Electronic Music 411 - Whats your verdict on Vista?

04/07/08 + lysdexic

About to purchase a dedicated live & studio rig, running live & cubase. Wondering whether to format and install Win XP or not.

realistically, we can't run XP forever. Are there any advantages to keeping vista?

Recent Blog: slsk 1 second massacre

04/09/08 + mlbot

Go to the Ableton forum and look for post by Timur.
I linked to perhaps the best one I've seen.
So far, there is no Vista equivalent of link

but many of the tips there still apply. One, currently, doesn't: do not turn off all the fancy schmancy graphics with Aero. leave Aero on.

but do Turn off Windows side bar, turn off wireless, do NOT use ready-boost (i got a 20% drop in the amount of CPU I could use in Live before I got stuttering & glitching audio).

Also, 99% of my VSTs that work in XP work in Vista. Only one doesn't, and its an installer problem, not a VST problem (Antares kantos, which is discontinued).

Recent blogs: Dumb Machine LP - Maces of Disruption, Puppy, Best Synths For Not Making Music

04/09/08 + Otterfan

lysdexic said: "and WTF @ macaronisoft releasing completely new OS next year.. D:"

MSNBC deserves to be tarred and feathered for that headline.

Windows 7 is not going to appear on many computers in the near future. Folks like you and me won't be able to buy it until at least January 2010 (probably later, if the Vista fiasco is any indication). The Windows 7 that's coming out next year is a beta version (they call the Community Technology Previews) that developers can use in order to start making the transition to the new version.

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04/10/08 + lysdexic

cheers mlbot.. new rig arrived today. now i just gotta save up the beans for live7.

Recent blogs: lys.mix//10.07, slsk 1 second massacre, myspace page

04/10/08 + lysdexic

any word on this:

Since using Vista on main production setup I have lost my data twice. TWICE!! in 9 months is not a good track record. I think the biggest problem with vista is the way it manages resources... Now I'm not helluva clued up at all, but I do know that vista will use up to 50% of your RAM (unless you make some changes to how indexing and other processes work), So that is 50% of 4 gig of ram, or 50% of 2 gig of ram, basically the thing can chew into resources like nothing else.

Recent blogs: lys.mix//10.07, slsk 1 second massacre, myspace page

04/11/08 + mlbot

If that person you quotes was storing his data in RAM, then of course he's losing it ;) ;)

really, though, losing data and RAM useage? What do those have in common? Maybe you edited this together? Still, seems more likely that person is having hardware issues than OS issues.

Even so, Ableton is uber-good at 'recovering' data. I can give you no stats on XP vs Vista stability, but my gut says Live 7/Vista is being more stable than Live 6/XP so far.

Recent blogs: Dumb Machine LP - Maces of Disruption, Puppy, Best Synths For Not Making Music

04/11/08 + tantan

Regarding resources & data loss: Inefficient memory paging can certainly get in the way if you are trying to save data, I know that on Mac and Win I've had a few problems saving to disk due to 100% usage of system resources, as apps freeze and processes interrupt each other, etc. But, this doesn't seem like it would be a likely culprit in most cases of data loss, that's usually down to hard drive write issues / corruption as mlbot says.

The Vista memory usage surprises me, I'm sure that this is just a default that can be changed. The hardware wouldn't be to blame for this, but I'm sure that you can change that.

Recent blogs: What's Wrong With Me, Skinny Puppy Love, CA Supreme Court

04/11/08 + lysdexic

Maybe you edited this together? Still, seems more likely that person is having hardware issues than OS issues.

thats the impression i got i figured faulty hardware or sth, and no its not edited together.. i think they were just venting another reason they hate vista becuase they figured it keeps eating their drive so it must be shit.

hope my hdd in my asus laptop is decent.. at least it'll make me vigilant with backing up.

cheers for the responses ppl.

Recent blogs: lys.mix//10.07, slsk 1 second massacre, myspace page

04/11/08 + ignatius

i haven't messed w/vista at all. my PC laptop is stable. every thing runs fine. no issues. why mess w/it? all i use it for is audio. ableton, plug ins, audiomulch, wavelab. the only app i've updated on it is audiomulch and Live.

Recent blogs: ignatius - workspace, unicorns are real!, ELM party friday night!

edited: Apr 11 2008 + mlbot

lysdexic said: "About to purchase a dedicated live & studio rig,"

same goes for the OP: why switch from Vista if it works?

Recent blogs: Dumb Machine LP - Maces of Disruption, Puppy, Best Synths For Not Making Music

04/11/08 + lysdexic

i haven't messed w/vista at all. my PC laptop is stable. every thing runs fine. no issues.

sounds promising, are you running an asus?

Recent blogs: lys.mix//10.07, slsk 1 second massacre, myspace page

04/12/08 + tylth

i love vista

Recent blogs: Music 2.0, MT9: Koreans develop new music format, beamz laser music system, film: sexy beast

04/12/08 + atumISpawel

i eat pieces of fruit

04/12/08 + tylth

u crazy fucker

Recent blogs: Music 2.0, MT9: Koreans develop new music format, beamz laser music system, film: sexy beast

04/12/08 + atumISpawel

i eat pieces of fruit

04/13/08 + tunalicker

all my audio hard drive are blank now. it is possible that if I stick with XP, I wouldn't have this problem.
link EFS file encryption and this article makes me want to cry.

Recent blogs: not music. pictures field trip