Poll: What operating systems (OSes) run your music production systems (Dec 2024)?

[audiojunkie]

The real question/poll is what do VST/AU/DAW producers actually record/sell? KVR is not the real world.

KVR is arguably the biggest place for "plugins". Gearspace for hardware. No place that I know of has a larger developer presence for plugins than KVR. I really don't care whether it is professionals or hobbyists. Both groups buy plugins. And besides, I stated in from the beginning that this is unscientific. The results are nonetheless interesting to many.

[MrJubbly]

The reality is Windows is amazingly supported by Microsoft and has a really long history of fantastic support, and 64 bit software that ran on Windows 7 probably still runs on Windows 11 just fine, over fifteen years later

Computer hardware itself has also been historically dramatically improved when a new version of Windows gets released compared with a previous version. That includes faster CPUs with more cores, more and faster RAM, and larger and faster HD

so it's probably time for an upgrade anyway when a new version of Windows comes out.

Of course your old computer as obsolete as it may be will still continue to run

My Windows 98, XP, 7, and 10 machines that I built are all going strong and I play games on them often, my old audio and video production software is on them as well

I'm pretty sure all the software I previously ran on Windows 7 (and even some dating before that, from the Windows XP era), still run perfectly fine in 2025 on Windows 11.

At least, I'm racking my brains trying to think of even a single example of an old Win 7 program which doesn't still run on Windows 11. But I cannot think of a single example. Perhaps, I've just been lucky?

But of course, there's always the "Compatibility Mode" support setting (to run software designed for all the previously discontinued versions of Windows), should it ever be needed. But as of yet, I've never needed this using Windows 11. But it's still good to know that that feature is there built into the OS (if required.) ... I guess the reason there's no entry for Windows 10 in the compatibility list is because Microsoft already know that every Windows 10 program will already work natively on Windows 11, without any need for such settings.

Windows 11 - Compatibility Mode.png

[Teksonik]

I'm pretty sure all the software I previously ran on Windows 7 (and even some dating before that, from the Windows XP era), still run perfectly fine in 2025 on Windows 11.

Every bit of music software probably still works but I've got a couple of legacy games that wouldn't install on Win 10 so I've got a Win 7 system running them.

Oddly enough that system still gets security definition updates once a month many years after end of life.

I'm pretty sure every plugin I've ever bought going back to WinXP would run in Win 10/11 if I so desired and they could still be authorized.

[audiojunkie]

I'm pretty sure all the software I previously ran on Windows 7 (and even some dating before that, from the Windows XP era), still run perfectly fine in 2025 on Windows 11.

Every bit of music software probably still works but I've got a couple of legacy games that wouldn't install on Win 10 so I've got a Win 7 system running them.

Oddly enough that system still gets security definition updates once a month many years after end of life.

I'm pretty sure every plugin I've ever bought going back to WinXP would run in Win 10/11 if I so desired and they could still be authorized.

Avoiding C/R plugins would have solved your authorization problem

[fedexnman]

I'm using Windows 11 , gotta say I don't care for Windows since XP and 7 days . 10 wasn't bad at 1st , but 10 with all the updates is now a lot like Windows 11 now .

[CrystalWizard]

Windoze 7 on air gaped machines
Win 10 on the two that go on line
Looking to Linux as new daily inet, email, etc. w/ Reaper and u-he for noisemaking.

Win 7 was decent. Win 10 is an intrusive pos. Win 11, is it an OS or is it spyware? Yeah, you can keep removing most of the garbage they throw in, i'd rather do something different. Apple? Caged, oops, Walled garden, that consistently breaks stuff, imagine what devs could do if they weren't constantly updating to keep the stuff working on Apple machines. Both MS and Apple suck for different reasons. I have enough music making software to last 10 lifetimes so i'm not too worried about missing the new shiny, shiny (to be fair there have been some new things that i'd like, they will run fine on W10, which will eventually get air gaped).

