chuckebaby


I also think users have spoken loud and clear and Microsoft has no other choice but to listen, people love their start button and people love the desktop, no matter how many handheld ,portable devices, we always go back to the laptop,desktop, we are not a dying bread.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qvp37o1jZUo

munmun


Microsoft is going nowhere.  The company is doomed.  They can now only milk their declining desktop business.  Even that isn't going so well.  Windows 8 now accounts for 1.5% of all windows installations since launch.  That makes it the slowest launch ever for them.  People just don't need to upgrade.  Also where a home may have had multiple desktops and laptops once upon a time, that is being changed by the emergence of mobile.  A market that microsoft famously missed.  

http://www.forbes.com/sites/adamhartung/2013/01/20/sell-microsoft-now-game-over-ballmer-loses/

This article made some waves when it appeared.

So where is the future?  The cloud?  Apps?  Mobile?  Desktop will probably be reduced to a niche market for specialized applications.  There is no rule book that says that music must ideally be made on a desktop.

And what does that mean for us?  My hunch is that 5-10 years hence few of us will be on windows as we migrate to other hardware platforms.  So what does that mean for Sonar?  Don't know.  But if  I was Cakewalk I would be creatively thinking through future servicing models for their user base.

sold 60 million copy's as of Jan 2013, I really don't consider that failing or doomed.
http://www.zdnet.com/microsoft-60-million-windows-8-licenses-sold-to-date-7000009549/ 
in fact Microsoft is saying it has been selling at the same rate windows 7 did.
and I heard the same things when windows 7 was released.
 
another thing to consider is the alarming rate at which hackers have learned to forge windows, losing Microsoft millions of dollars.
being a PC builder a lot of my customers will want there OS re-installed, they hit the roof or pretend to hit the roof when I tell them I will not re-install an illegal OS
I tell them flat out, you need your OEM, if you don't have it, here's your computer with out an OS or a 30 day and its now in your hands.
 
I get a lot of customers that don't understand, they say "just re-install it with the same serial that was in it.
I try and explain, I will not produce and illegal install of windows.
I see it at least 25 % of time.
now that is a scary thing 
 
you would be surprised the rate.

NorthernElite

VariousArtist


in a more "windowed-style" approach

Haha brilliant! who would ever have thought that we would have made such significant progress in the OS world, that 3rd party programmers would be earning a living from coding apps that help to make the new Windows, actually run apps in windows....lol
 
I think this is genuinely useful, don't get me wrong - but it's the fact that there's a need for it that makes me spit my coffee all over my keyboard.  laugh? I nearly cried!
 
 

You can almost envision the new Apple Ad:  "Want to run metro in a window?  There's an app for that"

VariousArtist

 

You can almost envision the new Apple Ad:  "Want to run metro in a window?  There's an app for that"

Hehe, I know right?  how about Microsoft just inject some honesty into this and change the name of the new OS to 'Tiles 98' or if you prefer 'I can't believe there's no windows, Windows edition'?...lol

NorthernElite

VariousArtist

 

You can almost envision the new Apple Ad:  "Want to run metro in a window?  There's an app for that"

Hehe, I know right?  how about Microsoft just inject some honesty into this and change the name of the new OS to 'Tiles 98' or if you prefer 'I can't believe there's no windows, Windows edition'?...lol

Yes, exactly.  Don't get me wrong, I use Windows 8 for my home studio and like the way it performs -- not all the new features are bad.  It just seems half-baked and I don't understand the rationale in forcing users to jump between modern and desktop modes (like trying to do things relating to Control Panel that are half over here and half over there).


It's like their strange thinking in the old Windows Mobile which forced their desktop paradigms into that tiny screen.  It was an awful experience, and they finally realized that a fresh new mobile OS was required (and it's pretty decent, although I had already jumped ship by then to the "i" device).  Now they are doing the reverse and making the modern/metro UI the default rather than as an option which can run either in full-screen or window-mode.  Exactly like Windows Media Center.


Then again, Windows Media Center is hardly a hit.  Like Zune.  They have good ideas but manage to drop the ball somewhere.  Silverlight.  WPF.  COM.  etc.

There are a lot of people making music on iPads these days.

You can tinker with your iPad... but you can't do a full-bore recording/mix with top-notch processing/mixing.
Not to mention video editing (which makes audio loads look puny)...


Doom and gloom for Windows???
I wouldn't bet on it.
You're talking about a company with DEEP pockets... that has amazing market share... of machines that conduct most of the world's business.


Love 'em or hate 'em... Microsoft will likely outlast all of us...

 It just seems half-baked and I don't understand the rationale

FWIW, If you use a multi-touch monitor, you start to understand some of the design changes/decisions.

Jim Roseberry

 It just seems half-baked and I don't understand the rationale

FWIW, If you use a multi-touch monitor, you start to understand some of the design changes/decisions.

I do, and I have.  In addition I tested out various configurations of hardware and software.  And I have over two decades of software development experience across all major (and some minor) platforms.  I respect the fact that people have varying needs and opinions on this matter.  But I stand by my claim that this is quite a half-baked environment that I find surprising for a company that, arguably, leads the OS/Software world and stands on decades of experience with millions of users and very deep pockets.  

I think, and hope, that they fix the holes and provide a more consistent experience, regardless of which environment a user operates in.  There was a time when it was important to ensure that users could interact with the screen with or without a mouse or keyboard, etc.  I love touch, but even that has been inconsistently implemented by Microsoft.  

Jim Roseberry

FWIW, If you use a multi-touch monitor, you start to understand some of the design changes/decisions.

Yeah, I could buy that, I enjoy the touch experience on my tablets and in that form factor and OS the touch user experience is great.
 
One of my issues is (and I haven't tried it yet), I'm just not sure I can get mentally tuned into using touch on my desktop - for a start my screen is currently outwith comfortable arm length and the way I have my workspace setup MIDI control keyboard, external effects units, Audio interface, mixing desk etc., it would require some major redesign in order for it to be ergonomic and workable.  Also how much do these new touch screens cost, I'll hop onto Amazon later and check it out.
 
But never say never right.  I'd actually like to get a demo of a good multi-touch monitor with windows 8 and see if it makes me feel any better about the GUI, but I just love the look and feel of Aero so much...call me old fashioned....lol 
 
I do think that either way you slice it, Win 8 needs some serious spit and polish to make it a more enjoyable and cohesive user experience - given the info in this thread, it's clear there is division on this viewpoint and that's cool, different strokes for different folks.
 
Let's hope Microsoft is absorbing all of the user feedback like a big sponge and the next release will blow our socks off.  Although the word on the street is that the next release of Windows will mandate the use of a Virtual Reality Helmet using only mind control.   Touch control is so 'last year'! :-)

 I think a future without a desktop is almost certain. I also believe by that time most DAW users will no longer care. Might be a crazy notion, but I think in the near future you are going to see machines more like X-box/PS3 but specialized for DAW use built in interface and custom OS designed mainly on pro audio. With tons of processing power and software bundles most of us will not be able to resist. That's how it played out in the PC/Platform gaming world. That how I see it playing out with pro audio. JMO