Future of activation of pre-bandlab versions?

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What if a meteor levels Redmond, and the only server backup is in Singlish? We can imagine all kinds of troubling scenarios, but it only serves to raise our cortisol levels. So many other things to worry about these days, such as whether I'll be able to afford shoes after the looming trade war gets into full swing.
 
It's not a big deal to move the authorization server to another host, and most of those plugins that you might need to reauthorize down the road are still going to be active products for sale. They are not going to be Kjaerhused. But that's only one of many issues Noel & Co. are dealing with - the only practical strategy is to keep the existing server up and running and worry about moving it later. Don't sweat it. At least until the next meteor shower.

My guess is everything prior to Platinum will be fine because we have the serials etc. Say goodby to Platinum because It looks like there will not be an activation file for it. You have to use Bandlab version.

Noel Borthwick [Cakewalk]
Currently the old customer database is still active and so will activate through command center. Its not sure how long this will stay active so you should transition over to the CbB version as soon as possible. It will soon be a superset of SONAR Platinum and so there will be little reason to use older versions anyway. You can leave them installed for some of the included plugins you may have got as part of your paid membership. All the included content can be used in CbB so you lose nothing.
 
 

I am immensely grateful for Bandlab for taking up the Cakewalk IP, and even sticking with the name which I think deserves respect and I'm glad is being shown that by naming the program as such, but with respect, very little reason to use the older versions does not mean no reason to use the older versions.
 
I still have programs like Cool Edit 2000 installed, and because I have my serial, it still works. There are things I created it in that I need to open it for. As such, I purchased Sonar Platinum, and while I would like to think I will get everything I'm trying to finish absolutely perfect before I switch to Cakewalk by Bandlab, the option to go back to the original program these were created in down the line requires the original program to have all the effects and plugins native to that platform show up properly.
 
CbB is not Sonar Platinum - This does not guarantee future compatibility. Everything that has happened is incredibly unfortunate, and I bought Platinum based off of experience I had with Sonar 6 (which I don't own but have the project files from way back when on the DAW my band used, and they don't load in Platinum properly - my case in point), with the belief that Cakewalk would be around for at least another 10-20 years.
 
How I archive all of this material I am going to be finishing in Platinum is a very practical issue, and if it ends up that I can no longer activate it some day, I will have to make certain decisions about how I store the bundle files should I ever need to reopen them. There is absolutely no guarantee they will load in the future version of CbB, however similar it is, any more than how I'm missing plugins from the CWB files I have from projects made in Sonar 6 on a long gone musician's computer. It seems much more probable that installing an old, obsolete version of Platinum WILL pull up the original mixes as they were left when saved as CWB files.
 
I understand Bandlab is going out of their way to accommodate Platinum users, and having seen the early release I am excited for the future, but I have almost no reason to use Cool Edit 2000 in 2018, except to have my projects pull up properly like they did when I saved it in that program's format. There is a reason, however rare, and it is important, as I may not be able to access project files, or access them in ways that load properly (depending on how much CbB changes).
 
I really say this with respect and gratitude for everything Bandlab has done, and I have been willing to hold on to Sonar and keep working in it believing it wouldn't die out (or Cakewalk would keep activation servers online/find a long term resolution), but I have active projects I am rushing to finish in Sonar Platinum that I have no idea how to archive since I'm unsure as to whether or not I will ever have a way to activate it in 3-4 years on a different computer.
 
That is the crux of the biscuit here - CbB is almost the same, but it's not. Whatever small differences there are, I wish I'd had the copy of Sonar 6 I used to record material I'm remixing right now because it sounds different due to missing plugins that Platinum does not have, but Sonar 6 did. If I had it, I'd have opened it up, printed the plugins, then imported it into Sonar, or even just used Sonar 6.
 
I'm willing to wait and reserve judgement, but for some people at some point this will be an issue - do we or do we not get a copy of Platinum that we can still use the same way that older versions of Sonar could, and can as far as I understand, be used. I bought into Sonar Platinum despite reservations with the activation server for Command Center for this very reason, but believed it was such a long shot situation that it was worth the risk. I find I was wrong about that risk, and this has pragmatic concerns for how I have to archive a large amount of material.
 
If CbB changes enough, old projects made in Sonar Platinum will not sound the same in CbB for future reference. There's no guarantee it will. I don't know what to do at the moment and I'm just focusing on finishing things up, but whether or not the unlock for Platinum so I can move it to a new computer and fix a stupid mistake I made in the EQ on a project I saved, with the original program, is something that will need to be faced at some point, especially when one can't predict the future to see what features will change - the best solution is always 'use the original program you saved it in.'
 
Essentially, it is looking like that won't be a viable option. I have no idea how to archive to future proof it without access to the program I saved the CWB in, if I won't have access to Sonar Platinum at some point due to the activation servers going offline. Transitioning over to CbB is a given, but this seems at odds with how Cakewalk has historically done things (I say this knowing Cakewalk is gone), and it looks like Sonar Platinum is the only Sonar program that will be unavailable for future activation on a different machine to pull up archived projects, even if it IS to then pull them into Cakewalk by Bandlab.
 
