Some of you may recall that when the Start Screen appeared, I posted that I turned it off for a variety of reasons. However...six months later, I now use it consistently. The two changes that made this happen was when they increased the speed, and added a list view so I could see more projects at once.
 
I realized how much I now use it when I rolled back to a pre-Hopkinton version to check whether a feature existed in the earlier version, and was presented with the original Start Screen. What a difference.
 
I also (finally) started paying attention to notifications and found out about the Z3TA+ update. It's easier to look when opening SONAR than remembering to open the CCC to see if there's anything new.
 
The reason I started this thread is for those who turned it off several months ago but haven't tried it since then. I think it's a definite improvement over what we had before, and worth re-visiting.
 
 

When it first came out. I was not a fan and wrote a replacement. Since that time, I replaced my monitor which helped with the size and contrast of the screen. Adding sort and pin options are an improvement and I too appreciate the notice feature. While I still use my own start screen because it works with all the versions of SONAR installed on my PC and has a few features the Start Screen lacks, I do use the Start Screen and have for several months.

Good idea.  Thanks!
 

yeah it was terrible at first, but now i let it exist in my environment.  what is a little weird is all the icons for the projects all kind of look the same

I just wish there was an ability to sort the pinned projects in list view, not by order that a project was pinned.

If Craig Anderton believes in it I'm more than willing to give it another try.  Turning it back on . . . .

 
Is there a way to navigate anywhere else from within the "New From Template" screen ?  I have my own templates in a separate folder, but I can only have only that shown, or some the other factory folder, and I'm stuck with that choice.  To me this makes the Start Screen somewhat useless.
 

No, there is only one level of project templates supported in SONAR. This is one reason I use a custom location. Another reason is the installer does not automatically update the custom location. I consolidate the few project templates I use into the one custom folder. I often start project from another "shell" project rather than a template. But that is not much help with the current Start Screen.

Mine takes really long to open. I now have Manchester so I decided to give it another go today, but it takes different amounts of time each try. Strange.
 
My studio has no internet and I have taken all obvious steps like shutting down the internet wlan drivers.
 
There is no anti virus or anything like that and Sonar is pretty snappy otherwise, especially on startup, which this laggard of a start screen makes to nought.
 
I just turned it off again, hope the next update brings an improvement, because I really was a fan when it was new.

jude77
If Craig Anderton believes in it I'm more than willing to give it another try.  Turning it back on . . . .

I'm not sure I "believe" in it, I just find it useful, and certainly more useful than what we had before. However the way it works also fits my mode of working...I'm usually juggling around a half dozen projects with about an equal number of long-term projects, so to have them all available when I start is very helpful. Another feature that I've really come to like is being able to create a test project without having to name it, create a folder, etc. and then when I'm done, it goes away. I also have very few templates, so there's no issue with my opening from the existing templates folder because it has everything I use anyway.
 
Again, the only reason I started this thread was because I think some people who were turned off to it at first (like me) might find the latest incarnation useful. But if this thread also serves to collect comments for ways it could be improved, that would be a useful consequence as well.