+++This+++ is a CNET article on the Windows 11 speculation. It does reference some of the other postings in this thread, but in the end that could be an echo chamber effect. But it does seem like there will be a major update coming, whether it is called Windows 11 or not.
John
Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 12TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 12TB SATA
Microsoft's tool to check if your PC is compatible with the requirements for Windows 11 is offline.
If you want to check yours, there is an open-source tool I found, here: https://github.com/rcmaehl/WhyNotWin11 Scroll down to download the latest release, then unzip it.
Both my 2014-era PCs failed miserably.
BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Fender Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.
Microsoft's tool to check if your PC is compatible with the requirements for Windows 11 is offline.
If you want to check yours, there is an open-source tool I found, here: https://github.com/rcmaehl/WhyNotWin11 Scroll down to download the latest release, then unzip it.
Both my 2014-era PCs failed miserably.
I tried this one myself. My computer has more red or yellow boxes than green...
Surely they will have to relax the hardware requirements for windows 11, or else there will be a slow take up, as 10 support doesn't end until 2025, I will probably need a new pc before that.
Windows 10 (64bit) M-Audio Fast Track Pro, Band in a Box 2025, Cubase 14, Cakewalk and far too many VST plugins that I probably don't need or will ever use
I ran the utility on both my new HP laptop and my homebuilt desktop (which I've upgraded multiple times over a decade).
My laptop passed in all categories. The desktop failed on a few items, notably the TPM. It has an ASUS motherboard, but it's dated 2012. On the ASUS website, I found the following: "TPM 2.0 was introduced back in 2015, and all ASUS motherboards feature version 2.0."
So my 2012 P8H77-V LE motherboard isn't supported. My I7 CPU isn't listed as compatible and a few other items are flagged as red.
But below is my laptop result:
John
Laptop-HP Omen I7 Win11Pro 32GB 12TB SSD Desktop-ASUS-I7 Win10Pro 32GB 12TB SATA
I had a lot of RED the first time around and now I'm mostly GREEN due to one particular topic that causes all the RED. This was a rabbit hole that took a while to chase down......
I had RED items with Boot Method, Disk Partition Type, & Secure Boot.
So you have to convert your OS disk, typically C:\ from MBR (Master Boot Record) to GPT (GUID Partition Table). When that's done you can switch your BIOS from Legacy to UEFI. Once that's done, you can turn on Secure Boot in your BIOS.
If your computer is too old, BIOS may not even have an option for UEFI. I had the option but it didn't work at first because the OS disk wasn't converted.
Once I hit that link I followed the "How to convert MBR to GPT with MBR2GPT?" part of the page for running in Windows 10. One thing of note when running the command, your C:\ OS drive may not be zero unless it's your only drive. Since I have extra drives on my main PC, my OS drive was actually Disk2 per Disk Management. So I put a 2 in the command where "N" was and it ran fine.
From there, I just had to reboot the PC and press F2 to enter BIOS. I switched from Legacy to UEFI and then turned on Secure Boot and now I have the result below:
I'm not going on a rant about security issues but I'll say that in my tax business per a recent federal law and IRS regs I now have to have a security plan in place, have several levels of online protection and be able to prove it if one of my clients suffers an identity theft issue traceable back to me.
I know many here poo poo all this and that's great, I'm not preaching at anybody, I'll just say online security is getting pretty damn serious and it's really impacting business at many levels from government access to booking a flight.
TPM shouldn't be a surprise to any of you who know more about PC's and software than I do. They've been talking about hardware security and encryption at the CPU level for years now. If some don't care I totally agree, MS will almost certainly extend support for Win 10 beyond 2025 so you're good for many years. However, while I won't be in the very first group to update to 11, I'll probably be right behind them, it is a business expense which helps. Of course my current system being a 7 year old i7 failed, I've had it for 5 years about time to retire it anyway.
Bob, is your type of business covered under some arm of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act? I have always wanted tp punch both of those guys in the face.
I worked a contract for a bank. When computers were retired, the data was moved, the hard drives were wiped with a 3 pass process that wrote 0s on every sector of the hard drive, AND we had to remove them and using a drill press, drill three 1/2" holes through the platters. Have you ever tried to drill through a hard drive platter?
