How frustrating will Windows 7 actually be?

November 7, 2009 9:23 AM

Will I have any compatibility issues with Windows 7, Sony Acid Pro 7.0 and recording equipment?

We need to upgrade to a new computer, Macs are not financially feasible, but we could still go with a PC and still have an actual upgrade to what we're working with now. The main things we're concerned about working with Windows 7, Sony Acid Pro 7 and an M-Audio Axiom 49 controller and a Behringer Xenyx 2442FX mixer. We already own everything except Windows 7, and I don't want to replace everything else.

posted by mitzyjalapeno to technology (7 comments total)

There's like 10 different versions of Windows 7, but in general it looks like the Behringer has Vista 32bit drivers, so as long as you aren't running 64bit you should be fine there. M-Audio is also terrible about 64bit drivers, so as long as you don't want to run more than 3GB RAM, you should be fine there as well. Acid's probably OK, too. Once you decide to up your RAM, your choices narrow considerably. I'm in a similar boat right now, and the 64bit support landscape is quite depressing at the moment.
posted by rhizome at 10:23 AM on November 7

You can still buy WindowsXP. Newegg has XP Pro for $139. It's not clear to me if they have the 64 bit version too or not.
posted by sevenless at 10:27 AM on November 7

XP-64 is even worse for device support than more modern versions of Windows.
posted by rhizome at 10:31 AM on November 7

You can install programs and drivers in xp compatibilty mode. Look into that if you run into trouble.
posted by bravowhiskey at 10:42 AM on November 7

The little USB adapters than come with the Xenyx mixers are just generic usb audio devices, you shouldn't have a problem there. Sony's requirements for Acid Pro 7 include Windows 7, so presumably they've done some testing with it. The only possible trouble could be the Axiom, M-Audio is very nearly random in their driver support for some products.
posted by jjb at 5:20 PM on November 7

Is there any way you could find someone with a Windows 7 installation disc and install it on your machine for an hour or two to see if it works?
posted by Green With You at 7:51 PM on November 7

Actually you might even be able to just use the Release Candidate if you can find it.
posted by Green With You at 7:52 PM on November 7