Windows 8 Beats Windows 7 For Audio Production (Performance Tests)

Microsoft’s introduction of Windows 8 has been a controversial one.

Many early users have completely dismissed the new category of Windows 8 RT tablets, because of their lack of compatibility with existing Windows apps. Others are excited by the potential for multitouch apps on Windows 8. And some are confused or annoyed by the two faces of Windows 8’s user interface.

For musician, though, one of the biggest questions has been how music apps perform under Windows 8. We’ve previously reported on Cakewalk’s testing – they found that Windows 8 runs Sonar better, across the board.

Now Rain Computers – maker of media production PCs – reports on their Windows 8 vs Windows 7 benchmarking. Here are the details:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kPix1QK9Hb4

In the majority of tests, Windows 8 beat Windows 7, running on the same hardware. In terms of compatibility  they didn’t find anything that ran on Windows 7 that didn’t also run on Windows 8. Before you upgrade a production machine, though, you should verify that your important apps and hardware will work under Windows 8.

It will be a long time until Windows 8 will overtake Windows 7 for audio production. Based on these benchmarks. though, Windows 8 may offer some performance benefits over its predecessor. See the Rain site for more details.

Check out the video and let us know what you think!

23 thoughts on “Windows 8 Beats Windows 7 For Audio Production (Performance Tests)

  1. I’ve been using Windows 8 at work for the last couple weeks, and have found it to be faster and have not had any compatibility issues as of yet. I have also installed all my audio software on a test Windows 8 virtual machine and have also not had any issues. I’m ready to rebuild the audio OS with 8 this weekend. As a further note, you can make Windows 8 work pretty much the same as 7 using a great little program called Start8 from Stardock. It’s $4.99, and puts the Start button back with full menu — it also allows you to boot directly to the desktop.

  2. I think I will be getting it. There are free programs to bring back the classic shell. Also, since I have an iPad, theres a nice looking app by splashtop to use the touchscreen to control win8.

  3. We should be stop relaying and depending on any new windows versions and some one should be developing the ultimate platform for music production (Mainframe style…just the hardware evolves…OS is so well designed that is mainly the same over the years)

      1. Well, Korg is heading this way with OASYS/Kronos…. No one else really seems to be putting the money into making the Linux experience transparent for musical applications.

        If you look at the CPU in the Kronos it’s amazing the power they squeeze out of it. In 3 or 4 years they could use the ultrabook CPUs to make custom tablets that plug into different hardware control devices depending on your needs. Put it into a keyboard, a mixer, drum pads, something like the i-ms20 or just use the touch screen.

  4. I still use 32-bit XP. The setup is stable. Even stacking a bunch of virtual synths, huge sample sets, and multiple VST effects in Sonar rarely pushes the CPU past 50%. The “need” to upgrade is an issue of perception. All my software and hardware is from 2008 or before.

    The Windows 8 interface seems pointlessly user-hostile to me. I installed a developer preview on a spare PC a few months ago. My overwhelming response was “nuh-uh”.

  5. Windows 8 Professional is the one for people concerned with the new Start Screen, the Professional edition retains the Start Menu. Still though, make sure updated drivers for your peripherals are published before you upgrade. Also, create a disk image of your current OS before upgrading so you can restore if apps or hardware don’t work correctly. You can check out the following link to search for hardware and software and any compatibility information, the conservative way to interpret no compatibility information is to assume that it doesn’t currently work. Stick with what works until you’re certain it’s time to make the switch.

    http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/compatibility/

  6. All companys should use a special Linux distribution for music applications.
    There is no reason to update yet. If i’d be a salesman my view may be different.

      1. Ha ha. You have a point. I just hate relearning something that already worked well. Also when you have 450 programs that start menu makes things easier.

  7. Windows 7 64 ultimate is not broken, why bother to upgrade it? I have seen anything new in windows 8 that makes me wanna up grade or I would of done on day of release like I did vista to 7. When i can afford a 26″ touch screen with pressure sensitivity then ill upgrade.

  8. should have had an option of the start menu , + give backward compatibility 4 everything , win 8 should have been 128 bit , what was the use of 64 bit again ??? any vista strategy ??? sam

  9. Hi, I run Windows 8 x64 in a Boot Camp partition on iMac 21.5 mid 2011 model 12,1 and runs flawless! may be this is the best OS from Microsoft with the best and more stable hardware from apple, both together are a nuclear music bomb!

    All my test are based on Cubase 7, Pro Tools 9 and Adobe/Avid Suites, both Mac and Windows.

    thank you!

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