At the beginning of 2006, we learned that legendary guitarist Robert Fripp would create a musical theme for Windows Vista, following in the footsteps of the likes of Brian Eno. Well, after a brief joke that circulated about what the sound set would sound like, here’s the real sound theme, at least as far as […]

Flash VJs, motion graphics artists, photography lovers, interactive Flash programmers, I’ve got plenty of good news for you. There’s a whirlwind of activity from Adobe Labs this week (I imagine Beaker’s head exploding), so let’s hit it all at once — the weekend could be the perfect time to grab this stuff, as Adobe Lab’s […]

One major carrot Microsoft is holding out to convince people to upgrade to Vista some time next year is the broadly-overhauled DirectX 10. I’m skeptical about many of the new features in Vista, but I have to say, DirectX 10 is tempting, at least based on what we know now. Details are somewhat sketchy, but […]

Curious about what will change for music and audio in Windows Vista? Microsoft’s Channel9 site got up close and personal with Vista’s audio developers in an extensive video, featuring Steve Ball and Larry Osterman: Steve Ball – Learning about Audio in Windows Vista [Channel9] (thanks to our resident Windows watcher, Adrian Anders!) Vista will have […]

Windows Vista has been delayed to early 2007, but you’ll be hard-pressed to find Windows pro audio users who care. For me, the delays in Vista send a pretty clear message to PC audio users: go ahead and upgrade your machine now, rather than waiting for Microsoft. Get the PC you want, and take advantage […]

Congratulations, digital musicians: you’re on the cutting edge. Your needs for performance, quiet, power-efficient systems, and reliability are well beyond the average PC user. For that reason, I asked custom audio PC maker Rain Recording for some thoughts on the new Intel Core architecture announced last week (which is also relevant to Mac users — […]

Imagine touching a screen to directly control Live, Reason, Reaktor, and Max/MSP while you’re playing, with a full view of the interface. That’s been possible with tablet PCs for some time, but not with a touch-centric interface. While the Mac faithful have been drooling over a vague Apple patent for touchscreen interfaces, no one seems […]

All signs indicate that Vista could be a great OS for musicians, from overhauled audio drivers to robust 64-bit computing support and overall improvements in stability, performance, and usability. Microsoft tells CDM they can let us in on further details early in March. Now the bad news: Microsoft seems to be making a marketing decision […]

Our blog buddy Matrix just sent this one: how do you create music that embodies an operating system? On our bad computer days, I suppose that would involve crashing death metal and lots of expletives. Let me rephrase that: how do you create music that embodies Windows Vista when Microsoft has hired you? Legendary guitarist […]

On the PC side of things, we at least know what Windows’ next OS will be called. In a ultra-hyped video, you can watch the unveiling. (Were those onstage explosions?) The unveiling of the OS? Well, no. But the unveiling of the OS name, yes. I’ve heard privately from Windows audio developers that the upcoming […]