The bottom line for me is this:  I bought the lifetime updates when they were first offered a few years ago, and since Bandlab took over, I've received 3 new updates free of charge which makes this version of CW better than any version I've owned.  I could care less about how popular CW is in the DAW kingdom.  It works better than ever for me, and I see no reason to feel buyer's remorse.  Even if they start charging for updates again, I can live with what I have now.

I've seamlessly transitioned from SPLAT (lifetime license) to CbB without missing a beat. In fact, since using CbB for a few months now and having received several free updates, it does not feel much different than SPLAT with lifetime updates from last year. I've only briefly opened SPLAT since installing CbB and that was just to compare the two (features/performance). Happy CbB user here and pleased that the SONAR legacy continues to live on and looking forward to what the future brings.

I honestly have not noticed much of a difference. I mostly use studio one now anyway so my sample size is smaller than full time user. I do open up a few days a week because it seem like a great solution for my students with low budget.

I started with version 1 of three programs: Cakewalk Sonar, Ableton Live, and Studio One. I liked them all for different reasons.
 
I now use CbB, Live Suite 10, and Studio One 4. And I'll keep using them all until they die or I do. 
 
Each program has a very different take on the music-making process and they are becoming more differentiated, not less. The program protocols are similar enough that it's no big deal to switch back and forth, and besides, you don't need to learn everything at once. 
 
I don't understand the mentality of people who used Sonar, went to something else, and don't remain fluent in two programs (unless their needs are so specific they can be satisfied by a single program).
 
Anyway, I don't care what programs other people use, and no one should care what programs I use. What I do care about is people showing common courtesy. I think it's quite rude to diss a company's product in a space that's maintained by the company for free, for the benefit of its customers.
 
 
 
 

I'm still going to support Cakewalk by bandlab, but if I have issues I will always have Reaper to back me up in a pinch.

I hope there wasn't anything that I said that was considered dissing Cakewalk. I love Splat, and would love to upgrade to CbB, I just don't have internet access(besides the phone), and am hoping that they eventually have an offline option.

I'm one of those online guys, I keep my laptop online unless I'm working on a project which then I just turn off my wifi in the pc until I need it again.

Currently, I think Bandwalk by Cakelab is going in a good direction. Especially when you consider that just a few months ago Sonar was dead. I have a menagerie of DAWs and my goto for new projects is currently Samplitude. I installed the first pre-release of Bandwalk and have kept it up to date and I am impressed so far with the bug fixes and stability/performance fixes. Meng, Bandlab and the Cake Bakers seem to make a great team and you can sense that the bakers seem to be happier, more relaxed and motivated now. Things really do seem to be starting to happen and this is just the beginning. I think the guy at the helm has great vision and is steering it in a good direction and the crew all seem to be well motivated, not just to keep it afloat but to get it to where it's going. That said, it is too early yet to decide whether to stay or jump ship. It's free. Go along for the ride and see where you end up.

Friday evening I updated Bandlab Assistant and then downloaded and installed the latest CbB. Ran into no issues, and I've been happy with the performance of CbB. So far I've had no issues, and have been able to continue working on projects started in Splat. I'm quite happy with the way things are progressing and want to say thank you to Meng, Noel and the entire Bandlab team. Thanks Guys.

I tried Studio One, and there were some things I liked about it. I even like the Studio One look just a tiny bit more than Sonar (depending on my mood maybe). However, I just lose too many things that I use all the time if I move away from Cakewalk, including:
 
Track Templates
The Dock/Skylight interface
All the great ProChannel plugins, and the ease of use of the ProChannel itself
Drum Replacer
Speed comping. Most DAWs have a comping tool these days, but I don't think there are many that allow you to navigate the clips using your arrow keys. It's just such a fast way to work.
Obviously, I would also lose the familiarity that I have with Sonar/Cakewalk. There would be a huge learning curve.
 
So, even though I shelled out the cash for a Studio One crossgrade in December, I won't be using it all that much I don't think. Just not worth it now that Cakewalk is a viable, supported DAW.