Hi folks,
20 year Mac user here so a little short on PC knowledge. I've had a 2011 Mac Mini (High Sierra) boot camped with Win 7 32 for probably 6 years. It's been solid but the drive is dying and my kids are claiming the Mac Mini so I need to start over.
I'll do a Bootcamped Mac again, likely used with a clean install of Catalina. What Windows version should I get?
My use case is pretty narrow - Prism dScope, maybe an Audio Precision in the mid term (likely older), simulation software (LTspice etc), Kicad, some speaker simulation stuff. All day to day Audio work is done on my Macs.
Should I buy Win 10? If so which version would you suggest? Or just go with Win 7 32 that I already own?
Thanks!
Ruairi
20 year Mac user here so a little short on PC knowledge. I've had a 2011 Mac Mini (High Sierra) boot camped with Win 7 32 for probably 6 years. It's been solid but the drive is dying and my kids are claiming the Mac Mini so I need to start over.
I'll do a Bootcamped Mac again, likely used with a clean install of Catalina. What Windows version should I get?
My use case is pretty narrow - Prism dScope, maybe an Audio Precision in the mid term (likely older), simulation software (LTspice etc), Kicad, some speaker simulation stuff. All day to day Audio work is done on my Macs.
Should I buy Win 10? If so which version would you suggest? Or just go with Win 7 32 that I already own?
Thanks!
Ruairi
Start with what you already have. Maybe you can get the free upgrade.
Here's how you can still get a free Windows 10 upgrade | ZDNet
Here's how you can still get a free Windows 10 upgrade | ZDNet
Last edited:
Something to worry about: will it be "on the internet"?
I have two special-duty machines on WinXP (2001-2008), and for its era WinXP did everything I could want; but I took them off-line (disabled all net hardware) several years back. One does document I/O via thumbdrive sneakernet; the other has exported 3 files in 5 years via thumb-USB.
On main machines I am clinging to Win7 until some massive worm wipes me out. My father and uncle "love" Win10, and I enjoy reading of their days-long struggles after any Windows Update. Printer quits, paid-for software ripped-out without notice, and worse.
I have two special-duty machines on WinXP (2001-2008), and for its era WinXP did everything I could want; but I took them off-line (disabled all net hardware) several years back. One does document I/O via thumbdrive sneakernet; the other has exported 3 files in 5 years via thumb-USB.
On main machines I am clinging to Win7 until some massive worm wipes me out. My father and uncle "love" Win10, and I enjoy reading of their days-long struggles after any Windows Update. Printer quits, paid-for software ripped-out without notice, and worse.
I like any option that doesn't require spending money! But given that I'll likely not do this again for another 6 or 7 years I'm wondering if I should future proof myself somewhat and go Win 10 64.
As alluded to earlier download Win 10 directly from Microsoft's web site. Choose the Create Windows 10 Installation Media option to make a DVD or bootable flash drive. I have done it both ways. This will run a program on your PC to make this disk or flash drive. It works on a W7, W8.1 or W10 PC.
Download Windows 10
Use this newly created media to do a clean install on your new machine. Read each of the option choices carefully, because this may be your only chance to disable spyware and Cortana. The machine will work as is, but it will not be "authorized" and thus display a nag screen and some customization options will not work. After you are convinced that it works for you and you want to keep it, try to authorize it using the W7 key that you already have.
I have done 6 or 8 PC's where it worked fine, and two that did not. They were both off lease laptops probably attached to a corporate account that did not permit user upgrades. Win 8 keys are hit or miss. W 8.1 keys work, but Vista and XP keys are "invalid."
Download Windows 10
Use this newly created media to do a clean install on your new machine. Read each of the option choices carefully, because this may be your only chance to disable spyware and Cortana. The machine will work as is, but it will not be "authorized" and thus display a nag screen and some customization options will not work. After you are convinced that it works for you and you want to keep it, try to authorize it using the W7 key that you already have.
I have done 6 or 8 PC's where it worked fine, and two that did not. They were both off lease laptops probably attached to a corporate account that did not permit user upgrades. Win 8 keys are hit or miss. W 8.1 keys work, but Vista and XP keys are "invalid."
I'm a big fan of the W10 LTSB, but you can't buy it. I own other versions of W10, which is how I justify using it. LTSB is designed for cash registers, ATM, mission critical computers. It gets only security updates. No Cortana, no Edge, no Windows store. Oh and you can actually turn off the built in spyware "telemetry". You actually CANNOT turn off telemetry completely with any other version.
