Get Windows 10

John T
There are apparently significant improvements to audio latency in Windows 10, as it happens.

Psychlist1972
Windows 10 is free for 8.1 and 7 users for first year after release.
We're going to start delivering Windows as a service, with more frequent, smaller updates vs. large version rollouts.

Psychlist1972
Yes, I'm hearing loud and clear that TB is important. I can't make any promises as to when/how, but the message is being heard in Redmond and it'll be something we bring to the appropriate teams in OSG (Operating Systems Group) at MS.

Psychlist1972
We're looking into this for certain. I can't say if/when it'll be put in the platform, but we plan to have deeper conversations with TB partners soon.
Also, I know Intel is already working on an updated TB that is even faster. It's a never ending arms race.
Personal, not Microsoft, opinion follows:
I'm a bit concerned about TB adoption and whether or not it will have longevity. It's an expensive cable, a relatively large connector (thickness wise), and a proprietary solution that has to be licensed. It's not an open standard. The expense of controllers and connectors means that almost no devices bother to support daisy chaining. End result is that most people with more than one or two TB devices have to buy expensive hubs.
It's also an Intel solution that is very PC-centric, so it cuts out mobile/ARM devices, which are increasingly popular for music making. At some point, I assume we'll hear folks asking why they can't use a TB device with their iPad. It's not really as simple as implementing the connector and the driver. The entire architecture is very Intel-specific.
Project BBQ think tanks looking at future audio connectors for devices have discarded TB because of size and its proprietary nature and expense. Instead, they recommend pursuing USB 3.1/C
For pro shops and studios, it seems to me that IEEE 802.1 AVB could be a better solution.
End personal opinion

Psychlist1972
I have no history on the TB side, so nothing I can comment on intelligently there.
ASIO: Not sure what you're asking us to do there. ASIO drivers are created by each device manufacturer, and the spec and tech are owned by Steinberg.
We have no intention to extinguish ASIO. It's the best experience on the desktop for DAWs. At the same time, it's not necessarily the right type of driver to use across the board. There are numerous reasons, including that it would require hardware manufacturers building ASIO to create ARM and other compiles they wouldn't normally do (starting in Windows 10, apps run on everything from tiny IoT/embedded devices to phones, tablets, PCs, giant boardroom screens, Xbox, HoloLens, and more. We do have low latency work coming that will cover all those devices. If you're interested in absolute lowest latency, however, custom ASIO drivers are still the best bet,.
Also, in case you skipped some posts, we're not waving away TB. I simply needed an education in its importance. Finally, not sure where you see us waving away important stuff in favor of trivial stuff. There's a lot of work going into Windows 10 and beyond, including significant audio work targeted to pro audio users. That's why I'm here at NAMM, spending time meeting with a LOT of companies.

Psychlist1972
New MIDI Synth: We're looking into this, but don't have a short-term plan for this just yet. We understand how important this is, especially to game developers. We don't want to just do something simple and only marginally useful here, though (like just modernize the sounds).
Low-latency audio for DAWs without ASIO: We still recommend using ASIO. The low latency work we're doing in WASAPI and similar is primarily for scenarios where you wouldn't use ASIO (like Store apps vs desktop DAWs)
USB Audio 2 driver in-box: Yes, we've heard this one a lot. It's on our backlog, but I can't commit to when exactly it makes it into the product. After the infrastructure work we've done, it's probably the #1 request.
Support forums: that's a difficult one. Whenever you get into something that is niche (and in the big picture this stuff is niche, even though it is the world to us) then you'll see expertise drop off. I think musician/audio focused boards are the more practical place because you'll get lots of peer support as well.
We're doing a ton in Windows 10, which we'll talk about at Build. Many of those things won't be surfaced as "features" immediately, but are more infrastructure. Some (like the evolution of the new MIDI API Jason and I announced at the last build event) are very visible features. To set expectations, the new features (not the bug fixes, optimizations, etc.) won't impact desktop DAW users much, but are more for enabling app developers. The infrastructure work crosses all of the above.
The good thing is that we're going to be streaming out regular updates after Windows 10 RTM. There will be no 3 year wait for new audio work, and most users will just get the bits.

Psychlist1972
2. We showed the low-latency audio stack and APIs in the day 2 keynote. Demos were bluetooth drum sticks and a simple drum app that played samples.

Psychlist1972
Now that I'm off the plane, here's what Bala talked about in the Windows 10 audio/video session:
Midi
- New MIDI API now baked into Windows 10. To take advantage of these features, app developers need to write to new API.
- My Launchpad app demo, showing MIDI running just as well on a Raspberry Pi 2 as it does on full PC
- Allows shared device access (multiple apps using same MIDI device)
- Increased perf and lowered latency in the built-in wavetable synth (same synth for now)
- Improved/Updated device naming. Device can specify name and we use that first, if available.
Audio
- New AudioGraph latency-optimized API rolled into Windows 10
- Redesigned audio stack to provide a minimum of 15ms latency improvement, much more if drivers opt in to small buffers
- Surface Pro 3 round-trip latency example: 50ms in Windows 8.1, 10ms in Windows 10, using WASAPI or AudioGraph.
- We didn't get into the lower-level stuff that we've done, or what we've done with hardware manufacturers. Just not enough time in this session, and not all that relevant to the Build audience. I'll cover this at NAMM this summer. Bala will be with me there.
Concluding thoughts: first step of many for audio and MIDI. We'll be working hard on more features/updates/improvements going forward.

Psychlist1972
WASAPI is going to be goon on the built-in sound chips on laptops/tablets/phones. These DACs are usually limited to 44.1/48k stereo, without any additional channels.
WASAPI is built over WDM. I've never looked at the multiple card question, so I can't provide a definitive answer there. I'm about to hop on a plane to Brazil, so I'll need to defer an answer on that one until I get back.
ASIO is typically going to be better on pro-level external (usb/firewire/pcie/etc.) soundcards. I know it has limitations, but it's the latency leader for the near future at the least. We need to see how the chipset manufacturers do on the on-board device drivers, and then also look to see how WDM drivers for external cards are going. I'm not willing to predict any long-term winner at this point.

no huge latency optimization for DAW's! 

Anderton
I saw that too and was intrigued. But I assume it means I'll need to re-install everything...yes? What I should do is prepare a new removable drive, and download it to that. OTOH I don't think it's actually downloadable now, but that you reserve a copy.
 
Also, does anyone know for sure what kind of model Windows 10 is going to use? A subscription model, or something like Cakewalk's Membership model, or...?
 
 

Wookiee
You can run a check from the little tray app that will check you PC for any possible problems, interestingly it found none on my primary DAW even though it is running legacy Firewire.  Does this mean they have reintegrated legacy Firewire for win 10 after dropping and then reinstating for win 8.x?