Running Pro Tools on a Windows 10 PC. Someone had to try it. So once I paid my "Avid Tax" and got Pro Tools 12HD, I wanted to do a clean install, as it was slightly overdue and as Windows 10 had been nagging at me for months, I thought, "what the hell" and decided to install Windows 10 Pro 64bit, to install Pro Tools 12HD on.

The hardest part was was obtaining a clean install ISO image of Win10 without upgrading my existing Windows 7 Pro / Pro Tools 11HD installation, so I could keep it as a dual boot, in case of emergency. I had to seriously shop around but eventually found one for a good price.

Installing Windows 10 On A PC Ready For Pro Tools 12

Windows 10 Pro is one of the easiest quickest operating system installs I've ever known. It took me a tenth of the time to install a fully up to date Windows 10 than it did for me to do a clean install of Apple's OS X Yosemite recently, plus I didn't have to mess around using terminal to make a bootable install disc.

Pro Tools 12HD didn't bat an eyelid at my installing it on Windows 10. Neither did Eucon (which curiously is already qualified for Win10), or RME TotalMix, iZotope RX4, Synchro Arts ReVoice Pro, Sonnox, Waves, BlackMagic or any of the Avid bundled plugins or even the Avid Account Manager.

First Impressions

Pro Tools 12.4HD is really slick. I'm spoiled in that my System and Media drives are all SSDs. The video engine hasn't had any blips, and all the plug-ins run fine. So far it hasn't had any problems with being on Windows 10.

Here's how I get on opening a reasonably complex feature mix in 5.1...

This is without any OS optimisations, which gives you an idea just how well Pro Tools 12HD runs on Windows 10, fresh out of the box.

Equipment Used 

• Asus X99-A with Intel i7 5820
• 16GB DDR4 RAM
• Nvidia GTX660Ti GPU
• Samsung 850EVO System and Media Drives
• Thunderbolt 2
• RME Fireface 802
• Windows 10 Pro 64bit
• Pro Tools 12.4HD. Eucon 3.3.2.