Yes, it would change the design and probably not something everyone would like. Regardless, it will never be changed in X3.

You *still* have that VS700?
 
IMO, there are 3 things of interest in the OP:
 
1.  Crashes
2.  Startup + project load times
3.  How Sonar keeps track of recent projects
 
(1) and (2) should be tracked down for sure and might make (3) less critical, although I have had times when I had to resort to File>Open to get to the last project I was working.  It would be nice if the list was updated early, but I personally don't see problems often enough consider this worthy of high priority.
 
(1) and (2) could be related if, for example, there is a marginal disk involved.  I would definitely check the system event logs for disk related error/warning messages. 
 
Defrag of drives might bring performance back to acceptable levels.  Configuring such that programs, projects+audio and samples are all on different drives might help too.
 
If the load times are long due to humongous project size or heavy sample use, then SSD might be an option to help alleviate startup pain.
 
 

Anderton
I can't remember the last time Platinum crashed on me, and I use it pretty much every day, often for several hours at a time.

this is me as well.
but I do remember the last crash, it was Easter Sunday of this year. (2 months ago.)
and I use sonar every single day a few hours a day / sometimes 8 hours a day.
 
im not cakewalk homer, fan boy either. if it didn't work I would move on.
I use sonar because it has been more dependable then anything else ive tried.
that being said, I work in a rhythm, I don't save while the transport is running,
I build a new system every 2 years. I know not everyone can do that.
but a new set up (same soundcard= Focuserite 18I8). which have up to date drivers.
 
all this equals out to successful sessions.

BobF
You *still* have that VS700?

Yup, nobody wants it. I guess that's a sign from the SONAR Gods that I should just keep using it as a Mackie-compatible controller, and that I should use my sig to promote my upcoming web site 

JonD
...you are still on Sonar X3.
Not sure what you want the CW devs to do about that, since it's no longer being developed...

scook
...Regardless, it will never be changed in X3.

 
I'm sure that the OP understands that only the latest version of the software is maintained. Feature requests should not be restricted to current subscibers. Users of earlier versions who may potentially upgrade should not be discouraged from submitting their ideas.

Kev999
I'm sure that the OP understands that only the latest version of the software is maintained.

I make no such assumption
 

Kev999
Feature requests should not be restricted to current subscibers. Users of earlier versions who may potentially upgrade should not be discouraged from submitting their ideas.

The feature request area http://forum.cakewalk.com/Features-Ideas-f76.aspx is open to all forum users. I would encourage anyone with a feature request submit them there.

Kev999

JonD
...you are still on Sonar X3.
Not sure what you want the CW devs to do about that, since it's no longer being developed...

 
I'm sure that the OP understands that only the latest version of the software is maintained. Feature requests should not be restricted to current subscibers. Users of earlier versions who may potentially upgrade should not be discouraged from submitting their ideas.

I was addressing the fact that his system is constantly crashing, not about his feature request. 

JonD

Kev999

JonD
...you are still on Sonar X3.
Not sure what you want the CW devs to do about that, since it's no longer being developed...

I'm sure that the OP understands that only the latest version of the software is maintained. Feature requests should not be restricted to current subscibers. Users of earlier versions who may potentially upgrade should not be discouraged from submitting their ideas.

 
I was addressing the fact that his system is constantly crashing, not about his feature request. 

Maybe I was reading too much into it. Sorry.

Update recent on load (not save) is how Word etc work, so I think SONAR should behave the same way.

I save my projects as a habit constantly, asnd have even assigned it to a mouse button. HOWEVER< saving a project does not turn it into the most recent project in the dialog. That dialog only gets updated when you close the project entirely. 
 
Look everyone, I am certainly a fan of Sonar, as I have been using it exclusively for music since 1989. What it does is nothing short of a miracle. But the argument that it's better than the others holds no meaning for me. I want better than it was, not merely better than the competition. The reality for me is that it gets in the way and slows things down for me constantly, and always has. After 27 years of submitting repeated feature requests with none of them ever having been implemented, you can understand why I might be jaded now. My suggestions have been simple, obvious, and useful. 
 
Here are some:
* I don't care what color events are in PRV. I just want them so that if there are multiple tracks showing that I can tell them apart. I want Sonar to pick colors that are distinct from each other, and adjust them depending on how many tracks are displayed. 
* I want to quickly change the time signature for a single bar or sequence of bars. Musically it's much more common for a time sig change to be a transitory thing, but Sonar's time sig tool assumes any change goes to the end of the song, requiring two operations. And the dialog should have radio buttons for the most common time signatures. And why are the plus-minus buttons so microscopic? And why is the key change operation in the same dialog? And why is the only way to see where a time signature has changed by divining it from the width of the bar in track view? Why isn't there a big marker that says "Here it's now 6/4".
* I want it to be MUCH easier to insert bars into the middle of a piece. Even Selecting All and then carefully choosing to slide over everything when inserting time/measures does not get everything, because a second operation is required to also slide over bus envelopes. Why???? And why are there four Insert operations listed in the Project menu, when there's a perfectly good INSERT menu they would more logically be in?
* Why are Sonar's color palette selections so limiting? When I want black I don't want dark gray. When I want Yellow I don't want a dusty version of yellow.
* And don't get me started on take lanes