Windows 7 and Serato 2.0 make sweet music

If you walk into a club right now (well later tonight) anywhere chances are you will see 1 of 3 things, Serato, CDJ, or an Apple Laptop. Conventional wisdom says that if you are serious about DJing you need a Mac. The reason for this is mostly antidotal but the cut runs deep enough that it isn’t even questioned any more. Actually it isn’t just being a DJ that this applies to, most recording studios use that same logic, along with budding song writers and musicians. I sort of understand where the myth came from but it isn’t accurate. If anybody says otherwise ask this person to show you side by side tests to back the claim up, they can’t because there isn’t any.

Some of the questions I get asked a lot are does Windows 7 work with Serato and why don’t you use a Mac. The answer to the first question is simple, with the release of Serato 2.0 (actually since the release of Serato 1.9.2) yes it does, and the follow up question is always a shocked face with a “really???” to which I reply yes it does run quite well actually the same as on your MacBook Pro. The second answer is more about personal preference not an ideological or technical reason. There is a sort of mythical bias that runs deep in the music industry that at one point might have been built on something but honestly isn’t based on fact anymore. Macs and PCs today both share the same architecture on a purely hardware level so there is NO advantage strictly speaking in the “power” department on Apple computers. Windows 7 vs OSX is a completely different debate and it may shock some people but in some instances PCs do run things better.

It comes down to taste, price, and preference. I will say that the new MacBook Pro laptop frames seem to be built better than many of the cheaper PC laptops I’ve seen from a design and visual stand point, and their battery life is second to none. However and this is the big sticking point, Mac users share the same software woes as their PC counterparts. If you don’t believe me just do a search on OSX Serato problems. It happens to the best of us I’ve seen Macs on the frits in a party, I’ve been at clubs where the sound just shut off and the DJ has a befuddled look about him peering from behind his MacBook Pro sh#t happens. The reason for this 9 times out of 10 is usually user related not because of a brand.

So the big question is which one is better and I can’t answer that, it really depends on your needs vs price and your perceived value. But if you are worried about throwing a party with a Windows 7 laptop you can put your fears to rest because it works just fine.

Minimum Software Specs / My Recommendations: Windows 7 Laptop

• 1 GB of ram / I suggest no less than 2GB but 1GB will work
• 1.5 Ghz processor / I suggest Core2 Duo or better
• 1024 x 768 Screen Resolution
• 250Gb hard drive / 320kbs MP3 files start to add up quickly

* Please note: AMD chipsets are NOT supported by Serato at this time so only use Intel cpus

Serato was kind enough to include a link for of tweaks to help you get the most out of your DJ setup on windows 7 >>> Help