Microsoft Prepares Apple GarageBand Competitor

Microsoft Prepares Apple GarageBand Competitor

Simon Andrews on 07 April 2006 - 21:15 · 38 comments & 23420 views

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It seems that the ongoing battle between Apple and Microsoft is about to get a bit bigger. According to Microsoft-Watch, Microsoft is preparing a program code named Monaco to go up against GarageBand, a part of Apple's iLife suite. GarageBand is a program aimed at amateur musicians, and comes with samples preloaded, making independent musicians work that much easier (and not to mention better).

Microsoft has declined to comment on whether or not it is creating a GarageBand competitor, but some Microsoft partners have said Microsoft plans to make the program take advantages of Windows Vista and the Aero userface.

View: Apple's GarageBand

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(2 replies) #1 rev23dev on 07 Apr 2006 - 21:24

woohoo! windows lacks anything decent like this period (for the price)

#1.1 hotdog963al on 07 Apr 2006 - 22:41

I agree.

#1.2 jameswjrose on 08 Apr 2006 - 17:17

Actually there is a program called Acid, with a free 10 track AcidXpress available (AcidPlanet.com) I have been using Acid since 1999 and I find it a wonderful product to use. Easy enough to start with, but many abilities to build on.

You may find my tracks at: AcidPlanet.com - Moon Over Juliet

(4 replies) #2 Nose Nuggets on 07 Apr 2006 - 21:28

cool! i think they should make a iPhoto competitor first. way more people use a digital cam then make music. an iMovie and iDVD would be good too.

its a start.

#2.1 Betaz on 07 Apr 2006 - 21:56

iPhoto competitor... they're working on. iMovie, Windows Movie Maker, iDVD, Windows DVD Maker. Now, those are free competitors, so they obviously aren't as good as something you'd pay for, but At least it's something.

A Garageband type app would make me very happy, and I like how they say it will take advantage of Aero. I hope that doesn't just mean there will be a lot of transparency. Hopefully they'll actually take advantage of it and do something useful with it.

I'll be interested to see what they come up with.

#2.2 Spielo on 07 Apr 2006 - 23:53

Windows already has a free iPhoto alternative, Picasa. Obviously Microsoft will want their own one, but I can't sing the praises of Picasa enough!

#2.3 Daffy_Duck on 08 Apr 2006 - 02:21

Agree. Picasa is better than iPhoto and it's free. I wish Google would bring it to the Mac.

#2.4 obsolete_power on 08 Apr 2006 - 06:38

Please do not compare iMovie with Windows Movie Maker...WMM doesn't even come close to iMovie

#3 chopyaedoff on 07 Apr 2006 - 21:35

Lets hope it doesn't suck (and is better than say, Band in a Box - that program is about the best amateur music making program for Windows but, it's still not as good as Garageband).

#4 Pimpster on 07 Apr 2006 - 21:41

would be nice if it came with amplitube 2, that would sure be an insentive to get it

it will never happen... i know.

(2 replies) #5 simon360 on 07 Apr 2006 - 21:44

I'm getting a nack for writing these things, 2 news articles in the last 2 days! Anyway, it's a good move by Microsoft, but does Apple have any patents in this area?

#5.1 cashman on 07 Apr 2006 - 21:57

Yeah, carry on submitting stuff everyone.

Patents on a music programme? That would be too broad, I'm sure Microsoft would have checked into all of that before spending money on something like this. Personally I love garageband, so simple to use, cut tracks and record via the apple mic. I'm not a musician but my course requires me to do radio features and it is perfect for that.

I also use Audition (cool edit pro) which is probably better for mixing and recording, but doesnt have all of those samples and isn't at all as user friendly as Garageband.

#5.2 wicker_man on 09 Apr 2006 - 13:48

Simon360, before you start praising your skills of a half-baked news reporter, take a dictionary and a grammar book so that next time you don't write stuff like 'userface'. Also, refine your language - it sounds thick and unnatural, otherwise your unprofessional journalism would never look better - after all, it's not just about posting stuff, is it? By the way, what grades do you get for your essays at school?

#6 Dalius on 07 Apr 2006 - 21:48

i hope it will be worth using... i doubt it will be better then what i'm using right now though (Cubase SE)

(5 replies) #7 jglo on 07 Apr 2006 - 23:10

How about competition for Apple's BootCamp?

#7.1 simon360 on 07 Apr 2006 - 23:14

To get XP on a Mac, or Mac on a PC? Mac on PC is illegal,. FYI, so MS wouldn't go there.

#7.2 Smigit on 08 Apr 2006 - 05:39

out of interest why is it illegal?

I mean you can run macs on custom built computers if you get the right components, so PC is just the one step beyond where you dont get fussy on components.

