Future of Windows in pro audio

[Kalee]

Hello,

It seems to be a trend that users, local governments and such are gravitating towards Linux. I was wondering about audio people?

Ofc there is not as much compatibility support for running audio/midi software on Linux compared to games for the moment.

I am interested to know if there is any trajectory at all?

[jupiter8]

My opinion is that there's little to none.

[VariKusBrainZ]

Only reason i got a new Windows machine is Ive got 20 years of software invested and i know the system. I spent a day tweaking and disabling, and kept it as a local account

[jamcat]

1. Windows has no future.
2. All your software is cross-platform. You already own if for Mac.
3. You can't keep Windows as a local account anymore.

[VitaminD]

Kvr is the home of audio nerds. So you're going to see more 'trajectory' towards Linux here than the average everyday audience. But for those 'everyday' people? Those people aren't going to Linux, unless they know a computer geek that can set it up for them.

Most of the time everyday people will buy a PC from a big box store or major online retailer, it comes bundled with the latest version of Windows. They pull the PC out of the box, set it on the desk, plug in the cables, and use it. They aren't going to go digging online for some obscure Operating System ISO and then try to figure out how to format their disk drive and install it. Nor will they try to learn a totally new paradigm of computing with a new OS and what software does/does not work natively in Linux.

They just want a computing appliance that works. And Windows, as an OS, still does that.

For the young techie crowd, yes, Linux is growing there. The increase is in the percentage of 1 to 3% of the population that uses a computer though. It's minuscule.

For some large scale shift to Linux to occur, Linux still needs to become fully plug and play. By that I mean no terminal commands needed, full out of the box Windows application support, and full driver support as Windows has. It basically has to become Windows but not be owned by Microsoft. And that isn't happening.

And for Cubase, Studio One/Pro, Ableton Live, or Pro Tools.. they aren't and aren't likely coming to Linux either. So even within the context of your question, it just isn't happening.

[Aloysius]

**NEW WORLD ORDER CONFIRMED**

Windows — over
Mac — over
Linux — over

There is now only **The Computer**.

BlackRock, Vanguard, and State Street have purchased everything and everyone and merged into **Global Communist Corporation™**.

Trump, Zelensky, Xi, Putin, the EU, and the UN all agreed on one thing:
Politics is over. Left vs right does not exist.

Klaus Schwab has returned as the final boss, emerging from Davos to announce:
**“You now own nothing and are happy.”**

Coke and Pepsi have merged into **Cola**.

This is the future.
Please update your firmware.

[VitaminD]

Coke and Pepsi have merged into **Cola**.

This is the future.
Please update your firmware.

The Coca Cola recipe has been successfully reverse engineered (16:20 in the video). The Cola Wars are over.

[jamcat]

And for Cubase, Studio One/Pro, Ableton Live, or Pro Tools.. they aren't and aren't likely coming to Linux either. So even within the context of your question, it just isn't happening.

Studio One actually is on Linux. Not sure about the others. The problem with Linux is not just the dearth of top-level audio software available (particularly plugins), but also, as you hit on, that it is not user friendly. If a drummer can’t use it, then forget about it. Linux is an operating system for people whose primary passion is tinkering with operating systems. The rest of us just want to get on with it and make some music.

Linux is good for running servers, where it needs to be up for months or years without rebooting. But also no one has to directly interface with it daily to get their work done.

[VitaminD]

^ thank you for the correction on Studio One. It indeed has a linux version.

Btw Windows Home can function fine for a month or longer without reboots. I do that pretty routinely as I never turn off my PCs..

But, yes, Linux is designed by open source people who are generally the tinkering geeked out kind of minds. They are there because of passion for tech and some are oddballs. I almost think it's partly they enjoy making it more technical than it needs to be. The tweaking is the purpose instead of most people where the tweaking is an annoyance.

If a Billionaire wanted to do something nice, spend a few hundred million on building more Windows-like Linux.

ASIO support might be nice too. Or better audio interface driver support for Linux at least.

[kvotchin]

The percentage of desktop users on Linux is increasing. Well, it did increase from Dec ‘24 to Dec ‘25, anyway. It seems to me that this is not an isolated increase. Quite to the contrary. But really, the best I can do you is … we’ll see.

MacOS has probably made more gains, lol. Though that one’s purely speculation, based on the shitshow that is Win11, the overall success of the M* silicon, and the insane cost of RAM (and GPUs and SSDs…) lately.

[VariKusBrainZ]

1. You can't keep Windows as a local account anymore.

Bought new laptop in December, have local account

[dellboy]

You can't keep Windows as a local account anymore.

I am typing this from a laptop running Windows 11 beta insider - and its a local account.

[whyterabbyt]

I am typing this from a laptop running Windows 11 beta insider - and its a local account.

Nah, fake news. jamcat couldnt possibly be talking out of his arse, so clearly I only imagined setting up two new Win11 systems with local accounts at work on Tuesday.

[enCiphered]

I am typing this from a laptop running Windows 11 beta insider - and its a local account.

Nah, fake news. jamcat couldnt possibly be talking out of his arse, so clearly I only imagined setting up two new Win11 systems with local accounts at work on Tuesday.

Hello @whyterabbyt, do you think Microsoft is personally targeting our machines by secretly leaving local accounts enabled just to confuse us?

[whyterabbyt]

Hello @whyterabbyt, do you think Microsoft is personally targeting our machines by secretly leaving local accounts enabled just to confuse us?

hmm, that's an intriguing possibility.