Bad News - Apogee No Longer Supporting Windows

[IraSeigel]

http://www.eqmag.com/article/apogee-discontinues-windows/feb-09/93403

[Dave Labrecque]

http://www.eqmag.com/article/apogee-discontinues-windows/feb-09/93403

What stuff of theirs uses drivers?

[Craig Allen]

What stuff of theirs uses drivers?

The Duet for one. IIRC, it's a 2 channel sound card.

[TotalSonic]

ssshhh! I'm trying to keep the news from my Apogee/Soundscape 896i/o - I want to keep it still happily talking to my Sydec Mixtreme 192 it's hooked up to!

Seriously - seems they've formed an alliance with Apple to push Logic/Apogee DAW solutions as a more cohesive competition to Digidesign. Anyway - any of their products that really "matter" have AES, lightpipe and spdif i/o - so you can still hook them up to RME, Lynx, or other cards with digital i/o.

Best regards,
Steve Berson

[DominicPerry]

This is a great idea - focus your efforts on a platform which is trying to remove the 2nd most sensible way to connect a laptop to an interface - Firewire. Of course, Apple have already removed the most sensible way - PCMCIA/ExpressCard from most models.

Dominic

[Bill Park]

I have told several of the Microsoft bashers here that Apple is far more interested in controlling their entire computer experience than MS, and they don't believe me. Well, I guess it's NOT true... because now they have the telephone and portable media player on the table too, so it apopears that they are looking to dominate your entire life.

Not satisfied with their control so far, they have mounted an incrediby successful attack on the PC market which is brilliant and it working quite well.

So in case you missed it, they are also attacking Pro Tools as we speak, trying to blow them out of the market. They have aquired various competition, and are combining the talents fo these companies to make Logic the audio application of choice.

IF Apple succeeds in their goal, SAW will not be a viable product. Nothing will be, except for Apple apps.

Bill

[AcousticGlue]

I fear no Apple. :)

Many bash Microsoft and time will tell but I think we are a long way from that still.

I hate Apple file systems, I hate Apple mice, I hate the windows they use, I hate the way it is configurable in use, I hate that more software than not doesn't work on it without a bunch of layered stuff on top. To me there just isn't much to like about Apple at all.

If Apogee swings, who cares? Someone else will make just as good equipment and be cheaper. Oh wait, they already do.

[IraSeigel]

I fear no Apple. :)

Many bash Microsoft and time will tell but I think we are a long way from that still.

I hate Apple file systems, I hate Apple mice, I hate the windows they use, I hate the way it is configurable in use, I hate that more software than not doesn't work on it without a bunch of layered stuff on top. To me there just isn't much to like about Apple at all.

If Apogee swings, who cares? Someone else will make just as good equipment and be cheaper. Oh wait, they already do.

+1

I just wish TOFU - sorry, MOTU - would get their Windows act together more. Maybe Metric Halo, too.

Ira

[Bill Park]

I fear no Apple. :)

Many bash Microsoft and time will tell but I think we are a long way from that still.

I hate Apple file systems, ...

On another forum someone suggested that I was bashing Apple.

I have very little use for Microsoft, and don't care for many if any of their applications.

I have even less use for Apple. Their apps that I have had to use, I dislike. iTunes is invasive, gets way into your computer, as does Quicktime.

But as I have said so many times before, I work in applications, not OSes. This means that the OS needs to accept the applications that I want to use.

I really hope that we don't get pushed out into the Linux or Unix world... it would be line learning DOS all over again.

Bill

[DavidandMary]

I heard that the Apogee/Euphonix/Logic deal was Apple's big push for more market share. Someone told me that Bob Clearmountain is a MAC Head and that his wife, who owns Apogee is following his lead so to speak. It must be about the money. But, who cares...

SAW Rocks!!!

[Pedro Itriago]

That Apogee is doing what???? Good riddance!!!

[Bill Park]

For business applications Windows has always been the leader, and I needed to have one around for that. But an old clunker will still run Office, email, and browsing.

For audio and video, the Mac has always lead the way. In that regard, the only reason I needed a PC was to run SAW back when I got started with DAW work. And the only reason for that was because the alternative solution on the Mac (at the time) was far too expensive.

The playing field has certainly leveled in regard to DAW apps and audio interfaces. Macs are generally still more expensive, but you get what you pay for in my opinion, especially for media apps. They are just more audio/video friendly.

Mark

But MS Office was never my favorite office suite or word processor.

Back when a lot of us older guys got started with original SAW, MS was writing software for Apple... interesting little historical tidbit.

In terms of the choice of DAW, what works for me might not work for you, and what works for you might not work for the next guy, but we all seem to get our work done. I don't think that this is OS-dependant. Unfortunately for many of the Mac users, many of the Mac audio software companies have falled, while on the PC, the choices appear to be growing. Soit may be soon, as it appears that Apple wants to own their own particular little universe. It will be interesting to see what develops in the Apple/Digi war to come... will it be like Clearchannel/Tickemaster? Probably similar. (Remember the old "MS-DOS isn't done until Lotus doesn't run" memo?)

