Comment Current OS -1 (Score 1) 264
Unfortunately even on Macs you should probably stick with the OS version from a year or 2 years ago if you want decent support for hardware. Drivers for current OSes come out months after an OS is released and what you require is consistent performance and reliability. Linux support & drivers are pretty nonexistent if you look at major hardware manufacturers, it still is a OSX vs Windows. Generic USB drivers are pretty useless in many cases when you want to fully exploit hardware, for example, the Roland TR-8 has 14 different audio outputs, the System-1 can be changed using plugin with Plug-out, these are all features you can only access with the proper drivers and software combination. Even on a purely hardware level, finding the proper USB hub is a pain, you need very specific hub that will not slow down all connected devices to USB 1.1 speed. The quality and reliability in USB 3.0 hubs is pretty nonexistent too, again no point in having the greatest and latest if all your synths still run USB 2.0 and 1.1
The modern studio is a tightly coupled hardware, software, drivers, plugins, control surfaces all talking to each others. Always select reliability above anything else, you don't want dropped audio, you want low latency and high bitrate. If you go 100% software then everything i have said can be ignored, but if you want to hook up MIDI, hardware synths or modules, audio interface, USB interfaces then you have been warned.