the new trend in doublespeak- "broadest OS support"
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| Author | Content |
|---|---|
| tuxchick Aug 17, 2008 10:01 PM EDT |
Has anyone else noticed that an increasing number of hardware devices are boasting of their "broad OS support" or "broad driver support", and then listing a number of Windows versions plus Mac? Here is one example: http://www.zzounds.com/item--MDOD1010LT "Midiman provides you with not only highly stable drivers but also the broadest driver compatibility of any card. All Delta audio cards feature drivers for Windows XP, 2000, ME, 95/98, and NT, ASIO, Direct Sound, EASI, Multi-client 95/98/ME and Multi-card drivers for all Windows OS, Gigasampler, Mac Sound Manager, and Mac ASIO, ASIO2" I'm going to start keeping track and posting them here. And you wonder why I believe in conspiracies. |
| techiem2 Aug 17, 2008 10:06 PM EDT |
lol. So doing what they should have been all along (i.e. supporting all the commonly used Windows versions) is now a marketing tactic...why am I not surprised? Of course, it has been the trend the last few years to manufacture the device then only write drivers for XP and later (maybe 2k if you're lucky). Given, I'd be more impressed if they added Linux to that list. |
| gus3 Aug 17, 2008 10:28 PM EDT |
Someone should ask them about supporting Linux. |
| gus3 Aug 18, 2008 11:48 AM EDT |
Quoting:You would need to call M-Audio for an explanation of that statement. Manufacturers give us all information found on the site.Followed by the number to call... |
| phsolide Aug 18, 2008 11:50 AM EDT |
Hey, every cloud has a silver lining. At least you know which vendors have read and understood MSFT and Wag-Ed's latest "talking points". In '94, NT was "the best designed Operating System ever". We've seen the truth of that in terms of the total security collapse of NT 4.1, eh? Around 2002, it was "rich computing experience". Can't really recall any other phrases that would show up over and over again, in ISV ads, shill's talkbacks, etc etc, but it's nice to know the practice hasn't changed. |
| hkwint Aug 18, 2008 6:17 PM EDT |
Darnit TC, of all the manufacturers you pick exactly the wrong one, and even exactly the wrong series of their products! When it comes to Linux, there are only two brands of soundcards: RME, and the other, you guessed it, M-Audio. They deliver the best Linux support of all of them, especially for the Delta series. They just forgot to mention it. Hey, that list was long, wasn't it? And for Win / Mac they have to mention every version while for Linux there's only one single driver (AFAIK). Because OSS (the driver, obsoleted by Linus & co) supports these M-Audio cards that must mean support in *BSD and Solaris too. I must admit the driver is non-free and therefore is not in the 'standard' Linux kernel. That's why I mention RME, because RME is in the 'standard' kernel; so if you enjoy freedom go for RME instead of M-Audio. About M-Audio's 'good Linux support': It must be true since I once read it in paper print in a Linux magazine! If you still don't believe me, use the F Google. A search for "M-Audio Linux" turns up more results than "Soundblaster Linux"; and you can guess which of the two have been sold more the last decade (hint: Compare prices of Creative crap and M-Audio). Without much effort I find 10 M-Audio Delta models supporting Linux: http://www.m-audio.com/index.php?do=support.drivers&f=422 They even paid a third party to develop Linux (ed: OSS) drivers as far as I can see. Also, on Linux.com there was an article named: "Making music with M-Audio on Linux" http://www.linux.com/feature/126408 (Indeed not everything worked. Windows is their primary platform. As said before: Go for RME) Enough said. So indeed they offer a rather broad support; most of the times including Linux. I wonder if I know _ANY_ sound-equipment vendor (except RME) spent so much effort at supporting UNIX. So you're aiming your 'conspiracy theory' at one of the _really really_ few manufacturers supporting Linux. One of the only vendors you should be thankful to. Sounds very stupid to me, like you're not knowing what you're talking about (that's OK, happens to me weekly; or is it daily?) Indeed, rather start ranting at those #()?+"#! called Ceative with their X-Fi series. Oh, I'm sorry. X-Fi doesn't fit in the 'broad OS support' list. Here's what they support: Quoting:Microsoft® Windows Vista® (Service Pack 1) or Windows® XP (x64, Service Pack 2 or Media Center Edition) Sounds more like a problem to me than M-Audio forgetting to mention they paid a third party (I guess the OSS-people didn't do it for free) to offer Linux support. |
| tuxchick Aug 18, 2008 6:57 PM EDT |
Well Hans, if they're such good friends to their Linux customers, why are they so shy about saying it? I doubt it's because they're forgetful. **edit** To me this is a fairly significant issue- we all know what a huge pain in the behind it is to find out if hardware devices will work on Linux. Vendors who can't be bothered to make this information as easy to find as they do for the eleventy-eight flavors of Windows and Mac are shortchanging their Linux customers. |
| jezuch Aug 19, 2008 2:09 AM EDT |
Ouch... Once they start they will feel obliged to mention all 3249 distros... Now how about *that* for "broad OS support"? ;) |
| Sander_Marechal Aug 19, 2008 2:52 AM EDT |
Quoting:Ouch... Once they start they will feel obliged to mention all 3249 distros... Not at all. We're talking hardware here. All they have to do is mention the minimal kernel version you need. I've seen it quite a few times on boxes that hold higher prices hardware (i.e. RAID cards: Win2000/XP/Vista, MaxOSX 10.1 or better, Linux kernel 2.6.18 or better) |
| hkwint Aug 21, 2008 3:16 PM EDT |
Well, I actually started doubting if the support for Linux for M-audio products is still that good now Linux ditched OSS. And I think we can say the don't support free software: You have to 'redownload' OSS every six months because then the license terminates! Someone should send M-Audio a mail maybe, to ask why they 'skipped' it. TC: I'll be looking for more of these 'broad OS support'.Quoting:they have to do is mention the minimal kernel version you need. In the case of M-Audio they should mention OSS driver; kernel version is less interesting. |
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