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SA/Smaart/Driverack Software on Mac running windows

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Dan Lawrence:

--- Quote from: Langston Holland on December 24, 2011, 10:38:31 PM ---Hi Dan:

Preliminary stuff:

1. You won't be able to remain in the "cyber dummy" category if you want to use computers in audio, particularly if you want to get into measurement.

2. You do not need a dedicated Windows PC if you have an Intel based Mac with at least 4GB of memory and 40GB or so of spare hard disk space you can dedicate to Windows. The Intel based Macs are the most stable hardware platforms I've ever used for WinXP or Win7.

Decisions to make:

1. If you want native Mac measurement software, Smaart v7 is by far the best way to go. In this case I'd avoid Bootcamp and use Parallels with Win7 with all your non-measurement Windows software.

2. If you want to run Windows based measurement software, Smaart v7 should still be at the top of your list. In this case I'd use Bootcamp with Win7.

3. You'll need to decide between Win7 64bit which has the advantage of showing a pretty graph of all the RAM you have installed in your computer, or Win7 32bit which will run your audio and measurement software better and faster.

Further thoughts:

1. Buy a book on Win7 and the version of OSX you use. Sacrifice a week or two - you'll never regret it.

2. Audio measurement software needs a stable and fast connection to the audio hardware. Use Bootcamp for Windows when using Windows based measurment software. Even if you can get it to work, making measurements with Windows software in a virtual machine like Parallels through the OSX host and then to the audio hardware is a recipe for problems. A possible exception to this is SysTune when used with the Aubion x.8 Ethernet based audio hardware. Virtual machines are quite efficient in their handling of TCP/IP with the host OS.

3. Win7 rocks. Overall, I think that it's somewhat better than OSX. Nevertheless, I prefer the mindset behind OSX and spend 90% of my time there.

4. I very much prefer using Win7 32bit in a Bootcamp partition with audio only software installed. I run Win7 lean and mean and never have to worry about dozens of productivity apps, etc., slowing things down or creating conflicts with my audio apps. Every day life happens in OSX. I have the best of both worlds. The only other way to pull this off is with separate computers and that's a hassle.

5. It's fun having a computer that natively runs both Windows and Mac software. Mac hardware is a joy to own and use, although when all is said and done it costs about 2x the PC solution.

Merry Christmas! :)

--- End quote ---

thanks for the details and breakin it down for me. I do have an intel macbook pro, but I think my memory is a bit shy. I'll read your post thoroughly.

Happy New year.

dd

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