Would seem Windows is still the best option for an Audio DAW and gaming?

[Maccaroni]

Which leads me to conclude that it is still Windows that is best for doing both tasks on a single OS on a single machine. I really, REALLY wanted the opposite to be true as I my dislike of the windows paradigm continues to grow, however for what I am trying to achieve, I can see no other option.

macOS exists, and software for it is usually much better than Windows software.

[legendCNCD]

Which leads me to conclude that it is still Windows that is best for doing both tasks on a single OS on a single machine. I really, REALLY wanted the opposite to be true as I my dislike of the windows paradigm continues to grow, however for what I am trying to achieve, I can see no other option.

macOS exists, and software for it is usually much better than Windows software.

How when the software is for both OS's usually?

[Maccaroni]

There is no (native) software that runs on both systems without any platform-specific code. That's the technical side. The other side is that there is a lot of macOS software that just does not exist on Windows.

[D-Fusion]

Which leads me to conclude that it is still Windows that is best for doing both tasks on a single OS on a single machine. I really, REALLY wanted the opposite to be true as I my dislike of the windows paradigm continues to grow, however for what I am trying to achieve, I can see no other option.

macOS exists, and software for it is usually much better than Windows software.

It depends on what you want out of System

If you want to play games and Make music Windows would be your choice.
If you want A Music workstation daw setup you go for MacOS.
If you don't need any program/apps for MacOS or Windows and can live with Linux Native Programs you go for Linux.

[Maccaroni]

Admittedly, I can't do much with Linux in particular (thankfully there are numerous - including free - alternatives), but I agree with you to the extent that for the vast majority of people, the operating system of their computer is more or less a matter of indifference. They rarely need more than a web browser, an email client and perhaps something for writing letters. But as soon as you want to be creative with multimedia, you get further with "the commercial" desktop systems than with the others. Where there's money to be made, it's also more profitable to develop good software.

[zerocrossing]

I use my pc for gaming And music and my pc is dead silent (even when i am gaming)

It is all about setting up the fan speed correctly and not use auto setting for fan speed.

Same. The HVAC system is much more of a problem when trying to make a recording than my PC is. We stupidly switched to a heat pump, which isn't as good at heating or cooling than our old system, so it ends up running much more often. I have to run a mic into my closet if I need to record anything.

[TechHaus]

Favor high storage on a mini (i have a mini as my secondary setup with a linux pc as my primary).

Logic's content alone is like 80gb. The standard 256gb is rough (and insulting for professionals).

(Mine is an M2, 24gb of ram, 256gb storage - was only $240 used so can't complain too much).

thanks - was looking at one that is M4 24g and 512g

Maybe 16gb / 1tb is the sweet spot, but I guess it all depends on what kind of external drives you have laying around.

I am actually looking at a used M2 Max 16" Macbook Pro with 64gb and 1tb for only $1k locally!

[audiojunkie]

I use my pc for gaming And music and my pc is dead silent (even when i am gaming)

It is all about setting up the fan speed correctly and not use auto setting for fan speed.

Same. The HVAC system is much more of a problem when trying to make a recording than my PC is. We stupidly switched to a heat pump, which isn't as good at heating or cooling than our old system, so it ends up running much more often. I have to run a mic into my closet if I need to record anything.

It's funny you should mention HVAC. Necessity has had my project studio moved from room to room over the last few years, and now I've taken permanent residence in the storage/HVAC room. Luckily, I do almost everything totally in the box. But if I ever need to do vocals, it becomes a makeshift struggle.

[audiojunkie]

Favor high storage on a mini (i have a mini as my secondary setup with a linux pc as my primary).

Logic's content alone is like 80gb. The standard 256gb is rough (and insulting for professionals).

(Mine is an M2, 24gb of ram, 256gb storage - was only $240 used so can't complain too much).

thanks - was looking at one that is M4 24g and 512g

Maybe 16gb / 1tb is the sweet spot, but I guess it all depends on what kind of external drives you have laying around.