I'll look into this but I have a feeling it'll require more PC chops than I have!
What does Windows 10 do if the machine is not connected to the internet, does it prompt or force you to connect?
FWIW, the SYS-2722 SW is tiny and takes up hardly any resources. Although it is many dB better THD+N-wise, unless you are doing the kind of work that needs -115 THD+N, you will likely find the 2722 a frustrating experience compared to the Dscope in terms of practicality. I would take a UPV (XP in both of ours) over either machine personally, and you won't need a host!
If you do CAD, then that's a different ballgame. I prefer win7 in general. Am putting up with the warning notices presently... How long can I put the inevitable off for?
If you do CAD, then that's a different ballgame. I prefer win7 in general. Am putting up with the warning notices presently... How long can I put the inevitable off for?
Thanks Justin! The dScope won't be going anywhere, it's a great machine and I'm comfortable and fast with the interface.
I have some projects that I've been too busy to get to for a long time but hoping that over the next few years I'll get to dig in as the kids get a little older. They will exceed the stock limits of the Prism. I've used a 2722 in the past and used to own a Sys One, I actually have a real love for the AP way! In my case it'll likely be a 2522 if I can justify at some point.
I've never had my hands on a UPV, they are still out of my price range even used. So all that said, possible AP is low on my list of considerations. Really, I'm just trying to plan for as little maintenance as possible on the bench PC over the coming while.
I have some projects that I've been too busy to get to for a long time but hoping that over the next few years I'll get to dig in as the kids get a little older. They will exceed the stock limits of the Prism. I've used a 2722 in the past and used to own a Sys One, I actually have a real love for the AP way! In my case it'll likely be a 2522 if I can justify at some point.
I've never had my hands on a UPV, they are still out of my price range even used. So all that said, possible AP is low on my list of considerations. Really, I'm just trying to plan for as little maintenance as possible on the bench PC over the coming while.
The machine I use for audio and video editing gets it's ethernet cable yanked before any serious use. It can be unplugged for two weeks or more on occasion. It does not complain, but it will go crazy downloading updates once the cable is reinstalled. This wholesale downloading consumes enough bandwidth and resources that the machine will often stumble while streaming 4K X 60 video. I usually let it "phone home" overnight after all critical work has been backed up on another machine.
It has a Ryzen 7 CPU, 32 GB of memory a GTX1660 video card with SSD's for the boot and app drive and the audio / video workspace. It can stream a 4K X 60 Hz video on one screen and another 1080 X 60 Hz video on another when it's not otherwise busy.
Note that several programs other than W10 require internet connectivity for updates and license verification checks.
I used the free upgrade method to turn several of my W7 machines into W10 machines. Note that a lot of older hardware will NOT work on W10, especially anything that uses PCI (not PCIe) slots. There are no W10 drivers for these older motherboards. The PC will boot and run W10, but the PCI slot doesn't show up. I have two old machines with old audio hardware (M-Audio Delta series) which will be W7 forever, with M-Audio XP drivers. They are not connected to the internet.
Many new CPU features will not work in W7, notably USB3, and motherboard CPU video in 4K resolution. On some motherboards the USB 2.0 ports will not work without drivers which don't get installed until after the W10 installation is underway. This can make your mouse / keyboard invisible, so you can't install W10. Sometimes the bootable flash drive can't even boot without the drivers. Plug it into a black USB jack if there is one.
> Many new CPU features will not work in W7, notably USB3
Works for me. Vanilla Win7-64 with the service packs, motherboard drivers, no special drivers.
Certainly it complains enough when I put a USB3 device in a USB2 port! But I do have a 4TB external drive in my one USB3 port and it's fast.
Works for me. Vanilla Win7-64 with the service packs, motherboard drivers, no special drivers.
Certainly it complains enough when I put a USB3 device in a USB2 port! But I do have a 4TB external drive in my one USB3 port and it's fast.
How did you invent this one? USB3 predates 10.
Apart from a laptop which came preinstalled all my machines are running 7/64 and i am still to find any reason to upgrade. The childish interface is not one.
FWIW, I found that Jriver sounded better running on W10. There is so much background garbage going on with newer versions of W10. I have to leave it run all the time so the updates are done when I want to listen to music.
I also prefer the sound when connected to a USB3 port verse USB2.
USB3 worked fine on all my W7 machines.
I also prefer the sound when connected to a USB3 port verse USB2.
USB3 worked fine on all my W7 machines.