DP8 on Windows: MOTU reply

[andrewbighouse]

Hi, I am a DP8 user (on Mac).

Since I am also investing in a SSL certificated DAW I have wrote to MOTU recently in order to require information about the Windows installation and it seems that DP8 was still in the testing phase.

I will report you the reply I got from MOTU as follows:

"We have yet to officially release DP8 for Windows. We are in the final phases of testing the product on the Windows platform, and want to make sure the Windows version of DP is the same high quality product you expect from MOTU.

With a close eye on our webpage, RSS feed, and twitter page (http://twitter.com/motutech), you would not miss any announcement of such a release. We will notify registered users when the Windows version is available.

Hope you enjoy it as much as we are. Let me know if you have any other questions."

So, I understood I may install the beta version on Windows until the final version will be released.

[Manx]

Thank you for posting that information. I'm finally ready to make the purchase (new computer to replace the 11-year-old desktop) and DP is my 1st choice. Except .... still not Officially released for Windows. Hmmmm.

[RichStudio]

MOTU should not say "Cross Platform" until DP8 is truly cross platform.
I love Performer and know it will be great on PC. I just hate "vaporware".
My .02
Rich

[mjames4208]

I had to return my copy of DP8 recently. The box is very deceptive, as it states that it is Mac in Windows compatible. I was ready to get busy! Oh well, I traded it for Machfive 3 and it sounds great!

[David Polich]

If you're a Mac user, why would you care if the Windows version of DP
ever came out? I certainly don't. For me the lack of a Windows version
is a total non-issue.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

MOTU has more than once linked the release of a fully functional DP8 with the release of the PC version. Also, if a company (or a person) makes a claim that they've developed a particular thing and it is ready or close to ready for market and never fulfill that promise or severely delay the release, it speaks to either the ability or integrity of the entity or, at the very least, suggest the claim is just a bellicose claim that may be unfounded.

I don't think that's what's going on, but the delay of the PC version and the buggy Mac version is clearly leading to disappointment and suspicion that MOTU might be incapable of fulfilling their promise. That's why it matters to some of us Mac users.

That said, today would be a good day for the release.

[bayswater]

It matters to other Mac users because a Windows version would expand the user base, make the product more commercially secure, and give us another hardware option. I don't use DP because it runs on a Mac, I use a Mac because it runs DP.

[David Polich]

I don't think MOTU is "incapable" of delivering the goods. What I think is
that Windows (a shite platform for audio and video from the get-go) just
presented way more problems than even they anticipated. Not only from the
plug-ins point of view, but also in accounting for the literally hundreds of
different possible chipset, hardware, and OS combinations that users might
have.

Windows still sucks - does anyone actually get that? It is the inferior operating system, no matter how many pretty outfits they put on it. Getting
anything to work with it is a daunting task, to say the least. I say, cut MOTU
a break, your life isn't going to end if you don't yet have the Windows version of DP.

[MIDI Life Crisis]

'cept that doesn't explain why so many things that used to work correctly in DP are broken now on the Mac platform. That is the hardest pill to swallow.

[Kubi]

My guess (and it is a guess) is that the full conversion to the new code (cocoa or coffee or earl grey or whatever it's called...) is what created the bugs in a handful of previously working features in the Mac version. And unfortunately, in order to stay compatible in the world of Mac OS, there was no way for MOTU to get around doing that re-write. But I don't think that those problems have much, if anything, to do with the Windoze version.

Again, just a guess...

[Kubi]

And of course, I'm for that very reason patiently still working in v7.24 on a Lion Mac.

Works great!

[MIDI Life Crisis]

I don't think that those problems have much, if anything, to do with the Windoze version.

Again, just a guess...

I would agree. The reason these are being connected is that MOTU has consistently stated that the release of DP 8.working is tied to the release of the Windoze version. I am and continue to happily workaround DP 8.01 in 64 bit since that was my biggest issue. A few other bugaboos here and there in the GUI and export features are an annoyance (and sometimes and embarrassment in other studios) but I can live with that if it means supporting MOTU to continue developing the best damn DAW ever!

[cuttime]

Does anybody know if MOTU does their own coding, or if, like too many companies these days, farms it out to overseas programmers who have very little understanding of the purpose of the software or command of the English language?

[Prime Mover]

I'm almost positive it's done right in Massachusetts. In the past, they've advertised programmer job openings on their website, and instructions seem to indicate that you would be working at their HQ. It wouldn't surprise me if some of their employees telecommute, but their advertisements suggest that they're hiring specificly trained programmers with advanced skills in both programming and audio/acoustics. That doesn't seem like a company that farms out to programming factories to me.

MOTU is pretty small, as far as I can tell, and their software team is only a portion of their full workforce. It's one building in Cambridge (or some neighboring town). It's a wonder they can keep up with the likes of Apple and Avid, global mega-corporations where a single programming team dwarfs their entire employee-base.

[zerocrossing]

I think it's super shady for MOTU to clearly say, "Runs on Windows 8*, Windows 7*, and Mac OS X." on their site and then make you scroll down to a statement that basically says, "Someday!" Well when?

As for the "Windows is sh!t" group, I've got a Mac and a PC that sit side by side, and while I agree the Windows 8 Machine needs a lot of configuration to get it running well for music/audio, when you get it right it's just as good and I can do some pretty cool things with Windows 8 and a cheap touch sensitive monitor that do not work in the Mac world.

For me, I can't upgrade to DP8 because my Mac is pre-intel. Yeah, I know, but she's a work-horse and she does a good job. But I also have a new PC (couldn't afford a new Mac tower and needed something) that I'd love to run Digital Performer 8 on. It's currently running Live 9, but for me Live 9 is great as a "performance studio tool" but horrible for composition. I think it would be complemented well with DP8... BUT WHEN?!