One time in a meeting the powers that be were discussing the process of moving retired PCs from the main business office of the bank to the data center when that process was performed. They were going back and forth about security during transit, and just when the decided that everything was secure, your truly tapped his pen on the table and asked "How well do you know these drivers from the company you hired to moved the PCs? Is it outside the realm of possibility that IF they wanted to do so, they could drive that truck to a garage where 100 guys are waiting with tools and junk hard drives and swapping out the hard drives from the bank's computers. It is highly unlikely, but possible. And for the last 90 minutes you have all been going on and on about hypotheticals. Well, there's my hypothetical."
Crickets.
After they hemmed and hawed for about 3 minutes I stood up, smiled, and said "I think my work here is done." and left the meeting. The same day they changed the process so a bank employee would have to be the one driving the truck. As I whispered to my co-worker "How do they know they can trust HIM? Albert DeSalvo (The Boston Strangler) told a woman he was a detective before he molested and killed her." And he looked at me and said "Oh just shut up, will ya?"
This is one of my favorite tech sites for when I really want to feel stupid. Just watching this makes me want to go throw up in the corner but they seem to be extremely competent with this stuff. I know some of you guys will eat this up so here it is:
It's good that they're going back one more generation of CPU, though that won't help people who have machines older than a 7th gen Intel Core. That said, if you're running something much older than that, it's time to upgrade your computer.
This change basically allows computers from the past 5 years to run Windows 11. For comparison, the latest macOS supports computers from the last 8 years, which goes back to a 4th gen Intel. As Apple has complete control over what components will run on their OS, they can get away with supporting older machines as they know exactly what's in them. Microsoft, on the other hand, has to rely on hundreds if not thousands of companies to write updated drivers to be able to offer support for older hardware. I honestly think it's fairly generous that they support up to 5 years back, as trying to match Apple's 8 years would mean they'd have to try and support every machine that ever shipped with Windows 8, and some that shipped with Windows 7.
Sure you CAN upgrade, Matt. It's just going to cost you. And therein lies the complaint I have had against Micro$oft and Apple. They hold us hostage with their upgrades that require hardware replacement. There comes a point where they create yet another new OS that your hardware can't run. I had an original iPad that couldn't run the OS needed to run the cooler new apps. I hate them for this business model of forced obsolescence.
Last Chance! The Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac® Special Ends Today (May 31, 2026) at 11:59pm PDT!
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There's an amazing collection of new content too, including 202 RealTracks, new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two RealDrums Stems sets, and much more!
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Band-in-a-Box® 2026 Mac Special Offers Extended Until May 31st!
Good news- we've extended our Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac® special offers until May 31, 2026!
Band-in-a-Box® 2026 is packed with major new features, enhancements, and an incredible lineup of new content! The program now sports a sleek, modern GUI redesign across the entire interface, including updated toolbars, refreshed windows, smoother workflows, a new dark mode option, and more. The brand-new side toolbar provides quicker access to key windows, while the new Multi-View feature lets you arrange multiple windows as layered panels without overlap, creating a flexible, clutter-free workspace. We have an amazing new “AI-Notes” feature. This transcribes polyphonic audio into MIDI so you can view it in notation or play it back as MIDI. You can transcribe an entire track (all pitched instruments and drums) or focus on individual parts like drums, bass, guitars/piano, or vocals. There's an amazing collection of new content too, including 202 RealTracks, new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 5, two RealDrums Stems sets, and much more!
There are over 100 new features in Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac®.
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Today's the Last Day of the Band-in-a-Box 2026® for Mac Special!
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Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac - Special Offers End at 11:59pm PDT on Friday, May 15th, 2026!
Order before 11:59pm PDT on Friday, May 15th and SAVE up to 50% on most Band-in-a-Box® version 2026 for Mac Upgrade packages... and that's not all! With your version 2026 for Mac purchase, we'll include a Bonus PAK full of great new Add-ons FREE! Upgrade to the 2026 49-PAK to receive even more NEW Add-ons including 20 additional RealTracks... that's 222 NEW RealTracks available with version Band-in-a-Box® 2026 for Mac!
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Learn more about the Free Bonus PAK and 49-PAK here.
If you have any questions about which package is the best option for you, just let us know. We're here to help!
202 New RealTracks Released with Band-in-a-Box 2026!
With Band-in-a-Box® 2026, we've released 202 incredible new RealTracks (in sets 468-488) in a variety of genres—featuring your most requested styles!
