Cakewalk Sonar 8 benefits from Windows 7's enhanced multithreading support.

Cakewalk has been reprogramming PCs into music studios since the days of DOS. Today, CTO Noel Borthwick explained the deep, technical details of how the architectural changes in Windows 7 will help (and sometimes hinder) audio processing. He's very positive overall. Asked if he'd upgrade his digital audio workstation (DAW) to Windows 7, Borthwick replied:

Yes, absolutely. Windows 7 finally delivers on the stability and performance that users hoped for from Vista. The kernel changes and optimizations for large scale multicore processors make it very attractive to DAW users who are interested in better low latency performance. I will be building a new DAW soon and Windows 7 X64 will be my OS of choice.

Perhaps the title of Borthwick's article, "How Windows 7 Will Effect Your Music Production," is more prescient than it seems. ;-)

For more analysis, check out the always insightful Peter Kirn's "Obsessive Windows 7 Under-the-Hood Guide for Music."