Digidesign has “announced” their Vista support information, but it’s leaving some users scratching their heads. Fully a year after Windows Vista went Gold Master, Digidesign doesn’t seem to be able to get a clear support picture together. How odd is Digi’s Vista support? Let’s see:
- Only Windows Vista Ultimate and Windows Vista Business are supported, not Home Premium — even though that’s a version typically bundled by default on most new Vista machines. This makes absolutely no sense whatsoever, as hardware support for audio is identical across versions, even in Vista Basic, and not a single other developer in the industry appears to be taking the same approach.
- M-Powered and LE are supported, but no HD. And, in fact, there’s not even an announcement about when to expect HD support.
- Digidesign still has no 64-bit support. Maybe not a deal killer, but SONAR has had 64-bit support for ages, and even Steinberg recently got in on the game with Cubase and Nuendo in a technology preview. MOTU has 64-bit Windows drivers, among others.
All of this comes with basically no explanation. If the operating system really isn’t ready, couldn’t Digidesign say so, or give some timetable on when they expect the situation to be remedied? And what’s the deal with failing to support Home Premium, again with no reasoning? This seems like not simply a failure of support, but a failure of communication. Vista may not be perfect, but given the number of PCs shipping with the OS onboard, ignoring it entirely doesn’t seem like a reasonable option. Maybe some more details for us, Digi? (I’ve had problems with Vista, but support from music software and hardware makers I’ve actually found to be good, with this exception.)
Information on Pro Tools Compatibility with Windows Vista [Digidesign]