Jazz, Funk & World (Sets 468-475):
Our new jazz, funk & blues RealTracks include a groovin’ collection of RealTracks and RealDrums! These include more requested “soul jazz” RealTracks featuring artists Neil Swainson (bass), Charles Treadway (organ), Brent Mason (guitar), and Wes Little (drums). There are new “smooth jazz” styles (4), which include a RealTracks first: muted trumpet, as well as slick new smooth jazz brushes options for drums. Blues lovers will be thrilled—there are more “classic acoustic blues” styles, including guitar (5), bass (4), and drums (10) with blues master Colin Linden, featuring understated and tasty background acoustic soloing, plus brushes drums and acoustic bass. There are also new electric blues RealTracks, including electric blues with PG favorite Johnny Hiland (3) and soulful electric slide guitar from Colin Linden (4). If you love funk & gospel, there are great new options this year, including gospel organ (3) from Charles Treadway, as well as new funk, tango, and rock ’n’ roll drums (3) and bass (1). And for big, bold arrangements, we have uptempo soul horns (4) featuring a three-part hip horn section with options for a full mix or stems of each individual horn — plus an accompanying rhythm section (4) of drums, bass, guitar, and electric piano!
Rock & Pop (Sets 476–482):
Our new rock & pop RealTracks bring a powerful mix of requested favorites, fresh genres, and modern chart-inspired styles! We have more of our popular “Producer Layered Acoustic Guitars (15)” featuring Band-in-a-Box favorite Brent Mason. We’ve continued our much-requested disco styles (10), and added new Celtic guitar (5) with a more basic, accessible approach than our previous Drop-D or DADGAD offerings. There are also highly requested yacht rock styles (17), inspired by the smooth, polished soft-rock sound of the late ’70s and early ’80s — laid-back grooves, silky electric pianos, warm textures, elegant harmonic movement, and pristine production aesthetics. Fans of heavier styles will love our new glam metal (13), capturing the flashy, high-energy sound of ’80s arena-ready guitar rock. We also have a set of rootsy modern-folk rock (18), with a warm, organic sound combining contemporary folk textures and driving acoustic strumming. And we’ve added lots of new modern pop styles (16) — the kinds of sounds you’re hearing on the radio today, featuring exciting new drums, synths, and cutting-edge RealTracks arrangements.
Country, & Americana (Sets 483–488):
Our new country & Americana RealTracks deliver a rich collection of acoustic, electric, and roots-inspired styles! We have new country pop (9) with legendary guitarist Brent Mason. There is also a potpourri (14) of bouzouki, guitars, banjo, and more, perfect for adding texture and character to contemporary acoustic arrangements. We’ve added funky country guitar (5) with PG favorite Brent Mason, along with classic pedal steel styles (5) featuring steel great Doug Jernigan. There are more country songwriter styles (8) that provide intimate, rootsy foundations for storytelling and modern Americana writing. Finally, we have “background soloing” acoustic guitar (12) with Brent Mason — simpler, but still very tasty acoustic lines designed to sit beautifully behind vocals or act as a subtle standalone solo part.
And, if you are looking for more, the 2026 49-PAK (for $49) includes an impressive collection of 20 bonus RealTracks, featuring exciting and inspiring additions to add to your RealTracks library. You'll get new country-rhythm guitar styles from PG Music favorites Johnny Hiland and Brent Mason, along with modern-pop grooves that capture today’s radio-ready sound! There are also new indie-folk styles with guitar, bass, 6-string bass used as a high-chording instrument, acoustic guitar, and banjo. Plus, dedicated "cymbal fills" RealDrums provide an added layer that work very well with low-key folky styles with other percussion.
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-For Pro customers, this includes 27 new RealTracks and 23 new RealStyles.
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MIDI Styles Set 92: Look Ma! More MIDI 15: Latin Jazz
MIDI SuperTracks Set 46: Piano & Organ
Instrumental Studies Set 24: Groovin' Blues Soloing
Artist Performance Set 19: Songs with Vocals 9
Playable RealTracks Set 5
RealDrums Stems Set 9: Cool Brushes
SynthMaster Sounds Set 1 (with audio demos)
iOS Android Band-in-a-Box® App
Looking for more great add-ons, then upgrade to the 2026 49-PAK for just $49 and you'll get:
20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums with 20 RealStyle.
FLAC Files (lossless audio files) for the 20 Bonus Unreleased RealTracks and RealDrums
MIDI Styles Set 93: Look Ma! More MIDI 16: SynthMaster
MIDI SuperTracks Set 47: More SynthMaster
Instrumental Studies 25 - Soul Jazz Guitar Soloing
Artist Performance Set 20: Songs with Vocals 10
RealDrums Stems Set 10: Groovin' Sticks
SynthMaster Sounds & Styles Set 2 (sounds & styles with audio demos)
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