I don't seem to be the only one with this question, and I understand the answer is patience to find out, but the answer can't be 'transition your new projects into an early release' of a completely different program, however similar it is to Sonar Platinum. The full IP of Sonar Platinum was not transferred to CbB, so once a more final version is released, it is difficult to tell how projects being finished now will be accessed in the future without the original program.
 
I am grateful Bandlab has kept the servers active for Sonar Platinum, but I am many projects deep right now that I can't simply switch over, and will be finished in Sonar Platinum. How I archive them for future retrieval if I ever need them so they pull up properly without Sonar Platinum is a looming question that isn't answered by 'start using CbB'.
 
I say all this with the utmost respect, but it is a practical concern that gives me a migraine to think about if I have to print every track with and without effects, EQ, all the things that would pull up automatically in the now fossilized Sonar Platinum in 4 years if I need to pull it up again.
 
It's not unreasonable to want to use the original program you created a project in to pull it back up, however obsolete it may be. I don't care that I paid for Platinum and the new one is free, but I did invest $400 into lifetime updates with Sonar Platinum, and there is a very real scenario I won't be able to use it in the future just to pull up archived projects. CbB won't, and by virtue of not having the same IP, can't be, the same. I know it's a small objection, but I honestly don't know how to save projects for future use and ensure I will get the same sound if I'm switching programs when I pull up the new one, and I know from experience.
 
Great as CbB may be, it isn't Sonar Platinum, and my old projects probably won't pull up the same. I'm not pressing for a firm answer as I know Bandlab is doing its best right now, but an answer of 'switch to CbB' doesn't answer what will happen when the activation servers go down. I don't know how to store these projects, since even switching to CbB will be using aspects of Sonar Platinum that may not transfer. There's no way to really know.
 
I don't think I'm alone in thinking that when I paid for Sonar Platinum, I was paying for the ability to use the program on a different machine in 5 years to pull up projects I saved in that format, even if it is to transfer it to a newer version. Looking back at software, it's been that way. Things went sideways, I understand, but even an answer of 'no, that won't happen, you won't be able to use Sonar Platinum after the activation servers go down', while disappointing, at least gives us an answer of how to archive projects.
 
It's been made clear that only part of CbB is Sonar Platinum - the necessary corollary is that opening projects archived as a CWB in CbB won't pull up as if it were Sonar Platinum. This forces the question of will we have an unlock for Sonar Platinum which I don't want to ask.
 
I appreciate all the work you've put in and Bandlab for keeping this product alive in some form, and I hate to be a stick in the mud, but this is one of the 'very little reason' that actually isn't a little one. Please understand I'm not complaining, but just trying to bring up a practical issue that is looming on the horizon. My understanding is, and please someone correct me if I'm wrong, is if I'd had Sonar 6-X3, I'd also have the ability to reinstall it, reauthorize it without a remote server to connect to on a new computer, and pull up the project in the program I originally saved it in.
 
Sonar Platinum seems to be the exception to this because of the remote server activation issue. At some point this question will need an answer for people looking to archive. I'm not asking for one now, but please don't overlook the issue that some users, myself being one of them, are trying to figure out. I'm extremely grateful for Meng and everyone who is working on Cakewalk by Bandlab, but it's not the same program. Whether or not I like the answer is beside the point, but in order to pull up the projects properly, I need Sonar Platinum that can be used in the future without dealing with activation servers. How I archive depends on whether or not I will have that.
 
Again, thank you for all your hard work, I only hope you can understand my question is not intended to provoke any argument, but just to reiterate what I have heard for a while now - Bandlab didn't get the full IP. It's not going to be the same program. Projects saved in one program don't always pull up the same in another program 4-5 years later - I don't know what to do if I don't have an activated version of Sonar Platinum I can use in the future to open the projects, or how to save them so they'll not lose anything/sound different for anything that is unique to Sonar Platinum. Whether or not I like the answer will be irrelevant, I don't mean to beat that dead horse, but it will determine what I need to do with many, many projects I am going to be finishing in Sonar Platinum.
 
I hope that makes sense. I will be transitioning over, I just can't do it yet, nor is CbB ready yet for a transition for all my working projects, many of which took extra time to get the things that didn't transition over from an earlier version of Cakewalk Sonar properly fixed. In a few weeks I'll be ready to archive a project and I have no idea if I should do it by assuming I will have a functioning copy of Sonar Platinum that will be able to reopen it if need be in 3-4 years from now when it's an obsolete program. Preparing for the worst case scenario is going to be a ton of work if I have to print every track with FX on every mix and the final master, if I won't be able to rely on using the program I saved it in to pull it back up.

 

As bitflipper mentions. we support all prior versions of the software dating all the way back to the 90's. You can even save projects in the new version and reopen it in versions going back 10 years and it will work. New features will be stripped obviously.
How projects sound could change to some extent due to a variety of factors, plugins, etc in some circumstances but its rare. Plugin's are the most common element that makes compatibility hard. The best way to preserve projects for long term hibernation is to additionally freeze the tracks and render final stems into the project as a backup. Then save the file and archive it. I've found that to be more than enough to recover even really old projects.