markyzno
Stay away from Win 7....theres many more issues with it and more than Win 8 (such as the dreaded Black Screen of Death)

Ha get that in Win 8 occasionally as well :)... It's those pesky Nvidia drivers for that I am certain (at least in my case). Black screens are almost always video drivers anyway... well that's my perception after coming across it so many times... Solution is to use earlier drivers and avoid updating (until NVidia fixes this which will probably be never).

CakeAlexS

markyzno
Stay away from Win 7....theres many more issues with it and more than Win 8 (such as the dreaded Black Screen of Death)

Ha get that in Win 8 occasionally as well :)... It's those pesky Nvidia drivers for that I am certain (at least in my case). Black screens are almost always video drivers anyway... well that's my perception after coming across it so many times... Solution is to use earlier drivers and avoid updating.

Correct, Graphics drivers are almost 100% responsible, but when it happens it can trigger a whole myriad of problems where you cant shut down your machine properly (as you cant see the flipping screen) and then at the same time Windows updates kick in and at the same time it starts to make a cup of tea and slips on a banana skin something or something....

For mei t was my ATi Radeon Drivers and since using the NVIDIA as my primary card no issues (with Win8)

I never heard of this issue on Win 8 before tho?

I just ordered 8.1. I'm excited to see if there's any performance tweaks they've given it which would make Sonar run a little smoother. In the meantime, I can only say one thing. Windows 7 is rock solid, so long as you don't do anything stupid....like connect it to the Internet. But seriously, if you had a Windows 7 machine on known reliable hardware, operated by a single user, only the exact software installed that you need for Sonar, no free plug-ins from untrusted developers, and running BitDefender, I would imagine, you will be even more solid than many Mac's out there running Pro-Tools.
 
Most problems I've encountered were either related to possible bugs from plug-ins or Sonar. Everything else seems magically stable.

From my perspective I really didn't see much difference in Win7/Win8.1 There are definitely incremental improvements so yes Windows 8.1 is better. Copying files is a massive improvement. Performance wise, well maybe it's slightly better but I wasn't really wetting myself on it.
 
UI wise it's just different to me, not better or worse, but there is a learning curve for the pre-initiated.
Of course if you have a touch screen, then you must upgrade.

Thanks for the helpful replies, particularly about driver support which I hadn't thought of.
 
FWIW it looks like my audio interface, a Mackie 400F, is the deciding factor.  Mackie only has a Win 7 driver for it, but it also includes a firmware update for the unit itself.  Given the problems I've had with it - short story: I used to use DP on Mac but the 400F didn't work with OSX; Mackie Tech support was non-existent for that particular unit; when I upgraded computers I switched to PC/SONAR - I don't want to risk monkeying with it.  It works fine with X1 on Vista so I guess I'll stick with it for now.
 
ld

If you happen to be buying a Windows 8 PC with OEM Windows you may be eligible to downgrade to Windows 7, I think you can upgrade later but you better check this:
http://www.microsoft.com/oem/en-gb/licensing/sblicensing/pages/downgrade_rights.aspx#fbid=wnmf1zauO2c
 
You will might find upgrading to a new PC with Windows 8 more attractive once you take account of the costs involved into upgrading to Windows 8.
 
Then again there's the cost of buying a new interface...
 
Swings and roundabouts...

I've thought about upgrading my interface a few times over the years.  I love the mic pres on the 400F - they're almost as good as my UA 6167 (which has a 610 pre in it) for comparison, and there are 4 of them.  Before I switched to PC I bought a MOTU 828 mk II and kept the 400F just for the pres.  I think I would try to upgrade my CPU/memory in this current machine (a nice thing about PC's) before buying a whole new one.  But that's all moot until I upgrade Windows/SONAR and my audio interface.  I'd love to have an RME interface but can't justify the expense when I have M-Audio BX5A monitors (weakest link) and have been "building a modular" (synth) for about 10 years and have 4 modules in it, including the power supply, haha.

Odd coincidence I bounce over to the hardware forum and see this thead.
 
You may want to make a post similar to that one and ask if users are running Win7 with the 440F.

I haven't had any of those W7 problems either. Totally fine. Not that I don't have other probz...
 
I miss XPsp2. Stablest OS I've ever had.

mettelus
Odd coincidence I bounce over to the hardware forum and see this .
 
You may want to make a post similar to that one and ask if users are running Win7 with the 440F.

For those interested in following this discussion, I just replied to that thread.
 
ld