Wow...
I felt my heart leap up throat....
This sucks.... I've been using sonar cakewalk for about 9years now. I learned audio and music production on sonar cakewalk 3. I even have the book.
 
And i've been saving up to purchase the sonar Platinum. Does this mean that i cant access Sonar Platinum anymore?
 
Good luck to all you guys who've been working on the software
 
Regards,
 
Gwyn K.

Matron Landslide, hilarious. Sad but funny in a gallows humour kinda way.

Dang Nabbit! I switched to Studio One last year, as a secondary to PT. I am a huge fan of S1,it was easy and fun to learn and use, very nice synths included,but I have Sonar and Rapture for a loads of creativity in the synth realm. There are limitations within Studio One that make Cubase a better long term investment for many users,depending on your specific needs. I don't run a commercial studio so Studio and Sonar w/ Rapture had me covered. Sadly, I payed for a Sonar upgrade a week before the Gibson back-stab; I can't leave Sonar alone, I love the workflow. Disappointed but facing reality. I have a lite version of Cubase. It didn't light any fires in me to go deeper into it, buy a full version. But I will now, I don't see any other option. CUBASE and Studio One folks should be commended for making the effort to fill the gap with a discount. They could be cold-blooded and charge full price knowing MANY users are headed their direction soon,regardless. Apparently, they have bookoos more integrity than Gibson,Inc. 
Feels like..."my favorite girlfriend ran off with my best friend. All good, I have a backup girl (ain't as pretty but more loyal) and a double handful of good bros to fill the gap. Except, it's NOT all good, but time to move on cuz the main honey ran off with all my money!". 
If  Presonus/Studio One were truly on the ball, they'd grab as many Cakewalk alumni and finally make Studio One what it should/could be. Upgrade the few things that PT and Cubase provide that S1 doesn't, they'd own the market. HINT 
 

why not make sonar an open source program. Like Gimp or Open Office?
Than people can develop the program. 

Tomas M.
why not make sonar an open source program. Like Gimp or Open Office?
Than people can develop the program. 

I think there is one thing that holds that back - Software patents. It's unlikely Gibson will give that away for free. Gibson is deep in dept now, and will grab any money they can lay their hand on. And software patents are worth a lot of money.
 
It is also possible that Sonar is licensing patents from other company's, and then you can't simply  open op your source code, because you will then violate the license(s) agreement(s).
 
Sadly - It's not as simple as "open up the source code". There are lots of things involved here.

Wait! How do you download all the files when splat is already installed? Doesn't the updater look for the latest versions of everything before it decides what you need?
I'll do it, if I know how.

deswind
If Gibson has a business loss in general, they do not need a deduction for a loss on Cakewalk. 
But Gibson, which I think is doing really well with guitars (they are better than they use to be), should care about its reputation.  And working with other companies to share the Sonar codes would be very helpful.

Not really
 

I'm betting Gibson knew all along they were going to pump and dump Sonar. Many times failing company's (Such as Gibson) buy other companies to boost their stock / value, then dump them for the tax write offs.
 
Love how Gibson had a float in the Macy's parade and the guitar player was using some cheap Epiphone, way to market your flagship brand!
 
Thing is, most people today that buy guitars (which is dwindling as well) just buy the cheaper brands.
 
 
 
 

Edited: to eliminate name calling (what I'd really like to say)

HARDDRlVER
I have a question, perhaps two.
1. Concerning disabling the Internet;
What about things like Waves or other plugins which need to update periodically, or simply purchasing on the web?

2. Perhaps not a question but an observation;
The last thing I want to do is move to another DAW. Splat was my first and only 'wife'. Its way too soon to remarry.

Also, with Splat you got Melodyne Essentials and some adpaks from Addictive Drums. Can those be moved to a new daw?

But what happens if we continue to carefully and successfully use Splat for some time into the future...find new software to add to it, only to find the 'new' software not compatible with our Splat? And the further we take Sonar, the more ancient it becomes...

The main concern about being online is any major Windows updates. Updates to other software is another concern, I'm not convinced that being offline is the answer you just need to make sure that updates don't apply automatically to avoid something breaking and not knowing what broke it.
 
As long as third parties like Waves claim Sonar support then we should be OK. I think they will for a while as a platform that does not change is "easy" to support. VST 2 for example should be good issues might come with VST 3 as that still seems to be a work in progress. For third parties like Waves there is a great opportunity in marketing to those of us who choose to stay on Sonar as Cakewalk won't be taking our cash so they can.
 
I have not seen a definitive list of what VSTs will and will not work outside of Sonar but I do know that a lot of the bundled content is usable in other hosts. 
 
For Melodyne and Addictive Drums don't forget that we also get the standalone versions so they are definitely usable even if we need to change our workflow, 

I wonder if that offline authorization will include all products, plugins etc?

subtlearts
I wonder if that offline authorization will include all products, plugins etc?

I would hope it would include everything that is currently managed by the remote licensing system.