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DavidCDay
I have two Win10x64 boxes here with significant specifications based on Intel 8core Kseries i7 processors, as I work in the field of audio production.
One is studio bound, where I can have the luxury of at least some time to fix any issues, while the other lives in a 19inch rack and is only used for delivering audio on stage.
While I have had fairly good success with Windows7x64 as a platform in the past, Windows10 is proving troublesome, because it just won't sit still.
I would appreciate it if Microsoft could lend some thought to those of us who only see the operating system as a layer between specialised hardware and our particular specialist applications. I am not in slightest bit interested in the package of background applications which unnecessaraily comes packaged and active in every single update from Microsoft. Truth is, once the operating system performs well enough, I need to be able to freeze it so it does NOT evolve on its own time and terms while I am not looking. In so many ways, Win10x64 has crossed a line between useful and intrusive, even destructive to my use case, becoming unpredictable instead of reliable, and a source of worry rather than confidence.
While I appreciate that the operating system has to serve a wide variety of users, I cannot imagine I will be alone in feeling that these niche and high performance scenarios have existed for many years yet still are not accommodated well. High performance audio, demands that one application has all resources the PC has gathered in one place, so that the finely timed buffers can be filled with audio and delivered to ASIO device drivers. Typically you are talking about SSD system drives, with separate audio streaming and data drives. In this scenario, any unnecessary activity or background service is a problem. Data reporting is not needed. Internet access is not needed. Nothing in fact outside the single application or applications at hand. Background is prioritised over foreground. UI need only be basic.
Could Microsoft at the very least provide an update and service profile designed to serve the audio professional community better? If there can be a "flight mode", then why not "studio mode", or "stage mode"? This would at least tell the operating system not to load 80+% of the services and networking features casual users are recommended, and instead devote higher priority to a single, in-focus audio program. It might also change the update settings so that changes "mid-tour" can be avoided.
The update timing is a bone of contention for me. I feel Win10x64 goes wrong is in its assumption that turning the computer off is a good moment for a bunch of unstoppable updates I did not actually ask for. What about when a stage PC powered by some generator/UPS goes through a power dip and needs rebooting on stage? Sorry - end of show until updates are finished? That cannot happen.
Tweaking a high performance system takes time and patience, and every major update that Win10 has applied to date has upset this fine balance. If I have disabled all Background Apps, why should an update be able to switch them back on? This is a disaster in a stage PC. Imagine someone using a Win10 PC, where it goes into the truck between shows, and gets turned on again just before the next one. What good is an update going to be in this scenario? Suddenly the audio glitches, and the performer who discovers the problem is in front of a live audience, has no time or way to fix it, and no way of knowing what caused the issue.
At this point most people should simply disregard the possibility of Win10x64 as a music platform, either in favour of a Mac or other hardware - or more often than not simply play backing tracks instead of live music, on the grounds of "safety".
I have given Microsoft a lot of time, money and faith down the years, and I am not giving up on Win10x64 yet, but these are deal breaking issues. Windows7x64 worked better for me in strides, and I am actively exploring how to get back to that platform in case I cannot solve out these performance problems.
It's an open discussion. Just please do not post "use a Mac" comments, because that's a separate topic entirely. Furthermore, it would not intelligently address the technical problems at the heart of this post, which is wanting to make this O/S useful in this scenario. There ought to be practical and easy ways of harnessing Win10x64 as an audio platform in studios and on stage/tour, providing the necessary control of service configurations for high performance scenarios out the box, which in my view probably ought to be part of Windows O/S by now, and reigning in the "update now because we say so" mentality because it could derail high value shows at a stroke.
I openly appeal to Microsoft to recognise the problem, and offer advice if not remedy.
Continue reading...
One is studio bound, where I can have the luxury of at least some time to fix any issues, while the other lives in a 19inch rack and is only used for delivering audio on stage.
While I have had fairly good success with Windows7x64 as a platform in the past, Windows10 is proving troublesome, because it just won't sit still.
I would appreciate it if Microsoft could lend some thought to those of us who only see the operating system as a layer between specialised hardware and our particular specialist applications. I am not in slightest bit interested in the package of background applications which unnecessaraily comes packaged and active in every single update from Microsoft. Truth is, once the operating system performs well enough, I need to be able to freeze it so it does NOT evolve on its own time and terms while I am not looking. In so many ways, Win10x64 has crossed a line between useful and intrusive, even destructive to my use case, becoming unpredictable instead of reliable, and a source of worry rather than confidence.
While I appreciate that the operating system has to serve a wide variety of users, I cannot imagine I will be alone in feeling that these niche and high performance scenarios have existed for many years yet still are not accommodated well. High performance audio, demands that one application has all resources the PC has gathered in one place, so that the finely timed buffers can be filled with audio and delivered to ASIO device drivers. Typically you are talking about SSD system drives, with separate audio streaming and data drives. In this scenario, any unnecessary activity or background service is a problem. Data reporting is not needed. Internet access is not needed. Nothing in fact outside the single application or applications at hand. Background is prioritised over foreground. UI need only be basic.
Could Microsoft at the very least provide an update and service profile designed to serve the audio professional community better? If there can be a "flight mode", then why not "studio mode", or "stage mode"? This would at least tell the operating system not to load 80+% of the services and networking features casual users are recommended, and instead devote higher priority to a single, in-focus audio program. It might also change the update settings so that changes "mid-tour" can be avoided.
The update timing is a bone of contention for me. I feel Win10x64 goes wrong is in its assumption that turning the computer off is a good moment for a bunch of unstoppable updates I did not actually ask for. What about when a stage PC powered by some generator/UPS goes through a power dip and needs rebooting on stage? Sorry - end of show until updates are finished? That cannot happen.
Tweaking a high performance system takes time and patience, and every major update that Win10 has applied to date has upset this fine balance. If I have disabled all Background Apps, why should an update be able to switch them back on? This is a disaster in a stage PC. Imagine someone using a Win10 PC, where it goes into the truck between shows, and gets turned on again just before the next one. What good is an update going to be in this scenario? Suddenly the audio glitches, and the performer who discovers the problem is in front of a live audience, has no time or way to fix it, and no way of knowing what caused the issue.
At this point most people should simply disregard the possibility of Win10x64 as a music platform, either in favour of a Mac or other hardware - or more often than not simply play backing tracks instead of live music, on the grounds of "safety".
I have given Microsoft a lot of time, money and faith down the years, and I am not giving up on Win10x64 yet, but these are deal breaking issues. Windows7x64 worked better for me in strides, and I am actively exploring how to get back to that platform in case I cannot solve out these performance problems.
It's an open discussion. Just please do not post "use a Mac" comments, because that's a separate topic entirely. Furthermore, it would not intelligently address the technical problems at the heart of this post, which is wanting to make this O/S useful in this scenario. There ought to be practical and easy ways of harnessing Win10x64 as an audio platform in studios and on stage/tour, providing the necessary control of service configurations for high performance scenarios out the box, which in my view probably ought to be part of Windows O/S by now, and reigning in the "update now because we say so" mentality because it could derail high value shows at a stroke.
I openly appeal to Microsoft to recognise the problem, and offer advice if not remedy.
Continue reading...