In fairness to Cakewalk, even if they defined Sonar's "core," people would interpret it differently and argue that it doesn't match their use case.
 
When I think of a DAW stripped down to its "core," I imagine something like Tracktion. I'm not saying that is, or should be, Cakewalk's definition, but that's how I think about it.

telecharge
In fairness to Cakewalk, even if they defined Sonar's "core," people would interpret it differently and argue that it doesn't match their use case.
 
When I think of a DAW stripped down to its "core," I imagine something like Tracktion. I'm not saying that is, or should be, Cakewalk's definition, but that's how I think about it.

I think you've nailed it, and it took you less words than me .

hello marketing? come in, marketing... ffft bzzz

For whatever the worth (if any) I would suggest that the updates will continue to be done as they have been since the monthly cycle began many months back, and would continue to contain a mixture of fixes/enhancement/features.
 
I have the lifetime updates, and see no difference whatsoever in the maintenance that I get with that, versus what I was getting prior to getting the lifetime updates option.  They don't release multiple sets of maintenance for Sonar Platinum for a given drop - it's just 1 set of updates.
 
I would also add that I REALLY like the monthly approach to the maintenance, going back to X2 and X3 for comparison.  We would pay for a version, then over the course of the next year get a couple of maintenance updates and then that would be it until the next version would come out.  That left a long time in between updates, where unless a hot fix was released - we would have to deal with whatever we got until the next one came along.
 
With the monthly updates, they are prioritizing fixes every month, so that in theory - they would address the most needed fixes more quickly - I have never had a more stable Sonar environment than I have had with Platinum, and LOVE it.
 
Bob Bone
 

I completely agree with Bob. I would like things to stay as the are now. I even like the early access program. I can't imagine things getting much better. 

I agree entirely that the current update program is excellent - I don't think anyone has really challenged that here,  but the gist of this thread from the OP is the ongoing question of defining what is core. Whilst I have formed my own idea of what it might mean, despite reading various threads on the matter, beyond it being a moving target I must confess that I don't feel any closer to an official explanation than I did when it was the hottest of topics upon the first announcement of #sonar4life.
 
That said, as a long time user I am not particularly concerned about it. The fact is we all have our favourite areas we would like to see developed and hate to see slip between the cracks:)
 

No complaints here as I like where Sonar is going.
 
While I can understand the most used features get baking time, if I were to raise a warning it would be that the little used modules should get a little love too. Not to beat a dead horse but to use it as an example, since the staff view is used by only a few ppl, from a business sense, it understandably gets little attention. If falls farther behind -> more people find it lacking and unacceptable and go elsewhere -> fewer ppl using it -> it gets less attention -> It falls further behind -> ... you get the idea. A vicious cycle and self-fulfilling prophecy.
 
Just my $.01858947