[audiojunkie]

We are at 284 votes in the poll! I think this is nearing the upper limits of participation compared to the previous years, and the poll doesn't end until January 14th. I have a feeling this is going to be a good year for participation! The more participation we get, the better! If you haven't responded yet, please do! Also, be aware that you can change your vote choices up until the last day.

[audiojunkie]

I posted notification of this Poll in the "Everything Else" forum, to catch those who don't frequent the "Instruments" forum:

viewtopic.php?t=617398

[Teksonik]

Avoiding C/R plugins would have solved your authorization problem

I've never lost a C/R plugin that matters to me and I'm not even sure I've ever lost a C/R plugin that doesn't matter to me.

Limiting yourself to serial number only plugins creates a whole new problem that is far worse in my opinion than the remote possibility of losing a C/R plugin.

To be honest there isn't one plugin from the old days that I care about just like there isn't one movie on VHS tape that I care about now that I have a Blu-Ray copy. Technology marches on......

I do use plugins that have been around for quite awhile but they are still under active development and I feel confident they'll keep working even if the developer goes out of business because I trust those people to give us a way to keep using the plugins (Camel Audio).

[audiojunkie]

Avoiding C/R plugins would have solved your authorization problem

I've never lost a C/R plugin that matters to me and I'm not even sure I've ever lost a C/R plugin that doesn't matter to me.

Limiting yourself to serial number only plugins creates a whole new problem that is far worse in my opinion than the remote possibility of losing a C/R plugin.

To be honest there isn't one plugin from the old days that I care about just like there isn't one movie on VHS tape that I care about now that I have a Blu-Ray copy. Technology marches on......

I do use plugins that have been around for quite awhile but they are still under active development and I feel confident they'll keep working even if the developer goes out of business because I trust those people to give us a way to keep using the plugins (Camel Audio).

I posted that more as a joke than anything else. Also, it looks better for me to have a conversation than to just post "BUMP" when the poll drops from the top. While I do advocate avoiding C/R if possible, I also know that this is not always possible. The weak point for Linux audio music production is the lack of ultra-realistic multi-gigabyte sampled instruments. Case in point, I purchased three C/R Musiclab Guitar instruments in this past Black Friday sale, with the intention to use them on my Linux box through WINE/yabridge. If I can avoid it, I do. But if I really need something and I don't have any other option, then I go ahead and buy C/R plugins.

[audiojunkie]

I think this year's poll can now seriously be counted as the best participation compared to any of the past OS polls. We are now over 300 participants!! I already expected the Windows and Apple results to be the way they are heading. However, I'm finding the Linux, iOS, Android, and Computerless results very interesting. There are a lot more people here that are not using computers than I previously believed. Also, it is interesting to see that Linux is experiencing a healthy growth, and is more popular than iOS music production. I was also very surprised to see that there are some active Android users. The more people that do the poll, the better for accurate results (unscientifically, that is...).

[rod_zero]

I am on windows 11, Live 12, all 64 bit, and only VST3, hope Ableton adopts clap to drop VST.

The best part about windows now is that if you can afford it, and I can't because i have been without regular job for a while, it just displays a "activate windows" watermark and some unimportant options aren't available.

[audiojunkie]

I am on windows 11, Live 12, all 64 bit, and only VST3, hope Ableton adopts clap to drop VST.

The best part about windows now is that if you can afford it, and I can't because i have been without regular job for a while, it just displays a "activate windows" watermark and some unimportant options aren't available.

One of the nice things that is coming really soon for Windows 11 is the MIDI 2.0 upgrade. It is going to be a massively useful for MIDI control on Windows. It was supposed to be released by the end of 2024, but it seems that the target was missed. It will be coming soon, I'm sure, and people will really like it. People may ask me why I might be interested in Windows, since I am very openly a Linux user. I don't care for Window's commercial licensing. I prefer the open source model. That said, I do think that Windows for the most part is a solid OS. I have supported it throughout my IT career, and I used it regularly from the days of DOS and Win3.1 until now. I didn't really stop using Windows at home until around Windows 8. Yet, at work, I use it daily.

