Scook and aidanodr Thank you very much my friends, I am always impressed with the clear and direct answers of this fantastic community.

AFAIK, it is the same feature set as Platinum 2017.10 with at least one new feature to replace an existing track with a track template.

Mr. torture
I have platinum lifetime, can I just keep using what I have, or will I eventually have to download the Bandlab version?

Platinum will never be updated. If you want the new features we will continue to add you will need to download the BandLab version which is free. You should leave the Platinum version installed since Cakewalk by BandLab is the core program with minimal add ons. It will use all the external components you had as part of the platinum collection.

Kamm Schreiner

BJZ
I wouldn't. SONAR Platinum comes with plugs *not* in Cakewalk by Bandlab. Unistalling SONAR Platinum will remove those plugins.
 
JMO.

I definitely won't unless I hear otherwise from Noel or Meng. I'm hoping there is (or will be) a way to remove all the stuff from the SONAR Platinum installation that is no longer needed without removing the plugins. I'd like to free up disk space, but it isn't a big deal to me. Not that much wasted space, really.

Its a bit tricky since its not easy to uninstall platinum but leave just the plugins and shared content. If you uninstall platinum it will take aware some shared stuff and damage the new Cakewalk install (a flaw in the platinum uninstaller). Its easily fixed by reinstalling Cakewalk by BandLab (CbB) but then you will be missing some of the extra platinum bundled content like Addictive drums etc.
If you use the platinum extras then the easiest thing is to just leave your platinum installation alone. CbB will automatically use all the extra plugins from there.
The thumb rule is if you are a Platinum user then do the minimal install of CbB since you won't need the extras. At least for this first version.
 
Removing the platinum executables wont really save you much space so its not worth the bother.

Edit: it took me an age to investigate this, during which time more knowledgeable people might have given better info.. check earlier posts
 
I just installed BL Cakewalk on a Windows 10 VM that's never seen SONAR before. Seeing as it was of interest to me and I couldn't find a 100% clear answer, here are some screenshots and notes on my experience (sorry for the train-of-thought style write up):
 
Clean install on first run:
 
Included VST instruments:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1ynA3ManFj-w5KyiPoq_GBhd4WTMPqmNQ/view?usp=sharing
 
Included VST effects:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1jT8zBROK8405_T5BP-dqo0YUGCdpYEiD/view?usp=sharing
(very pleased to see the VX64 and even the basic TH3 plugin there!)
 
ProChannel Modules:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/1NbQp0wh6jwbkexhSW8VSZN74vEogGcw3/view?usp=sharing
("BREVERB! nice!".. note that the BREVERB insert plugin isn't present but the ProChannel module is)
 
No doubt the included FX Chains will just be comprised of the included effects
 
I then went on to try to get some things working that I was most concerned about:
 
I lifted the installer for the 'Studio Mixing Suite' out of Cakewalk Command Center (StudioMixingFXSetup_1.0.0.8.exe) and ran it. Got an error complaining that SONAR Platinum isn't installed:
https://drive.google.com/file/d/10PLdJZ-Mu46Eoe70mL8Ju5n8zNyjqFs8/view?usp=sharing
much disappoint, I like the chorus and delay in there. I then copied "C:\Program Files\cakewalk\vstplugins\Nomad Factory" from my existing Platinum installation to the new VM to see if there was any activation trouble. There wasn't, all Nomad Factory plugins appeared in BL Cakewalk. Very pleased.
 
The "Platinum Instrument Collection" (PlatinumInstrumentCollectionSetup_1.0.0.17.exe") did not install either, complaining that SPLAT wasn't installed. I tried to copy DLLs for z3ta+ and what I think are related resources but couldn't get it to work. I did not try to manually rip out any other plugins from this collection.
 
Then I lifted the installer for Dimension Pro (which is very important to me personally) and ran that.. Everything installed fine. I was asked to enter my serial number manually during install, and registration code on first run, both of which I got from https://www.cakewalk.com/My-Account/Products (there is no way to see these codes anywhere on bandlab.com to my knowledge). Default install options meant DM Pro was found by BL Cakewalk no problem.
 
I then used the installer for CA-2A leveling amp (CA-2ALevelingAmplifierSetup_2.0.1.112.exe) from Command Center. Ran it without problems, and with BL Cakewalk still running the VST scanner just picked it up.
 
Despite most of the Boutique Suite of plugins being included (PX64/VX64 etc), bifilter2 was missing (which I have also used a lot). Like the Nomad plugins I just ripped it out of "C:\Program Files\vstplugins\" and dropped it into my BL Cakewalk install, and it seems fine.
 
In conclusion:
If you're planning to install BL Cakewalk on a 'clean' Windows install without a SPLAT installation, and want to keep everything you had, bear in mind:

• Not every installer that Cakewalk Command Center downloaded will run without problems.
• At the very least you should zip up "C:\Program Files\cakewalk\vstplugins" so that you can dip into it when you need to. However, more complex instruments that aren't just a DLL (like z3ta+) might need more files (from where depends on the plugin).

I hope this is useful to someone...