Which operating system is best for music-making in 2026?With the vast majority of DAWs, plugins and other tools being available for both Windows and macOS, choosing which to use in the studio used to be a simple binary choice. There are pros and cons on both sides – price, functionality, compatibility and all the rest of it – but really the choice boiled down to which OS you found the nicer place to work.
But in 2026, the choice is no longer so clear-cut. The differences between Windows and macOS are becoming wider, and users of both are becoming increasingly frustrated with the directions Apple and Microsoft are taking their products. All the while, Linux is increasingly making its presence felt as an attractive alternative to the two mainstream OSs.
This raises a question that we barely had to consider for a long time: which OS is best for making music?
Is Microsoft Windows 11 good for music production?
Best for: Producers who need maximum plugin compatibility and who want to tweak their setup for optimum performance. Also a strong option for producers on a budget.
Windows is by far the most widely used desktop operating system on the planet, and this brings with it a massive advantage over macOS and Linux: compatibility. The overwhelming majority of mainstream software packages are available for the platform, and Microsoft continues to include older code libraries in the OS to maintain backward compatibility with older software — or it attempts to, at least.
Wide hardware compatibility is also a major plus-point of Windows, and makes it possible for users to fully spec and build their own machines using any number of off-the-shelf components. This usually means PCs are more affordable than Apple’s Mac computers, and means they’re more repairable and upgradeable too.
A screenshot of Amplitube 5 running on Windows
When it comes to studio use, one big Windows shortcoming is that the audio hardware built-in to most PCs doesn’t support the low-latency operation required for music making. This can be dealt with by adding a studio-grade audio interface, but the interface manufacturer has to supply drivers – including a special ASIO driver to enable low-latency operation — to make the interface work with the OS. Even then, configuring Windows to use the hardware in the desired manner is often not straightforward, and the OS has an annoying habit of dropping your settings without warning or obvious cause.
I have two PCs – a desktop that can’t be upgraded to Windows 11 despite being a powerful machine, and a laptop that seemingly auto-upgraded itself from Windows 10, and has run like an asthmatic sloth ever since. The laptop’s also become unreliable for audio work, suffering from random audio drop-outs that aren’t anything to do with audio buffer size — it was never a powerful machine, but it worked just fine on Windows 10.
This year, countless users are finding grievances in: the artificial TMP 2.0 chip requirement preventing perfectly capable computers from installing the OS; the need to use a Microsoft account to log in to your computer; advertising and popups being pushed onto desktops and start menus; worse performance than Windows 10 on the same hardware; constant nagging to subscribe to Microsoft’s premium services; poor local search and file browsing performance.
Meanwhile, Microsoft’s built-in AI, Copilot, has been pushed into almost every corner of the OS, eating up your computer’s resources without much advantage — it certainly gives no advantage for music production.
Is a Mac still the best computer for music production?
Best for: Producers who want a low-friction setup with plug-and-play compatibility, and who are willing to pay a premium for it.
Being more standardised than the average PC, Apple Macs are a predictable platform for software developers to target, allowing code to be better optimised and reliable. Early in the days of computer-based music making, this predictability was important for music applications which could push the capabilities of the hardware, and ensured all major music software developers targeted the OS.
In the studio, Mac users benefit from the OS’s CoreAudio subsystem, which is excellent. This embeds high-quality, low-latency audio routing and I/O deep into the OS, benefiting both the built-in sound hardware and any external studio interface you attach.
Additionally, macOS supports the USB Class Compliant standard, so as long as your audio and/or MIDI interface supports this standard (most modern gear does) they will work with macOS without needing any drivers or supporting software. It’s what “plug-and-play” was always meant to be!
A screenshot of Cubase running on macOS.
Not everything’s perfect in the Mac camp, of course.
The price of a Mac is usually higher than a PC of similar power — although this has become less true since Apple’s transition from Intel CPUs to Apple Silicon. The 2025 Mac Mini, for example, is a stellar computer at an appealing price. However, Apple makes it extremely difficult for users to upgrade or repair their Macs and, since the 2021 launch of Apple Silicon models, only the $7,000+ Mac Pro allows any user upgradeability at all.
Another common complaint is Apple’s relentless and exhausting update cycle, with each new macOS version dropping a crop of older Macs from support. In addition, each major update can render some music production software incompatible, at least until its developers catch up. Every year, this makes for a slew of online discussions around the question “Should you upgrade macOS?”. The answer is usually “No, not yet.”
Looking ahead, many Mac users are concerned by Apple’s moves to unify macOS with iPadOS and iOS, despite the different requirements of desktop and handheld computing. So far, the company seems to be getting the balance right, adding capabilities to both Macs and iThings without removing features from either. The divisive Liquid Glass UI, now common across all Apple OSs, isn’t to everyone’s taste but can be disabled. Nevertheless, it feels like the risk of macOS being enshittified remains high right now.
Can you make music on Linux in 2026?
Best for: Producers who want maximum control of their software and operating system, who wish to escape the restrictions of the two mainstream OSs, or who wish to setup a studio computer on a limited budget.
Linux isn’t an operating system, but a ‘kernel’ around which operating systems can be built. This kernel is open source, resulting in many different companies, projects and individuals using it as the basis of their own OSs. Linux-based OSs are known as ‘distros’, but it’s common to refer collectively to all these distros simply as Linux (which is what I’ll do here too for the sake of simplicity).
Linux for desktop use has, in recent years, shaken off its reputation for being complicated and fiddly. That said, it still isn’t as easy-to-use as macOS, and there are certain tasks that aren’t as streamlined as in the other two OSs, such as installing software that isn’t managed by the software manager app. But there’s loads of help for this sort of thing online — if you can follow instructions, you’ll be fine
A screenshot of Reaper running on Linux.
Like macOS, Linux supports the USB Class Compliant standard and so any relatively modern USB audio and/or MIDI interface will work just fine. On the software front, there are many truly excellent open-source apps available – DAWs, effects, synths, and all manner of other tool –, and some of the bigger players are now supporting the platform too: Bitwig, Reaper, U-He, Renoise and Tracktion to name but a few.
Where compatibility problems remain, tools such as Wine or Proton can come to the rescue, allowing Windows software to run on Linux, with varying success.
What makes Linux a truly compelling studio OS, though, is JACK. This is akin to ASIO in Windows and CoreAudio in macOS, providing high sample-rate, low-latency audio support. However, JACK is a considerably more flexible system than either of these, presenting every sound source within your computer, right down to individual tracks and busses in your DAW or the output of a drum machine app, as nodes that can be patched and interconnected at will.
Put another way, where macOS and Windows provide an environment in which a DAW can run, JACK turns the entire OS into a DAW. Check out my deep-dive into using Linux for music production.
Verdict: Which computer and OS is best for music production
Unsurprisingly, Apple Macs remain the best choice for music making. They’re stable and fast, user-friendly, widely supported, and macOS stays out of the way and lets you get on with what you’re creating. The old tagline of “It just works” still holds true.
Windows remains a highly viable platform for music production, but given the current state of Windows 11 I would advise anyone setting up a new studio rig to strongly consider the other options. Upgrading from Windows 10 is a different matter, but I still suggest giving the other options some consideration. Windows 11 is awkward, annoying, prone to dropping your settings, and too focused on enterprise users. Copilot is an added layer of irritation that brings nothing to the studio other than to take processing power away from DAW and plugins.
Which means, if Apple’s prices and exhausting update cycles aren’t for you, and you don’t have an overarching need to use Windows, Linux is a no-brainer. The Ubuntu Studio distro is a perfect, free place to start, coming preconfigured for music-making and other creative exploits.
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