When will Reaktor7 come?

Yep, and dont think that can't happen

@Simon A. Billington

If you are on Win, it is pretty sure Reaktor will be usable even in 2035. If you are on Mac, it may be another story. If one wants long usability of SW Win is much better option than Mac.

Reaktor could be around in 10 years, but the fact there is no affirmative move or announcement from NI means it's too risky to rely on.

There has been no announcement official or otherwise that Reaktor is permanently in maintenance mode, folk in this thread pushing that narrative are talking rubbish.

Reaktor development it is currently in maintenance mode.

NI have a bunch of active products that depend on Reaktor.

I imagine that if they got to the stage where a required maintenance update would cost more than they would lose from dropping all those dependant products, then at that point, the app would be retired.

That particular calculus recently came out in favour of maintaining the product even when the update was huge - rewriting the core compiler to target a completely different cpu architecture. This strongly implies that there is currently no plan to shelve Reaktor, and that financially it is paying it's way.

If it was a new application, and updates dried up, then it would make sense to be wary and not rely on it, but Reaktor is extremely mature and almost feature complete. In this context the recent Apple compatibility update should give us confidence in the foreseeable future of the product, at least as far as it is possible to have confidence in the future of any software product.

NI's lack of openness with product roadmaps etc., is not great, but is just the way they have always been, it is their culture - don't make any promises, It's always been that way - nothing to worry about.

If you are really that worried about it, then you should probably be working with hardware. Ditch ITB and get some Eurorack, a few synths, a sampler, and a couple of drum machines ;). …and always save DAW projects as stems.

@Kubrak, @Studiowaves

On Mac…. But I'm also not interested in using anything that will stagnate over time.

The future is fickle, tends in sound and music are generally slow moving, but the the tech behind them isn't. If it takes you a day to do something where the other guy can do it in half that time, guess who's going to get the gig.

We are entering a world where AI will be speeding many types of workflows up. I'm not talking about AI making stuff for you, but AI assisting you. Ozone is a good example of that. Press a button, point it towards a reference and it can have the initial settings all done for you in under 15 seconds. Whereas if I did it myself it might take me 10-15 minutes for an initial first pass. Thats time saved and you can focus on what matters most, refining the settings to get the finished product.

People may think Reaktor is fine as is, but sooner or later it will start falling behind the competition where it really matters. If it costs people time, then its also costing them money.

@Simon A. Billington

OK, as I understand it now, Reaktor just does not fit your type of workflow. It has nothing to do with whether it will be EOL soon or not. You just do not want/need to use Reaktor anyway.

That is OK. But others may like Reaktor, or just use it.

By the way, do you really know, what Reaktor is used for?

"If NI decides to stop supporting Reaktor, it would be wise and respectful to this wonderful product and its users to either sell Reaktor to other people or make it completely free and open source, as was done, for example, with the wonderful synthesiser"

Oh, This again. Well, it's not that easy. Parts of the code might rely on third party stuff which was licensed, and which can't be open source'd, as the original license isn't open source, or not the open source license which is required. And, more importantly, NI might want to re-use code from Reaktor, or Reaktor itself in future products.

Also, with Reaktor, wouldn't the ensembles all have to be open source'd as well?

Lots of questions, and little to gain for NI.

And, also, before we hold such discussions, shouldn't we, maybe, wait what NI holds in store for Reaktor? No need to call someone dead when he's still breathing. 😉

People may think Reaktor is fine as is, but sooner or later it will start falling behind the competition where it really matters. If it costs people time, then its also costing them money.

I'm not sure what competition you are referring to. The only viable competition that exists is MaxMSP, and that is somewhat different with a different philosophy and a different history. Both are very old, mature platforms with strengths and weaknesses. Neither is in a position to leave the other behind.

The only real risk for Reaktor is generating less revenue than it costs to maintain. It was a flagship, and it isn't that any more. The new owners of NI don't talk about it probably because they don't really understand what it is. They could push it hard, revamp the look and feel, simplify the interface, and push it as 'lego for music nerds'…, but that would be more risky than pumping out shiny sample packs… seems a shame to me - creative folk love construction toys, and that is Reaktor's USP.

I am interested in the answer to another question. Is Vadim Zavalishin still working in NI?