkward as he is might cause offence without even realising he's done it.

I wish Linux was a viable option, it's dammed near close these days, but it's still (IMO) more work than it's worth. Plus it's pretty much Reaper, Renoise and Bitwig for anything solid.. we know how you feel about those DAWs!

I spent several years trying to make Linux a viable option but it's not and it never will be.

[machinesworking]

Been to both campuses, not surprising since I'm on the west coast. Being closer to MS than Apple I get far more MS level cultists than Apple, but that's not any surprise really.

Really? That must be a very American thing, I've never known anyone to have much of an opinion on Microsoft, either way.

More of a "I live 20 miles from Redmond where Microsoft started" thing. I suppose Cupertino CA has a bunch of Apple fanboys that would curdle your milk.

I don't care for corporations in general, but I think it's dead obvious that both MS and Apple would be far far worse if the other didn't exist!

I don't know about that. Steve Jobs was an out and out c**t, Bill Gates is basically a nice guy who was paranoid about being gobbled up by IBM if he took his foot off the gas for even a second. And look at what Gates is doing these days, then remember that under Jobs, it was Apple corporate policy not to give money to charity.(I believe it was one of the first things Tim Cook changed.) The culture is set by those guys and I know which one I'd prefer to see running my company (although I am sure shareholders would prefer the other one).

Philanthropy by billionaires hardly counts, but Job's wife has been giving most of their fortune away silently, without the fanfare of Gates.

One thing I find funny is Gates it turning out to be a much worse person than Jobs, what with the Epstein files and it turning out he was asked to step down after an investigation into him sexually harassing his employees.

Yeah, don't believe everything you read, especially about Gates. He's been a target of the Far Right since he started spending his billions helping poor (black) people in Africa, instead of handing it out to (white) people at home. Someone as socially awkward as he is might cause offence without even realising he's done it.

That was all because of Melinda Gates, I mean it's well documented. There was an absolutely fantastic job done by a Wired writer on the monopoly case in around 2000 before Bush got into power. Seriously, one of the best reads on the subject ever, I kept the copy because of all the great quotes. Gate gave away nothing before he married her, he started right as he was being sued for monopoly practices.

In terms of his actions, sorry, that's all real, his wife left him because of it, that and him refusing to stop meeting with Epstein. He has a history of using Microsoft as a dating pool, you know the place where if you didn't like his advances he could get you laid off? This is why the board asked him to leave, and why Melinda eventually left him. I mean I don't know what she expected? that's exactly how he met her. I don't know if he did anything fishy with Epstein, but the fact he's well known for being slightly predatorial himself means at best he had no problem hanging out with Epstein after he served time for statutory rape. That's not a deniable fact.

In terms of his philanthropy and the right making him into a demon, yeah that's all true. US evangelicals are rabidly anti birth control, and African women asked Melinda to include that in their charity. I have no idea why the right wing in the USA is so backwards? I do not think it's much of a conspiracy to wonder how much Russia and China play into the extreme rights "Gates is trying to depopulate the planet because SATAN thing, it's not just the dumbshits here, there's something less disorganized behind this pile of horseshit. This is a whole nother topic, but that includes the batshit crazy Greenland, Canada etc. the America's are ours! routine these fools are playing out. It's like they read 1984 and went, that sounds cool! We're Oceana!

I spent several years trying to make Linux a viable option but it's not and it never will be.

Yeah, I think it could be if you just stuck with a DAW that runs native, and a couple dozen trusted plugins, but then I'm not unhappy with what I have these days. To be honest I just hope DP doesn't get bought and rebranded with useless AI features. I posted it would be hilarious if Gibson bought them and rebranded it Gibson Performer Pro.

[Seafire Mk2]

Zune, Windows Phone, Windows 8.

Zune was far and away the best digital music ecosystem ever, the closest thing to a proper CD or vinyl collection. If It wasn't for Zune, I would never have bothered digitising any of my CD collection. Zune HD remains my all-time favourite gadget and the Zune ecosystem was the best way to manage my mp3s that I've ever come across. But just when streaming music was taking off and they had a huge headstart - Zune Pass predates Spotify by several years - they decided to dismantle the whole ecosystem. f**king morons.

Same for Windows Phone, they had an opportunity, when Android was a basket case, to establish themselves as the alternative to iPhone, which they completely botched. Before I bought my first smartphone, I spent an hour or so in a shop trying out an iPhone, an HTC Windows Phone and a Samsung Android phone, side by side, and the experience on the Windows phone was clearly superior, so that's what I bought. They had some brilliant apps; there was a weather app that remains the best I've ever seen and there were so many features that took years to appear on other platforms. I'd go back to Windows Phone in a heartbeat, I f**king hate Android.

Windows 8 remains my favourite OS. It was a full rethink of how a user should interact with their computer, tailored to modern hardware. It was a stroke of genius! Microsoft screwed the pooch by deciding at the last minute to remove the Start button so that everyone's initial experience with it was horrible. I was beta-testing and it had been there until about a month before release. We all tried to tell them to put it back but they wouldn't listen. I reckon whoever signed off on that one little decision cost Microsoft billions of dollars. I still have a tiny 8" tablet running Windows 8.1 and it is such a joy to use, even though I don't have much software on it (it's only got an Atom processor).

So yeah, f**k Microsoft!

Oh, I was expecting something bad.

Presumably you recovered from these tragedies?

[BONES]

Yeah, I think it could be if you just stuck with a DAW that runs native, and a couple dozen trusted plugins, but then I'm not unhappy with what I have these days.

Yeah, if that's the only thing you use your computer for but for me it isn't even the most demanding thing I use mine for. My computer needs to be useful for all the things I need a computer for, I have less than no interest in multiple machines or dual-booting, and Linux simply can't deliver.

[machinesworking]

Yeah, I think it could be if you just stuck with a DAW that runs native, and a couple dozen trusted plugins, but then I'm not unhappy with what I have these days.

Yeah, if that's the only thing you use your computer for but for me it isn't even the most demanding thing I use mine for. My computer needs to be useful for all the things I need a computer for, I have less than no interest in multiple machines or dual-booting, and Linux simply can't deliver.

Can't remember, but if you're using something like Autocad? then Linux just isn't going to work. In my case I could get away with it, if I wanted to use Reaper or Bitwig, and only likely less than 1/4 of the plugins I own that would work well as Windows plugins in a wrapper, or have a native version.

[keys_au1]

A lot more Reaper than I expected!

[BBFG#]

My computer only needs the music programs and the things that support them. (C/R, D/I, etc.) Otherwise, my phone does the rest. The problem with computers and OSs are the computer and OSs insisting they need to do everything. Customization is the key to freedom and both MS and Apple believe we can't be trusted with freedom.

[mholloway]

Legit surprised that Bitwig has the edge over Ableton in this poll, 164 > 160. That's fascinating, and even if KVR is just a small sample of users, pretty damned impressive for Bitwig.

[Karbon L. Forms]

Legit surprised that Bitwig has the edge over Ableton in this poll, 164 > 160. That's fascinating, and even if KVR is just a small sample of users, pretty damned impressive for Bitwig.

Their official forum is here. Ableton's is elsewhere.

(Also some people hate polls and always put bullshit answers. (I chose ACID Pro - Never clapped eyes on it!))