One of the weaknesses of Linux for audio production is the lack of multi-gigabyte, high quality, deeply sampled instruments, such as the kind that Kontakt provides. There are sufficient libraries for most people's usage, but for those who want the absolute best instruments, they don't work on Linux. Currently, Kontakt doesn't work well with WINE because Native Access 2 doesn't work well with WINE. So other solutions have to be found.

The solution that I am preparing to test right now, is communicating to a virtualized guest OS (Windows 11), bypassing emulated audio drivers (too slow), and using VirtIO network drivers to transfer sound via Audiogridder or through Blue Cat Audio's Patchwork and Connector solution. If I can get a set up like this running with a decent latency, I'll have a solution for the lack of Kontakt-like sampled instruments on Linux. Initially, I'll be using the Windows without licensing (as you describe in your post). Supposedly, when using VirtIO drivers and other virtual machine specific tunings, Windows runs at near bare metal speeds. There are many posts of others successfully doing it, so in theory it should work. The key is to bypass the slow emulation parts, and tune Linux and Windows to perform well in a host/guest configuration.

[IvyBirds]

I am on windows 11, Live 12, all 64 bit, and only VST3, hope Ableton adopts clap to drop VST.

The best part about windows now is that if you can afford it, and I can't because i have been without regular job for a while, it just displays a "activate windows" watermark and some unimportant options aren't available.

One of the nice things that is coming really soon for Windows 11 is the MIDI 2.0 upgrade. It is going to be a massively useful for MIDI control on Windows. It was supposed to be released by the end of 2024, but it seems that the target was missed. It will be coming soon, I'm sure, and people will really like it. People may ask me why I might be interested in Windows, since I am very openly a Linux user. I don't care for Window's commercial licensing. I prefer the open source model. That said, I do think that Windows for the most part is a solid OS. I have supported it throughout my IT career, and I used it regularly from the days of DOS and Win3.1 until now. I didn't really stop using Windows at home until around Windows 8. Yet, at work, I use it daily.

One of the weaknesses of Linux for audio production is the lack of multi-gigabyte, high quality, deeply sampled instruments, such as the kind that Kontakt provides. There are sufficient libraries for most people's usage, but for those who want the absolute best instruments, they don't work on Linux. Currently, Kontakt doesn't work well with WINE because Native Access 2 doesn't work well with WINE. So other solutions have to be found.

The solution that I am preparing to test right now, is communicating to a virtualized guest OS (Windows 11), bypassing emulated audio drivers (too slow), and using VirtIO network drivers to transfer sound via Audiogridder or through Blue Cat Audio's Patchwork and Connector solution. If I can get a set up like this running with a decent latency, I'll have a solution for the lack of Kontakt-like sampled instruments on Linux. Initially, I'll be using the Windows without licensing (as you describe in your post). Supposedly, when using VirtIO drivers and other virtual machine specific tunings, Windows runs at near bare metal speeds. There are many posts of others successfully doing it, so in theory it should work. The key is to bypass the slow emulation parts, and tune Linux and Windows to perform well in a host/guest configuration.

I use Audiogridder all the time. I have two old desktops and three old laptops all running Windows 10 or 11. One of my old laptops which is about 10 years old is used as a Reverb Sever. It just hosts Reverb Plugins, I have another one that just hosts Plogue OPS7 and is my DX7 emulator emulator server. Another Laptop is my Korg Triton Plugin Server, one of my desktops which is 3 years old is my Omnisphere server and the other which is only a little more than a year old is my HALion7 server

All of those are networked via LAN into my main studio PC where I can just launch an instance of Audiogridder and it sends MIDI and Audio back and forth across the LAN while running the actual plugin on the other computer

The nice thing about Audio Gridder is that each plugin it runs on other computers will run on its own core. This makes it highly effective with utilizing older computers

[audiojunkie]

Yes! It's really cool tech! What latencies are you getting from your 10 year old laptop?