Bill

[DominicPerry]

It's just daft - as Mark said, Windows has always been the choice for office/business work, and Apple has had an automatic advantage in the creative market, mainly because the hardware and the OS look pretty. And so it was, everyone in the creative market was happy and loyal, sitting at their nicely formed Mac, smiling at the smiley face, ignoring the price premium and ignoring the fact that, with rare exceptions, you could get a lot more processing power for less money with a PC. I don't care, I love Macs, I looked after them for the first 8 years of my professional career, they have a lot of appeal. But why, why, why start eliminating your core market? Keep the bloody interfaces which connect to the devices which the creatie media types use. Instead, they think that the future is lots of wireless kids wirelessly connecting to wireless social networking sites and interacting wirelessly. Idiots. And I bet a good chunk of Apogee's users are on PC. Why cut off section of your already-established market? Idiots. I hope they both sink.

Dominic

[MikeDee]

Back when a lot of us older guys got started with original SAW, MS was writing software for Apple... interesting little historical tidbit.

Bill

Very true. Back in the ol' DOS days when Lotus 1***8729;2***8729;3 and Word Perfect were king and queen, MS Excel and Word didn't even exist on the PC...they were Mac only.

What does this have to do with audio? Plenty...not. Sorry for hijacking. :rolleyes:

[Dave Labrecque]

Very true. Back in the ol' DOS days when Lotus 1***8729;2***8729;3 and Word Perfect were king and queen, MS Excel and Word didn't even exist on the PC...they were Mac only.

What does this have to do with audio? Plenty...not. Sorry for hijacking. :rolleyes:

Doesn't MS still write software for the Mac? Like the Office apps?

I bet Bill was referring to something else for Apple, perhaps behind-the-scenes code?

[IraSeigel]

Still, let's not forget that MS hasn't exactly been our friend, either. Where's the support for Firewire? Where's the support for turning off non-critical background processes? Win7 will let you turn off IE8 - well good, but that's just a start.

And I'm not a programmer, so I ask: does MS make it easy (APIs, etc) for folks like Bob? Or is Apple more programmer-friendly?

I wish I had accepted MS's invitation last summer to come out to Redmond and participate in one of their user tests. I would REALLY like to have been able to give them some Firewire feedback!

Ira

[MikeDee]

I believe M$ still supports the Office apps on the Mac. I'm unsure as to whether the Mac versions have the same bells and whistles as the PC ones, though.

Some time ago the Mac versions used to lag behind a lap or two. Nowadays, with source version control and better cross-platform compatibility (or so they say), it is possible that both the PC and Mac versions are on par with each other. However, I can't say so for sure...I've never tried Office on a Mac. :)

Also, I'll see your bet and raise you one skinny chicken. :D

[Perry]

I have both PC and Mac.. and in many ways I wish I could have neither. :)

Oh well... I just try to keep dealing with music as much as possible.. and not the OS. And one thing I really like about SAWStudio (among many other things) is that it let's you ignore the OS to a large degree... at least more so than most apps I'd say.

Interesting development anyway... but not entirely surprising. When you think about it too, Digidesign sees the need to support both OSes. We'll see if Apple/Apogee is making the right decision... eventually.

Some interesting ones have come and gone.. but I could see 'us' sooner or later ending up on some sort of embedded system if all else fails or goes completely wonky. Underneath it might still be M/S.. but we wouldn't 'see' it. My old Mackie D8B was like that and you didn't have to think much about the OS..if at all.

IN the meantime.. Happy SAWing!!!

Perry

PS: I believe this is supposed to be a year of change.. right? So far... in the world as I've seen it.. and in my own personal life.. it certainly is truning out to be just that... and it's early yet! :eek: :)

[brent]

Doesn't MS still write software for the Mac? Like the Office apps?

Yes they do. And when asking one of my friends who is a BIG wig at MS which platform is easier to right for and performs better, he told me OSX.

[andysharifi]

Check this out. Apple iphone controlling pro tools mac.

http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/12/11/iphone-hacked-to-control-pro-tools/

[Pedro Itriago]

Check this out. Apple iphone controlling pro tools mac.

http://www.engadgetmobile.com/2007/12/11/iphone-hacked-to-control-pro-tools/

You could also control a PC with a pocket PC using terminal services, waaay before that.

[Perry]

Hmmmm... got to thinking... I wonder if Apple/Apogee might shut out Digidesign from running on Mac at some point. Now THAT would be interesting! :eek:

It seems that in some board meeting (or bored meeting) I could imagine this being someone's brainchild, if it isn't already.

Could they even do that?

Stranger things have happened! :)

Perry

[DominicPerry]

Hmmmm... got to thinking... I wonder if Apple/Apogee might shut out Digidesign from running on Mac at some point. Now THAT would be interesting! :eek:

It seems that in some board meeting (or bored meeting) I could imagine this being someone's brainchild, if it isn't already.

Could they even do that?

Stranger things have happened! :)

Perry

You're right, that's the kind of unprincipled, immoral behaviour which plenty of companies aspire too in the name of competition - seek market share at the expense of the existing user base. Luckily, I think even the most die-hard Mac fans would see the sense in hanging onto $10K's investment in Digi hardware/software (and the time spent mastering it) and swapping $2-3K's worth of Mac for a PC. But that won't necessarily stop the business-morons making the decision. We wait and see.....

I'm still hoping for a sensible one-shot Linux install with all the WINE/JACK/doodah you need to support audio, carefully included, so that the average Joe, who doesn't give a **** about the OS can load it and run their favourite audio app on top. As Microsoft gradually bog everything down in background services and 'helpful' interruptions, and Apple eliminate hardware support for connecting wires between the computer and the hardware, and force you to use Logic or alternatively, Logic, it may become the only option. Who knows, in a few years time, it may actually be a GOOD option.

Dominic