#7.3 Tomo on 08 Apr 2006 - 09:47

Because it would involve reverse engineering OS X to boot from a non EFI bios

#7.4 PureLegend on 08 Apr 2006 - 15:43

BootCamp sounds amazing, and if it weren't for the fact that I'm halfway through building a PC (Vista ready, of course) and if it weren't for the fact that iMac's can't be upgraded (as far as I know), I would definetely get an iMac.

Yes, Apple's OSX is illegal to run on a PC, but a BootCamp competitor could provide dual-boot support for Linux! Or, different scales of Vista (i.e. one classic style, for optimum gaming performance, one EFI supported edition etc...)

#7.5 LTD on 08 Apr 2006 - 23:19

Anything removable from the imac's board is upgradable. RAM can, of course, be upgraded. I'm not sure about the cpu and videocard, but i know for a fact that quite a few mac mini users have swapped out the mini's cpu (either version.)

Upgrading an imac in that fashion requires some work and patience, but there are detailed instructions floating around the web.

Then again, you get plenty of mileage out of a mac, anyway. I'm a switcher. Upgradable or not, I don't see myself going back to a PC. And now with Boot Camp, it's even sweeter.

(1 reply) #8 dhan on 08 Apr 2006 - 00:05

Quote -

Microsoft also is expected to play up Monaco's use of Microsoft-devised search algorithms for finding particular music clips.

WTF....search sound clipss...COOOL (if true)

#8.1 callumy on 08 Apr 2006 - 11:46

I'm not quite sure how this will make the program better, but it could be good idea (if done properly). I hope this isn't their 'killer' feature, because they sure have a lot to beat already. And as long as it isn't WMM for music!!!

Cal

#9 Soham on 08 Apr 2006 - 01:22

i hope that it is better than sony media software

(1 reply) #10 matthewf01 on 08 Apr 2006 - 03:22

good news, hope its true!

I think its funny that MS has that XP television commercial about the girl recording music, then they say "blah blah with a world of software and devices that run on Windows", yet Mac OSX has some software built RIGHT IN.

So are we to assume this would make it into Vista [at launch] if the rumor is true?

#10.1 Danrarbc641 on 08 Apr 2006 - 04:10

Well, Microsoft would have been sued if they included the software before now.

They can point to Apple and say they're just trying to keep up at this point though, which is true.

#11 CoolCatBad on 08 Apr 2006 - 08:51

Will Monaco play in Stereaco?

#12 zingysaturn on 08 Apr 2006 - 09:03

This is FABULOUS news! I've been waiting for something like this since I first came across garageband!

(1 reply) #13 pringlex on 08 Apr 2006 - 09:36

...those are free competitors, so they obviously aren't as good as something you'd pay for.

That's a bit of a naïve view... I guess you've never heard of free/open source software?

#13.1 Betaz on 08 Apr 2006 - 13:13

Quote - pringlex said @ #2.5

...those are free competitors, so they obviously aren't as good as something you'd pay for.

That's a bit of a naïve view... I guess you've never heard of free/open source software?

We're talking about Microsoft here

#14 Jugalator on 08 Apr 2006 - 11:07

Good, this will introduce some competition and choice, which can only be good news for the musicians.

#15 xorian on 08 Apr 2006 - 11:21

So will this program be free? Because I hope so, I can't keep spending money

#16 chimera963 on 09 Apr 2006 - 08:24

Wooo, microsoft, cometeting again?? :o I didn't EVER expect that!
Anyway, how the hell does this compete? Garage Band is for OS X and this random thing will be for Windows, not really a competition, just using the same idea for their platform.

Heh, I'd like to see how this thing turns out.

#17 Morphie on 10 Apr 2006 - 06:40

I have very little faith in MS making anything close to the ease of use of garage band. No way they'll have this done by Vista, and by the time they have a beta of it out Garage Band will be @ version 4 or 5 and easily have surpassed the copy cat efforts MS is likely to attempt.

Searching for sound clips is somewhat stupid anyway, as they are likely to be of low quality and of little use to anyone attempting to make good music. It isn't "worthless" but it doesn't need to be built into the music app. Just makes it more bloated that it already will be.

(1 reply) #18 Gaius Baltar on 10 Apr 2006 - 10:23

very true,

you can reliably use garageband blindfolded (sorry, no video of this)

doubt you could with Microsoft's copy, probably get stumped on an bubble pop-up or a OK button.

#18.1 vlsi0n on 10 Apr 2006 - 20:47

yeah very doubtful, since we've all used this product before..

#19 Gaius Baltar on 10 Apr 2006 - 10:24

when i got my mac, i could do so much more straight off the bat that i could never do on my winxp machine without opening my wallet.

doubt microsoft could ever beat that.

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Microsoft Prepares Apple GarageBand Competitor

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