hello there,

after trying a few versions of mixmeister in the past i finally decided to buy your product.
i just found studio 6 and decided it would fit my needs just perfect.

but what do i have to discover while trying to install the studio demo to see what changed since mixmeister 3 ?

"you need windows xp to install this program"

please PLEASE tell me this is NOT true.

i don't like windows xp and quite frankly i will never ever use it.
why isn't studio 6 available for windows 2000 too?

i don't want to complain too much, but please at least give me an explanation, why you cut us win2k users out of your product range.

thank you very much in advance

DocDance

Hiya DocDance, and welcome to the forums.

Yes, both Studio 6 and Pro 6 require Windows XP. You obviously have a clear preference for using Windows 2000, and others on these boards have made similar statements about continuing to use Windows 98, and someone else said they use Windows ME, etc. But it's not possible to keep everyone moving forward with the latest technology while still ensuring compatibility with earlier operating systems (which in some cases are now 7 years old). Doing so would require cutting back significantly on new features and improvements, so it's a case of trying to design the best product for the majority of users who now use XP.

Having said that, I can truly appreciate the frustrating choice this gives you. Over the years several Mac users have made similar requests that MixMeister invest development resources in a Mac version, but again this would require similar tradeoffs, so the decision has been the same.

If you really, really want the state of the art in music mixing software, then let me encourage you to upgrade to XP despite your preference for Win2K. You might find that you like it better than Win2K after all. You could even do a dual-boot configuration where you have the choice of XP or 2000 at startup.

Ardent, having been a beta tester for graphics software, I do know the issues that can arise from having to support multiple OSs.. especially when having to deal with 16- and 32-bit OSs. However, I, too, will not upgrade to XP and don't understand why the current version cannot support both XP and 2K. I can understand not supporting anything below 2K, though. I wish Aaron or someone would give some background info on this.

Javabear, how come you won't upgrade to XP?

No need to, really. It's not that big of an update to Win2K. Plus there's too much "big brother" activation of Microsoft's within it.

quote:

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Originally posted by javabearSTL:
No need to, really. It's not that big of an update to Win2K. Plus there's too much "big brother" activation of Microsoft's within it.

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Please go into detail... I am still wondering how come you haven't updated your OS. What do you mean by "big brother"?

quote:

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Originally posted by javabearSTL:
No need to, really. It's not that big of an update to Win2K. Plus there's too much "big brother" activation of Microsoft's within it.

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I never understand this argument over activation. You activate other legitimately purchased software so what's the difference with MS? It's just unlocking the software. And yes there's the personal info question, but any website you do commerce with holds a great deal more personal info about you than MS. Finally, this is the way all software will go, so if you don't like it you'll still be using the same applications in 10 years time.

As for 2K vs XP. It's true if you want to compare version numbers, 2K was v5.0 and XP is v5.1 however this basis for comparison belittles the under the hood changes in the OS. I accept this discussion is on a nano level and isn't of interest to most people.

I can understand the $ argument however, $200 is a lot to spend on a new OS, especially if you're not sure what you get for your hard earned.

OB

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Originally posted by DJ Andre:
Please go into detail... I am still wondering how come you haven't updated your OS. What do you mean by "big brother"?

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XP takes a "snapshot" of your system when you activate it. If it becomes "modified" beyond a level that MS feels is usual (and that's up to MS to decide what that level is), your system will stop working until you call up MS and prove to them that you haven't stolen the license # to the OS, etc.

I'm not going to install an OS that gets pissy because it feels I've changed too many hard drives on my system or swapped network cards or sound cards or video cards too often that it feels that it's no longer the same box it was originally installed on and then have to prove myself to Microsoft.

This is really old news and doesn't need to be gone into here.

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Originally posted by Omlette Brothers:
I never understand this argument over activation. You activate other legitimately purchased software so what's the difference with MS?

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Actually, I only have one piece of software on my system that uses activation and that is not something I purchased, but was given to me by Macromedia... Otherwise, I would not have any "activation" software on my computer.

quote:

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Originally posted by javabearSTL:
This is really old news and doesn't need to be gone into here.

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This is the first time I have heard this. Can anyone else verify this?

quote:

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Originally posted by javabearSTL:
Otherwise, I would not have any "activation" software on my computer.

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Can you please explain what "activation software" is?

quote:

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I'm not going to install an OS that gets pissy because it feels I've changed too many hard drives on my system or swapped network cards or sound cards or video cards too often that it feels that it's no longer the same box it was originally installed on and then have to prove myself to Microsoft.

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I will agree with you 200% about this issue Javabear,as in the past year and half or so I have had serveral pc mishaps and if I was using XP I would still have my pc down because I would refuse to pay for additional licences to MS,plus I know W2K almost inside & out if I were to have a problem with it and prefer it over XP any day,and we use XP at work and have had lots of issues with it.

So it looks like I will be using MMP5 for a good while.

Guys,

Activation and reactivation take at best a couple of seconds and at worst a 3 minute phone call.

Andre - Yes XP will allow a small number of significant changes beofre kicking into reactivation mode. In my experience changing the motherboard has required reactivation, however CPU/Memory and Video changes have not.

Its worth remembering that XP licence key on average gives you five clean install attempts before requiring an automated phone licence key refresh. Once this is done, you'll have another 5 attempts on average to activate XP.

Looking ahead, there will come a time, when MS stops producing hotfixes, service packs for Windows 2000 series of products. What are you guys going to do then? Will your position on this subject stay the same ? You'll have an OS that is more exploitable in terms of security and it can't run any of the latest apps.

OB

Just my tuppence worth...

I don't require Video so I was happy to have Pro 5 on Win2K without being able to do video. Mixmeister just said no way. No problem.

Could someone provide a list of new features in MMpro6 that could not be done in Win2k?

Then I can make an informed decision on whether to upgrade to XP or not...

Gaz

quote:

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Originally posted by DJ Andre:
This is the first time I have heard this. Can anyone else verify this?

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Andre, it's been all over the press since 2002 - just go to any computer news site like The Register, News.com, Wired, etc... or just google on xp activation and read up on the various articles to form your own decision.

quote:

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Originally posted by javabearSTL:

quote:

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Originally posted by DJ Andre:
This is the first time I have heard this. Can anyone else verify this?

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Andre, it's been all over the press since 2002 - just go to any computer news site like The Register, News.com, Wired, etc... or just google on xp activation and read up on the various articles to form your own decision.

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2002 seems to be a long time from now in computer age. Were these articles written in 2002? If they were, do you think the same people who wrote these articles are still with Win2K? I think many people write reports when things are new and bizarre. But after they got "no choice" they have to keep up with the times. Or else they'll be left behind. Like OB claims, after MS stops supporting Win2K, you'll have to upgrade to either XP or the next best thing (and even more "activation".)

What happens after XP with Microsoft? I am sure they'll come out with something new in a few years from now. Unless another "windows" OS comes out to compete against MS.

Yeah guys, I refuse to buy a car because I dont want to pay the Government money for the registration and tags. My horse and buggy will do just fine.

P.S. I get free fertilizer

On the serious side, I dont like how Microsoft does their activation either, but I use zone alarm which lets me know whenever Any background program tries to sent ANY information out. Then gives me the choice to block it or not. This has also helped to stop spam and many other aggrivating problems.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Krash,

In the same vein, what happens if you need to reinstall MMP5? Since users have no installation disc, will MixMeister still download replacement programs? If this mechanism exists, doesn't it make sense for MM to still offer new MMP5 installations to the non-XP crowd?