At Summer NAMM today in Nashville there were some great presentations by Microsoft about Windows 10 and audio. There are some major changes, with an emphasis on low-latency operation, greater MIDI integration, and including FLAC and ALAC (Apple Lossless Audio Codec) within Windows. It was very encouraging. They also showed that the audio optimizations in Windows 10 were cutting latency about in half compared to Windows 7, and that's without drivers optimized for the other tech changes.
 
What was even more interesting was that Microsoft plans to roll out features when they're ready, on a regular basis. Where have I heard that before?  They gave all the same reasons: manageable feature updates, easier QC, no long waits between big updates, etc.
 
Then I had a long chat with a representative from Propellerheads. They too are eschewing the "big" release with big time intervals between them. They are planning on approximately quarterly point releases, and incrementing the version number every year or two (which would at that point trigger an update cost). Again, although the model is somewhat different from Cakewalk the reasons for doing it are very similar. This representative was impressed that Cakewalk has pulled off a regular, monthly SONAR release schedule with a significant volume of features, fixes, and content in each release. 
 
If we're lucky, the Adobe model is going to be seen as antiquated before too long. It looks like the software industry is coming to terms with the volatile nature of software design caused by changes in hardware and operating systems, and devising new models to deal with it. Congrats to the Bakers for their contribution.
 
[Yes, I know the "hey, let's rain on the parade!" people will now show up. But before they do, I just wanted to get across how those in the industry who know about the challenges of software development view Cakewalk. It was cool to hear a Microsoft rep high up on the food chain name-check Noel .]

Lower latency? That is exciting!
 
Thanks for sharing

What I read though these latency changes are for WDM, and ASIO would still be 'the best experience for DAWs'... So I wonder if it will make much difference. Of course core changes within windows will help and MIDI improvements sound good..

Btw regular release cycles have been around for ages with open source software, who get direct feedback from their forums, and everybody seems to be learning from it.

M$ should have been impressed btw it is pretty impressive.

So can I not ever get a DVD version to buy anymore?
I ask because we have slow and not very reliable internet.

jpetersen
So can I not ever get a DVD version to buy anymore?

No Cakewalk products released this year have physical media

I notice. I feel locked out of the party, looking in the window at everybody having fun.

You can still download it to a USB key.

I think the biggest reason to abandon version# releases is to save money. There are many other great reasons, but think about it for a second. When we had annual version releases, anything prior became obsolete, dead stock. No one would want to buy it unless it was sold as a loss leader towards the next version.
 
By eliminating that standard there is no longer dead stock on the shelves and no need for huge discounts to clear out the old stuff. In order to set a limit for support time companies had to come up with a new time limiting factor since versions were done with. Thus we have the membership program. You get support as a part of your membership in the ongoing program development. They used to be able to say we don't support version X or earlier and if a version lasted 3 years then you got 3 years of support. Now it's on a loop, pay as you go.

Actually with the current download only model, there's no such thing as dead stock nor distribution costs and limited packaging costs if a bricks and mortar shop stocks packages of serial numbers only.

With respect to Win 10 audio improvements, what we currently call WDM or ASIO drivers will have to be completely rewritten to take advantage of the new lower latency. Perhaps it will bring about a newer driver model to take advantage of the Win 10 features.

Excellent news...

Thanks for sharing this Craig...

Long before these events, I was "explaining" the update costs to my clients as a continued means of support for development... Very year buying the latest update helped make this possible... It's nice to see Cakewalk's take on the theme working out so well!

Keni