Why do we have to have an endless number of audio plugin formats? I can't imagine being an audio developer today and having to support so many different formats and operating systems. You've got Windows, Mac, and now Linux for the OS's, but the plugins are ridiculous. When Apple bought Logic, they dropped support for Windows (which was the reason I switched to Apple!) but they also dropped VST support! Crazy ... A lot of developers only support VST.

VST, AudioUnit, MAS, 32bit, 64bit, PowerPC, MacTel, ohh my god! Look at a KVRAudio post by Zebra developer URS:

Now, formats... do they ever stop bringing out new formats?

I started with

AU
VST Mac
VST Win

but now it's all about

AU UB
VST Mac UB
Vst Win (<- only constant)
RTAS UB
RTAS Win

while in future we'll probably also see (all additional)

VST Mac UB 64
VST Win 64
VST3 Mac UB
VST3 Win
VST3 Mac UB 64
VST3 Win 64
RTAS Mac UB 64
RTAS Win UB 64

all this, and maybe Linux, too?

Seriously, the format hassle is going NUTS. Plugins shall not do 64 bit upon the format, but shall internally have corresponding switches, if desired (i.e. for marketing reasons). What plugin needs more than 4 Gig of RAM? No f***ing streaming sample player needs that.

I sometimes get the feeling that the format overkill is brought up to bring the small developers down.

Imagine that...

... including free/magware I currently have 16 plugins in my portfolio. It's hard to keep up with the common platform updates... arrrrgh...

I feel your pain URS! I support small developers because they produce cool tools. Look at AudioDamage .. they make amazing plugz! Supporting all those formats has got to kill development time (that time could be spent on building more cool tools). But, if the developer doesn't support all those formats, then they potentially lose sales.

It's funny how the same madness is mirrored in web browser support for CSS/HTML (IE's lack of compliance versus FireFox).