As long as OMS appears to be up for redesign or replacement, some consideration and comparison of the relative features and foibles of the various present and past "MIDI Operating Systems" might be productive right now. These include, in no particular order, OMS (www.opcode.com and www.saveOMS.org), FreeMIDI (www.motu.com), MIDIShare (www.grame.fr/MidiShare) (GNU License Open Source), and Apple MIDI Management Tools, also known as Apple MIDI Manager and Apple MIDI PatchBay (http://asu.info.apple.com/swupdates.nsf/artnum/n10660).

Now is the time for you in the music-tech community to brainstorm and ask for what you need, to voice pluses and peeves, and to state what backward compatibility and new functionality you want.

The design of whatever will serve OMS's purpose in the future is important. If you have thoughts on this subject, then take this opportunity to rethink and discuss - or wait passively to see if eventually this column fills with complaints about limitations and problems that timely communication might have avoided. You are the users. You and your music are who and what all this technology is for.Laurie Spiegelvia e-mail

Laurie - Anyone wishing to comment on this subject should feel free to e-mail me at emeditorial@intertec.com.

September 2000, "The Musical World of USB," p. 40. The Swissonic USB Studio and Studio/D feature 20-bit (not 16-bit) input and 16-bit output.