Bristol_Jonesey
I really don't understand this fixation with 8.5.3
 
It was a good enough version, but visually it was a bit of a mess.
 
I had cause to fire up my old machine the other day and while I was there, launched 8.5. 
It was a visual assault on my senses! Not at all pretty, and trying to navigate a multitude of almost identical icons in an equal number of toolbars left me reeling!

Although I was a reluctant convert to X series (skipped 1 & 2) I bought X3 mainly because of melodyne ARA. I always liked the less cluttered look of the track view in X, but the console view I would still swap for the 8.5 version were it possible.

For me, it is that I can now see more sends (in SPLAT) than X3 or 8.5 was able to show in the console view.  That's also the case with FX in the console.

It's interesting to see the variety of responses. 
 
I appreciate everyone's input, even the poster(s) who were irritated at my somewhat negative opening post.
 
I've become increasingly negative toward Sonar since the switch to X1.  Not like forum troll negative, but just internally grumpy.  It's like those makeover "before and after" photos; some people prefer the "before" photo, and other people prefer the "after".  I personally prefer "before" in the case of the 8.5.3 vs X1 change.  In my case, it's a purely subjective preference based on my personal experiences with the pre- and post-X1 versions; I had experienced fewer frustrations before X1 than after.  That's all. 
 
Anyway, thanks again for the input.  I'll almost certainly end up upgrading to the new version at some point.  It's just a matter of how long I'll stick with X3 before taking the plunge.  The longer I wait, the more money I'll save, but if there are significant fixes to the UI in the things that I do, I would be willing to upgrade sooner rather than later.  I'm guessing I'll have to drill down into specific issues to see if they're fixed in the new version; there doesn't seem to be a general declaration that the new version completely fixes people's problems with the old version.

Actually the longer you wait the less you get. Content is release dependent. Each month we are promised additions and features plus content.  The Anderton additions for example are only specific to a release. 

One thing i hate about text is that tone can be misconstrued . I was not irritated at all and i doubt anyone else was. I just pointed out that the way the question was phrased made the answer more complicated for me to answer. I hope that you are able to make the leap to the current version and find a workflow in it that is better than your expectations :)

Dub I thought you posts were excellent. I did not see them as being "irritated" at all. Thats why I praised it and others for the high quality they were. You addressed the questions well. This is the best a forum of this sort can be.     

I think a lot of the issues those on the fence will be helped somewhat when demo is available.

Dub wasn't the one who came across as irritated.  I was referring to a different poster.  Just control-F the words "idiot", "stupid", "ignorance", "lazyness", or "baloney".  ;)
 

Each month we are promised additions and features plus content.

Good point.  How's the content going so far?  Is there a list somewhere of what monthly content people have received? 
 
 

So far it has been a mixture of loops, synth presets, reverb impulses, pro channel modules (bark of dog and panipulator are awesome freebies already, but having them as PC modules helps those who have abandoned regular fx bin) and custom fx chains from Craif Anderton.  Obviously, the degree of usefullness for each of these things will vary from person to person.  this is also in addition to various bug updates and tweaks to existing features.

I mentioned the iPhone interface to point out that a UI--like Sonar's Skylight--can be a breakthrough design with millions of users and still not please everyone. I *do* think, however, that Cakewalk listens to users far more than Apple does.