Question for my fellow SONAR people.

With the announcement that SONAR is designed to run on either Windows 7 or 8 and that Cakewalk will not be supporting XP users.

Do I-

1.  Upgrade my Q6600 machine to Windows 7?

Or

2. By a new i5 PC?

 I would probably be looking to upgrade my hardware and software if it were me. If that were not an option then I would at the least upgrade to win7 or 8.

 It seems to be an endless cycle. Software upgrades, hardware obsolesance and the resulting incompatibilities are all a part of the thing. Like a never ending saga.

If buying a new PC is an option I would definitely go with that. The Q6600 is what, 5 years old? Let's face it, we all have to upgrade eventually, and 5 years is a pretty honorable run. 

Thanks Starise, 

Sharke the old machine will only be demoted not disposed of, thanks for your input.

 Yep, I usually give myself around a 5 year window and then it's time to upgrade.
The other day I dug out my old echo DJ PCMCIA card to use with a laptop. Turns out that the card slot was PCI express.
 
 In other words they changed the card slot and my once 299.00 card will no longer work unless I buy an old laptop with that slot in it. Chchchchchanges.

 OTOH you could continue to make music on an older computer if you are content with what it does and the software,don't need any improvements. I buy  software I like and then low and behold I need better hardware to run it on.

I'm in a similar boat as you are Wooks as mine's about 5 years old. When funds are more freely available, I'll be moving along with technology.....but for now, I've gotta hold on.

Even thought XP won't be officially supported by Cakewalk, X2 wouldn't make XP extinct. (Similar to NI's Komplete 8 and XP) 

Thanks Mesh will have to check the savings.

FWIW, all support for XP (from Microsquish) is ending as well so it doesn't surprise me that software vendors are also discontinuing support.

'Tis why I recently made the jump to Windows 7 and will probably continue to use it until Windows 9 comes out... (Usually the intermediate versions tend to suck - lol!)

Wookiee


Thanks Mesh will have to check the savings.

Wookie - I asked the XP question upstairs and Brandon replied that there is no specific reason that X2 will not run on XP, just that they are not doing the full testing procedure for it hence the lack of "official" support.  He also said that there will be support for non OS related issues, so if you want it, might be worth trying it first before making the decision re the PC.

If you have enough good parts in your old machine it may be worth going down the 'barebones' route and just getting a mobo, ram, and CPU bundle.

It depends on what you want to do with the old one, but mostly I find buying a base pc and adding the components you really want to it is a better bet than buying a full-spec monster with all the whistles and bells you don't want on it.

I've just been looking at the independant desktop PC market and it doesn't look as good as it did a few years ago, but there is some stuff out there.

This one from eBuyer seems like a good starting point with Windows bundled even.

http://www.ebuyer.com/388...m-desktop-pc-7873-0426

If you look at it like you got 4 years out of the last one if this one lasts as well that's like £150 a year.  A bargain!