Upgrade to Windows 7 or 8?

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jeffledge
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2013/10/12 16:36:26 (permalink)

Upgrade to Windows 7 or 8?

Ok, so first off, i'm not a computer wiz, so with that in mind i am currently running X1 Producer on a dedicated desktop with XP. specs are:
Windows XP 
Gigabyte EP43-UD3L MOBO Intel P43 Chipset 
Intel (R) Core 2 Duo CPU E8500 @3.16GHz 3.25GB of RAM / NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT  I know, i know i've heard the snide comments already about the XP. For the most part i'm happy! everything runs good, i've learned enough to do what i want to do. The problem is if i want to stay with Sonar i have to upgrade to Windows 7 or 8. Can anyone give me any advice on what this will do to make my life better other than being able to upgrade every time sonar releases a new revision? i'm more into playing/ writing music than being a computer geek and having the latest greatest stuff, however i do need to be able to stay updated with the basics. Also, i am not able to run with the 64bit now and i'm not even sure what difference that would make? better sound? better better something???  any constructive advice is welcome.
thanks,
Jefferson

Desktop
Windows 7 pro
Gigabyte EP43-UD3L MOBO Intel P43 Chipset
Intel (R) Core 2 Duo CPU E8500 @3.16GHz 3.25GB of RAM / NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT
Focusrite Saffire Pro 40
Tascam US 16x8
Roland UM-2G
Sonar Platinum  

Laptop (Used as a "Mobile Studio")  
Lenovo ThinkPad Edge
E550 I7-5500U
CPU 2.40GHZ
Ram 8GB
64 bit
500 GB HD 7200rpm
Audio Interface: Tascam US-16x8
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    mettelus
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    Re: Upgrade to Windows 7 or 8? 2013/10/12 22:35:41 (permalink)
    Be sure to review what hardware is NOT supported on Win7 or Win8 before you upgrade... When I went to Win7, I had to buy a new camera and printer. Microsoft has website you can search for on "hardware compatibility."
     
    I actually backed out of the upgrade to Win8 because of the disclaimer that you cannot uninstall and get the old operating system back... you had to re-install the older version from scratch (i.e. format and all that pain).
     
    Now, on the X boards I read a comment that 8.1 drivers do not work in 8, so I think I am sticking with 7.
     
    I got a 64-bit machine when going to 7, and the learning curve was originally painful, but it is more capable. I am not sure about 32-bit though, so this is also something to consider. Be sure to research!
     
    Michael

    ASUS ROG Maximus X Hero (Wi-Fi AC), i7-8700k, 16GB RAM, GTX-1070Ti, Win 10 Pro, Saffire PRO 24 DSP, A-300 PRO, plus numerous gadgets and gizmos that make or manipulate sound in some way.
    #2
    jeffledge
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    Re: Upgrade to Windows 7 or 8? 2013/10/12 23:39:28 (permalink)
    Thanks Michael. I am leaning toward 7 at this point. Appreciate your good advice!

    Desktop
    Windows 7 pro
    Gigabyte EP43-UD3L MOBO Intel P43 Chipset
    Intel (R) Core 2 Duo CPU E8500 @3.16GHz 3.25GB of RAM / NVIDIA GeForce 9800 GT
    Focusrite Saffire Pro 40
    Tascam US 16x8
    Roland UM-2G
    Sonar Platinum  

    Laptop (Used as a "Mobile Studio")  
    Lenovo ThinkPad Edge
    E550 I7-5500U
    CPU 2.40GHZ
    Ram 8GB
    64 bit
    500 GB HD 7200rpm
    Audio Interface: Tascam US-16x8
    #3
    Leadfoot
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    Re: Upgrade to Windows 7 or 8? 2013/10/12 23:46:02 (permalink)
    Jeff I ran XP for a long time too, then bought 7 64bit. I like it quite a bit. Plays very well with X3. I bought my daughter an HP running windows 8, and couldn't stand it. I ended up putting 7 on her computer too.
    #4
    Fabio Rubato
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    Re: Upgrade to Windows 7 or 8? 2013/10/13 02:53:17 (permalink)
    I would't go back to XP, despite it originally being a great little system. Win 7 64bit is the way to go...I'm not sure whether your system is 64bit capable, but it will allow you to run more ram, which is important if you're working with waves on the fly. 7 is a pretty stable system and hopefully won't be redundant for quite a few more years.
     
    I'd like to try 8, but I think I would need a new system for it. I don't want to upgrade 7 especially - as mentioned above - you can't uninstall it...however, if you make a backup image of 7, then you could probably re-install it, if 8 didn't work...still too early for me though. 
     
    #5
    mettelus
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    Re: Upgrade to Windows 7 or 8? 2013/10/13 17:26:12 (permalink)
    I ran XP on my 32-bit machine until I retired that machine (but kept it for a year anyway). I didn't jump to Win7 until I got a 64-bit machine that could support it, and was happy for the change.
     
    My concern is that I do not know how effective Win7-32 would be on even the same machine *I* had used (which was pretty good). I think the biggest advantage of Win7 is being able to use the 64-bit architecture. Typically people looking at an O/S upgrade are not intending to get a new machine.
     
    Michael

    ASUS ROG Maximus X Hero (Wi-Fi AC), i7-8700k, 16GB RAM, GTX-1070Ti, Win 10 Pro, Saffire PRO 24 DSP, A-300 PRO, plus numerous gadgets and gizmos that make or manipulate sound in some way.
    #6
    rontarrant
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    Re: Upgrade to Windows 7 or 8? 2013/10/13 19:53:35 (permalink)
    I have to agree with the Windows 7 guys. W8's interface is mobile centric and, IMHO, has no place on the desktop unless you have a touchscreen.
     
    As for the x64 business, extra RAM for a single app, dedicated RAM space for each app without swapping out to an HD, larger projects should be possible with the extra RAM x64 allows and although I've never bothered measuring it, there should be a bit of a speed boost for bouncing tracks and anything else that's time intensive.
    #7
    Bristol_Jonesey
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    Re: Upgrade to Windows 7 or 8? 2013/10/14 08:45:40 (permalink)
    The main advantage to me when I migrated to Win 7 / 64 bit was the ability to run as many sample streaming libraries (think EWQLSO) as I wanted without running out of RAM.
    I could max out my old XP system pretty quickly, but on my new machine, it barely flickers, even with my 160 track orchestral template loaded up.

    CbB, Platinum, 64 bit throughout
    Custom built i7 3930, 32Gb RAM, 2 x 1Tb Internal HDD, 1 x 1TB system SSD (Win 7), 1 x 500Gb system SSD (Win 10), 2 x 1Tb External HDD's, Dual boot Win 7 & Win 10 64 Bit, Saffire Pro 26, ISA One, Adam P11A,
    #8
    John6528
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    Re: Upgrade to Windows 7 or 8? 2013/10/16 22:20:01 (permalink)
    Wait a couple weeks. See what 8.1 is. Supposed to clean things up a lot. 8.1 has a much better search engine whatever that's worth.
    John

    Sonar 8.5 64, Win 7 64
    Asrock X58 Extreme3, I7-950, 12G ram
    OCZ Vertx3 120, Vertex2 90, WDM 1T
    Focusrite Saffire
    Yamaha P-70 Keyboard
    M-Audio Midisport Uno
    Miroslav Philharmonik , Nanosynth
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