I am actually looking at a used M2 Max 16" Macbook Pro with 64gb and 1tb for only $1k locally!

I just picked up a 1TB M.2 for my aging Lenovo. I also got a 2TB SSD and 32GB of RAM for my aging NUC. My Dell isn't really worth upgrading. My wife just picked up a used Dell XPS with an i7 for $10 for me to assess (she saw it for sale and figured the even if it was no good, it was only $10). Times have been hard since Covid, and inflation has eaten up most of any extra income we previously had. So I have to continue to make the most of what I've currently got. This is one area where I'm glad to use Linux, because I can make my OS extremely minimal and make the most of what resources I have available.

[TechHaus]

Y'all are making me miss minesweeper and that space cadet pinball game.



Used to play this hard when I visited my parents on that spare bedroom pc (which has sadly been replaced by an imac...boo).

[legendCNCD]

If you want A Music workstation daw setup you go for MacOS.

I'd say mostly if you want a laptop to be the main machine. Otherwise again, PC with Windows.

[JsinOwl]

I don't view it as an OS question; I view it as a hardware question. Personally, I view it as a Lenovo vs. Apple question. To which the answer so far, has always been Lenovo. Equal performance for one half, to one third the price, rock solid, dependable, upgradable, good value. Windows becomes my OS by default because MacOS isn't an option and Linux doesn't run what I need yet.

[RirtualViot2013]

I've been slamming various (many!!) Linux distros, and not one has been able to seamlessly get me going for Audio production and gaming under the same system, IE no dual booting. It's either an issue with steam binaries or somesuch thing, and/or lack of pipe-wire support (even after converting the system to run pipe-wire) among other things.

I daresay I am doing things incorrectly, but I am into creativity not construction so I really need something that will do both o.o.t.b which windows does, but Linux, for me so far, doesn't.

Which leads me to conclude that it is still Windows that is best for doing both tasks on a single OS on a single machine. I really, REALLY wanted the opposite to be true as I my dislike of the windows paradigm continues to grow, however for what I am trying to achieve, I can see no other option.

As a loyal Windows user since Windows 7, I can largely agree to that.
(I cannot speak for the Linux Distros, as I haven't tested that out).
Steam for Windows is currently the most customer-friendly gaming vendor by FAR (Sony will ban physical discs for the PS6, and Microsoft has its history with the Xbox Live Pass) and audio for me also works smoothly.
The only option I could theoretically miss would be to combine different Audio Interfaces as one in the OS - as far as I know, it is natively possible in Apple, but you need 3rd party solutions if you need it on Windows.
Windows has been a great OS, but its historically being plagued by automatic updates

[zerocrossing]

I don't view it as an OS question; I view it as a hardware question. Personally, I view it as a Lenovo vs. Apple question. To which the answer so far, has always been Lenovo. Equal performance for one half, to one third the price, rock solid, dependable, upgradable, good value. Windows becomes my OS by default because MacOS isn't an option and Linux doesn't run what I need yet.

There was a time when I purchased whatever the mid level Mac desktop was available, every 3 years. Then, they changed to Intel processors, and that was a mess. I was stuck with a G5 for too long. During that time, I started using a Toshiba laptop for audio looping using Möbius, a free stand alone application and plugin. It ended up being such a good experience that I didn’t go back to Apple, at least not for music. I did use a Mac Mini for my graphics business. At some point, I abandoned Apple altogether for music and graphics, but I still use a lot of Apple devices.

I’d be fine with going back to Apple. I’d even pay 20% more, but it would have to be for a machine that I want. What they’re asking for their desktops is just insane.

[jlgrimes11]

Maybe yes for gaming. But I guess it also depends on what you are playing.


Either OS works for DAWS.

Both has pros regarding DAWS
Both has cons regarding DAWS

Both has people doing professional projects.

I'd imagine Both platforms having some gamers.

I probably wouldn't 100% rule out Apple regarding games (but I dont play games on Mac and in no way considered a gamer so go figure).