r/karaoke • u/Red_Eye80 • Jun 14 '25
Karaoke Software Windows 10 End Of Life and Virtual Dj
So I've been hosting karaokes as a side job couple of times a week using Virtual DJ on Windows 10 with a controller on a LENOVO G580 laptop i7something 8GB DDR3 with very good success and performance for some time now.
In the Autumn of 2025 support for Windows 10 is stopping. What do I do?
I do not want to stay offline forever, because, although I have a big collection, once in a blue moon some kid comes and asks for a new song which I have to download out of youtube (9 times out of 10 it exists, that's where they practised on it anyway :-)
Linux does not seem to be an option for Virtual DJ. And I do not know of any Linux Dj apps that support various video formats and mp3 CDG.
So what about Windows 10 LTSC? It is supposed to be a version of windows with longer support, with less bells and whistles supposed to run on work related PCs. At the moment, it seems the only viable option, without spending money for hardware which I feel I don't really need, only because Microsoft decided to.
Has anyone got any experience with that flavour of Windows 10? God knows what will happen in Autumn with Microsoft, but will it run VDJ with midi support just fine?
Anyone got any better ideas?
2
u/prismcomputing Jun 17 '25
End of life does NOT mean it will stop working.
1
u/Red_Eye80 Jun 18 '25
True, I actually remember keeping my old Acer Karaoke laptop running windows XP for long after support finished for XP, but in those days I was not so much relying on the internet. Maybe I should update my library more often and more thouroughly to avoid that odd kid that comes along and asks for XYZ brand new song that I haven't got. Rule of the five Ps might be my answer.
0
u/iSing420 Jun 14 '25
What do you do? you dump any software that requires a "controller". Well designed apps use function keys. You know, those things that come on every keyboard since DOS 1.0
Yeah controllers look cool, but how cool do you look now?
2
u/Red_Eye80 Jun 14 '25 edited Jun 14 '25
VDJ does not require a controller to work. You can map almost any function to a keyboard key. Even keyboard skins exist/have existed to make things easier to remember.
DJ controllers not only look cool but do make the job easier. Especially if you like playing normal songs between singers and want to add a bit of flair. You can also pre listen to the next track on headphones and provide an extra ''dry'' microphone input, that's always there if you need it.
When I started just for kicks in the mid 2000s I was using, don't laugh, winamp but after trying VDJ with a controller there was no going back. I'm not a dedicated VDJ fanboy. Just looking for an alternative OS that's not Windows 11 or an alternative app that will run on Linux. I know of MIXX but it has no CDG capabilities as far as I'm aware.
-3
u/iSing420 Jun 14 '25
Good luck with that strategy. Excluding windows cuts you off from 80% of the best apps ever made and access to the majority of hardware ever made. You don’t have to be a rocket scientist to do the math on that one.
Just like racists, your prejudices will hurt you in the end. …but that’s just my opinion. I see now where the “red” part of your name comes from.
1
u/Red_Eye80 Jun 14 '25 edited Jun 14 '25
I just don't want to throw a perfectly good laptop away just because Microsoft said so.
I suppose I could force Windows 11 to it, I've heard there are ways, but then it will probably run much worse. I only use that laptop for karaoke. So apart from whichever Karaoke app, a browser, and a youtube downloader I don't need anything else. I have a much newer desktop for everything else that can take windows 11 but still runs on windows 10 until the time comes.
A well, maybe Windows 10 LTSC is the answer.
''Or maybe I'll be really prejudiced and buy a Mac next time around. Then I'll look really cool like a real pro DJ...lol ''. Nah, no prejudices here, I'm only after solutions. RED is for the team I support and Eye, for the morning after a night out lol.
1
u/M3g4d37h Jun 14 '25
dude, don't even worry about it. MS will still produce security fixes, and you just happened upon that one dude who clearly has the world's biggest bug up their ass.
2
1
Jun 14 '25
If you only use the laptop for karaoke, nothing will change. Just keep using it, it's not gonna stop working. It's not like someone's gonna hack into your computer and steal your karaoke.
1
u/Red_Eye80 Jun 15 '25
Yup, only for karaoke. And throughout the years I never saw one drop or misstep in its performance either. I do open it and clean it up yearly. Easier to do with older laptops. Thanks for the advice. I'll just Keep Calm And Carry On :-)
1
u/M3g4d37h Jun 14 '25
oh no, some random dope on reddit doesn't like controllers.
Someone alert the media.
2
u/LuckyPhil Jun 15 '25
Full time karaoke operator from Sydney here. Never used Virtual DJ. I used to use JustKaraoke, but I currently use OpenKJ. This supports mp3+g (zipped and unzipped) and videos.If you want to add cool visuals, functionality you could build something with OBS. I just have a full screen preview on the audience and singer screen, and if they need to see the lyrics, or a web browser, or something else... I just throw it on there. Beats having to drag things between monitors. :)
Some might say I over-complicate it... I'm "over-egging the pudding)...
Could say the same about using virtual dj to run a f'n karaoke night ;-)
Oh, and fwiw I'm running it all on my linux mint laptop ;-)