I really can't be arsed with Mac-OS , the "just work" is marketing bollocks

tlw
It has to be said that Apple's Core Audio and Core MIDI do pretty much "just work" and OS X, being Unix derived, is much less hassle to deal with than modern Windows. When you tell it not to do something it doesn't then go and switch it on again behind your back without telling you. Unlike Windows 10.

There were a few issues with El Capitan on launch, mostly caused by a few hardware manufacturers not updating their drivers despite many months of warnings and pre-release developer versions being available. The only one that affected me was MOTU who took a week to get a working USB3 MIDI interface driver out.

A lot of older hardware will work on Macs because if it's class compliant it doesn't need a manufacturer-supplied driver. As for old stuff working with Windows, I've seen a succession of M-Audio products left to wait for years for a working Win Vista, then 7, then 8 driver. Which doesn't work properly when it finally gets released. Which is why I won't buy any M-Audio products any more.

Having loaded Win10 to take a long hard look at it, I have no desire or intention to use it.

The big downside of Macs is cost, and they tend to have less brute power than a similar priced PC. On the other hand, OS X seems to make fewer demands than Windows and requires no special tweaking to use as a DAW. Mrs TLW has a work-supplied i5 laptop PC with 4GB of RAM and Windows 7. Her base-model Macbook Air (i5 4GB RAM) is far smoother and snappier.

And no Sonar for Macs. Yet. Logic's cheap and OK but frustrating in some ways, and the supplied plugins are mostly not as good as SPlat's so there's more of a need for third party plugins. At least, that's what I've found, others may disagree.

IMO, The problem was deeper than just a couple of hardware vendors not "keeping up" with planned changes.
There were a issues with many audio interfaces... as well as audio software.
Apple released an El Capitan update to address some of the issues.
Granted, most issues are now sorted.
 
When installing a higher-end audio interface:
I have to install a driver whether Mac or PC.
Maintenance is really not a lot different either way.
 
Apple lags behind development wise.
The Mac Pro not the highest performance Mac currently available.
That (ironically) is the iMac (27" model with 6700k).
 
You take your lumps with either platform.
Either platform can be very productive.
 
 
 
 

dcumpian
Frankly, my best investment in better mixing was a giant trackball from Kensington. With one click, I can lock the trackball to the fader (or any other control) and ride the ball with my fingertips. Really great control that way.
 
Dan

I was going to mention trackball...  
For whatever reason, those absolutely murder my tendinitis.  
Other folks love them.  

i absolutely hate trackpads, it seemed to take forever to disable the bloody thing in win10

A windows/Msft trackpad is not the same as an Apple. (not even close). That said, I am noticing the stickiness in scrolling this page as my hand is kind of clammy. That's a problem sometimes. 
 
Jim, A touch screen wouldn't work for me at this point. Too much stuff in front of me.
Haven't tried the track balls. A lot of folks swear by them. The Kensington in particular. I can't find one locally (so I can return it).
I have dupyens contracture in my right hand so it's all kind of on a different level for me.

Jim Roseberry
 
I was going to mention trackball...  
For whatever reason, those absolutely murder my tendinitis.  
Other folks love them.  

That would be me :-)
 
Trackballs or, now, good trackpads don't give be RSI in my right hand and wrist, using a mouse for 15 minutes does. The long-term consequence of a job I did in the late 80s which involved a lot of data entry on green screen monitors using poor keyboards and worse mice. And no way to even tab between fields in the data forms, every cursor movement had to be done by mouse.
 
As for Mac Pros they're a very expensive niche product and always have been. I sometimes wonder if Apple are actually still making them or just have enough stock to keep them on sale for a long time. The shift to the "dustbin" look might be stylish, but as you say it's not the most practical thing in the world. The hardware doesn't seem to have been updated for quite some time either. Nor do Apple make a stand-alone Retina screen, which is plain daft really. The only stand-alone screen they offer is relatively low resolution and ridiculously priced. A sensibly priced 15" HDMI Retina screen that matches the 15" Macbook Pro is something I'd quite like to be able to get hold for a 2 screen setup in a small space.
 
Edited to add - One thing I would really have liked to see is a Commodore Amiga with an updated Amiga OS and modern hardware. That could have been quite something.

jbow
... I'll look to see if Thunderbird is still around. I don't want to have to use imap, rather use POP but I don't use HM for very much anyway. The older I get, the harder changes are. I guess I was an analog man for too long. To much change in my world... this is just one thing. ...

I use Thunderbird and have for many years. I use it on my Yahoo account, GMail account, and my own domain account.
 
I have never had problems with it.
 
I like having all my email on my PC. If Yahoo dies or gets hacked and I can't get in, at least I haven't lost any email.
 

+1 for thunderbird

jbow
 .. but seriously, is it just me or is MS causing problems for you?
 
!!!!!!!

You are not alone!  I have recently visited a few computer forums, and the subject of forced Windows updates is probably the hottest topic right about now (especially due to the recently released Anniversary Update for Win10).
 
Depending on which edition of Windows 10 you are on, Home or Pro, there are a few things you can still do to prevent the forced monthly automatic download of patches and updates.
 
I use both editions of Windows 10, and I have my shields up!!!
 
There are two categories of updates to watch out for.  The first are the monthly cumulative updates for security and performance issues.  The second are the periodic Windows "feature" upgrades (Anniversary Update, etc.).
 
For Windows Home you can:
1. Use settings to make the network a "metered connection" if you are on Wi-fi only.   Windows will not actually download any updates it finds, unless you specifically click on them.  Not available for Ethernet connections.
2. Use the Microsoft tool "wushowhide" to check for any available updates, then "hide them".  This was designed to be able to uninstall "bad" patches, then hide them from re-install, but it works for ANY patch, LOL!!!
 
For Windows 10 Pro you can:
1. Use settings to tell windows to defer the "feature updates" (by default this is like 4 months or something).
2. Use settings to tell Windows to schedule a time to reboot to install any updates that have been downloaded (me thinks this may not be so great, because you may need to reboot or shutdown for other reasons, then they gotcha!).
3. Use Local Group Policy Editor (gpedit.msc) to tweak a few settings. (a) Defer upgrades for up to 8 months, and delay updates for up to 4 weeks. (b) There is an option to configure or disable automatic updates, but not sure how long MS will allow that setting to last.
4. Use settings to make the network a "metered connection" if you are on Wi-fi only.  Windows will not actually download any updates it finds, unless you specifically click on them.  Not available for Ethernet connections.
5 Use the Microsoft tool "wushowhide" to check for any available updates, then "hide them".  This was designed to be able to uninstall "bad" patches, then hide them from re-install, but it works for ANY patch, LOL!!!
 
How to use "wushowhide":
http://www.infoworld.com/...date-version-1607.html
 
http://www.tenforums.com/...show-windows-10-a.html
 
"wushowhide" download instructions:
https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/kb/3073930
 
Bottom line, for Home users, I think a cheap Wi-fi adapter and the "metered connection" hack is probably cheaper than the $100 upgrade to Pro at the Windows store :-)

Hey jbow ,
I feel for you man . I got bit pretty hard last month with a bunch of failed Win 10 updates ...
Got lucky , Bob B set me on the right path .....
As far as the Mac thing goes ...that's ones a pretty polarizing topic
I have never bought one brand new , so I have no comment on all that  El Capitan Jazz ...
The last one I bought I got off a guy who had just gotten his daughter a brand new one for college .He was just looking to offset his outlay and put a little change back in his pocket ....
Maybe you may luck and find something like that...so you can test the waters ....
 
Kenny