First, I guess maybe this should be in the Studio software sub forum but I really need some simple answers and know this will be seen here sooner. Maybe it does belong here because it is concerning installing Plat again.
 
So, I didn't do my homework and bought parts for a killer new system, well by my standards anyway. But I did NOT realize that Win 10 is "required" for Coffee Lake cpu and Z370. 
So, is this TRUE?
I ask because I am one of those holdouts. I love Win 8.1x64........It is perfect imho. I am afraid I will be constantly be tinkering with my system with win 10 instead of making music.
 
I am retired IT guy, but it's been 12 years since I dabbled with real issues that require advanced knowledge/.I do not feel like going back to school. OK, sorry for the long post but I am at a stand still. Yes I can afford Win 10. Although I have 4 legit Win 8.1's.
New system will be:
Asus 370Z Prime  A/Geforce GTX1060 Gaming X 6GB\8th Gen Coffee Lake i7 8700 and 2 m.2 evo 970's, Antec Edge 750 PSU, etc, etc, etc.
 
My plan is to sell my old system locally which is no slouch. i7 Ivy Bridge 3770/SSD's/Geforce 650 TI Boost,legit Win8.1x64 dvd etc, etc, etc
Thanks folks
 

I'm a retired LAN/WAN Network and hardware help desk manager, but I still keep up with tech and support.
That motherboard can be used on 8.1 (with a driver for the USB 3) but I consider Win 10 "what 8/8.1 should have been".  Just as Win 7 was what Vista should have been. 
 
I don't think there's any Win 8/8.1 software that is not Win 10 compatible.  I upgraded my system (originally) from Win 8.1 to Win 10 and except for an Edirol (Roland) keyboard all my hardware and software was compatible.  The Edirol was not compatible as Roland dropped support for those discontinued devices (I no longer buy any Roland hardware).
 
My recording latency even was lowered with Win 10, as I was able to use a lower buffer.
There has been a lot written about "tweaks" for Win 10 but I don't have any (I see others on other recording forums that state they do not have any tweaks either).  I do set the Power Plan to High Performance but that's all.  I still disable the NIC when I record/mix, etc to avoid possible dropouts but that is all.  Even with the NIC enabled, Resplendence Latency Mon shows the PC is able to handle audio without dropouts. 

Win10 is required for Thunderbolt-3 (full support for "PCIe via Thunderbolt").
As long as you get the Pro version, there's no reason to avoid Win10.
The Pro version has the Group Policy editor (easily disable "annoying" components such as Cortana, OneDrive, etc).
You can also completely stop all Automatic Updates (won't even be prompted).
 

Hey,
I am debating still about win 10, but your replies (borh) and many others I have read have pretty much changed my mind. $200 is tough after all I spent on the build but is doable, as I stated. So many sites have these deals but I am sure they are not legal.
 
But deal I could find was directdeals.com. $100 or so for Win 10 Pro, but it is OEM. I have dealrt with them before, years ago and and had no issues. But I really would rather have real retail version.
Thanks very much Firebird and Jim R.

Buy Windows 10: the cheapest deals in September 2018
https://www.techradar.com...-10-deals-2015-1300938

Damn, $5.05 on eBay, lol.

On a serious note, OEM copies are legit, but be careful of the sellers (can be hard to differentiate them). Technically, those are not for resale, but they are all over due to folks buying batches of them.

I love win 10! I would not want any other OS. I also have a Mac and it sucks compared to my windows machines. Though it could be because I have always been with windows. 
 
Sure some have seen issues with win 10. Then they did with every version that Microsoft ever put out. 
 
I do think it is a much stronger OS from all the past ones. I had no trouble loading win 10 pro 64 bit on my new machine. One hears all sorts of wild things attributed to win 10 after each update. Some few are true. Most are not. I also think because MS is always tweaking it it makes it just that much harder for hackers to hack it. It's a moving target. Yet it runs programs well. I can't swear no one will come across a problem with it ever. Then that would be true of all past OSs too. I had no trouble with Vista. Yet, it was and still is a very maligned version.   
 
I think with ease of installing a MS OS back up all your important data and try it. If it is not to your liking revert to the older one. One last reason to go with win 10 is it will fully support your new UEFI BIOS. Something you will want. 
 
I do hope you do go win 10. I know once you get to know it you will wonder what took you so long. :)

My current version of win 10 is 1803 on my new machine. I have version 1809 on a laptop. 

stratman70
Hey,
I am debating still about win 10, but your replies (borh) and many others I have read have pretty much changed my mind. $200 is tough after all I spent on the build but is doable, as I stated. So many sites have these deals but I am sure they are not legal.
 
But deal I could find was directdeals.com. $100 or so for Win 10 Pro, but it is OEM. I have dealrt with them before, years ago and and had no issues. But I really would rather have real retail version.
Thanks very much Firebird and Jim R.

 
I've bought 2 x OEM Windows 10 64bit Pro from Amazon for about £30 each and 4 x Windows 7 Pro OEM for around £20 each.
 
All of them required me to authorise via phone to Microsoft, but the authorisation went through with no issues.
 
A lot of sellers are selling DELL badged DVD's - avoid these, unless you've got a Dell, but apart from that just check the reviews to see if people had issues or not.
 
Windows 10 has been pretty stable for me. Yesterday it installed the first update to 1809, which worked fine and it's still running solid.