In response to Paul P's thoughtful post...proficiency in anything comes through practice. After practicing a particular set of skills, getting good at them, and developing muscle memory, people resist change.
 
My solution is not to resist change but incorporate it into what exists. I don't learn all keyboard shortcuts, I learn the most important ones. I don't use just the touchscreen or the mouse, I use both. I often have my left hand on the mouse and my right hand on the screen.
 
Combining keyboard, mouse, and touch lets you fly in a way that no single option allows. Throw a POK footswitch into the mix and anything's possible.

I am sorry, but shortcuts are frustrating. I been mixing for 3 days, about 6 hours a day, and used zero shortcuts. My mix is 70 tracks and has effects on every track, and now I am in mastering and yet again- no need for any shortcuts. My partner is shortcut fan, he says- I am slow. I might be slow because of the wine we drink while recording, but I am pretty fast with the mouse.
 
Another thing happened today- I lost a track. I deleted it accidentally, then undo it, and did not save- my computer crashed. When I loaded Sonar again- the track was gone. How come there is no memory of last unsaved project? I can close Word, restart computer and unsaved files will be right there. Not with Sonar.  

vladasyn
Another thing happened today- I lost a track. I deleted it accidentally, then undo it, and did not save- my computer crashed. When I loaded Sonar again- the track was gone. How come there is no memory of last unsaved project? I can close Word, restart computer and unsaved files will be right there. Not with Sonar.  

Try that Microsoft's DAW ...

vladasyn
I am sorry, but shortcuts are frustrating. I been mixing for 3 days, about 6 hours a day, and used zero shortcuts. My mix is 70 tracks and has effects on every track, and now I am in mastering and yet again- no need for any shortcuts. My partner is shortcut fan, he says- I am slow. I might be slow because of the wine we drink while recording, but I am pretty fast with the mouse.
 
Another thing happened today- I lost a track. I deleted it accidentally, then undo it, and did not save- my computer crashed. When I loaded Sonar again- the track was gone. How come there is no memory of last unsaved project? I can close Word, restart computer and unsaved files will be right there. Not with Sonar.  

Try looking in your audio folder for it. It may still be there. 

My subscription renewal is coming up in a few days. It will not be renewed. I don't dislike Sonar, I don't distrust Gibson (much), and it's not that important to me what is coming down the pipe. Nothing I've seen in the past few months tells me another $150 is going to see ROI. I can continue to enjoy Platinum and all of the Big Buttons at this level, and spend my time/money learning other platforms. This is only a hobby for me, but it's the most important hobby I have. Sonar has peaked, IMO.

Gosh, whilst I understand the OP's thought's...I dislike shortcuts, and haven't bothered to memorise them either...I get by with a mouse...I even have a touchscreen laptop, and I don't really use this in Sonar either.
 
As for mastering and effects, huh?...Sonar is great for mastering, absolutely ****ing fantastic for mastering.  The linear phase EQ for cleaning up master track, the tape and console emulator plugs for tone and gain control.  I use Waves H-Comp for compression, but the ProChannel EQ set to pure is the bomb.  I do use Waves Kramer Master Tape over the top before going into ProChannel's Concrete Limiter.  This chain is the bomb.  I know the OP's complaint was about the bundled effects, but it's a DAW...the effects that come with the program are bog standard.  Honestly if you wan't WOW effects...check out the specials over at Waves...every weekend.  In the last two months, I've picked up the Kramer HLS EQ and Pultec Eq for about 50 bucks Oz!!  I also have Guitar Rig 4, which is a swiss army knife, and in particular I use it for all my delays, and flanger type effects.
 
Sonar does have a pad screen, however it's not's brilliant...but Sonar is not really designed for that particular paradigm.  Try Bigwig or Live.
 
Does Sonar have issues...yes?  Do other DAW's have issues...Yes?? Do other DAW's do everything bog standard out of the box, along with every ****ing plugin you could ever need or want?? NO!
 
Look I've complained in the past, however Sonar is about as good as it gets, it's not perfect but it works, it feels like a real studio environment.
 
Ben

The argument being made in this thread seems to be: I refuse to learn how to use this software properly, and I also expect to drink while I'm using it, and any difficulties arising from those two things are for the developers to address and not me.

I reckon that's a fairly big ask.

In response to the OP comment about making all functionality available at the click of a mouse, consider that SPlat has become deeper and deeper.  (I find it mind boggling because EVERYTHING I imagine is either available or "coming soon.")
 
Consider how much screen real estate would be taken up by all the buttons if the skylight interface had not been developed.  Our work area would keep getting smaller and smaller until it was a postage stamp in the bottom right corner.  

SONAR 8: More than 50% of screen devoted to clickable controls!

I recognize and respect the effort the bakers have made to assure that most functions are available through menus, mouse clicks, control surfaces, AND shortcuts.  Not it's not 100% there yet, but the user community isn't 100% dedicated to a single UI approach.
 
The help module improvements which were announced recently are a clear effort to streamline the learning curve for all users, and they seem to be a major step toward bringing all of the system's functionality to the screen where novices and pros can discover options for improved efficiency.  Workflow, after all, is probably the most subjective function/feature.
 
Be patient vladasyn, and work to learn a new shortcut every now and then; I'm sure you'll be more impressed with the product every time you do.  Like KPerry suggested: imagine where your word-processing skills would be if you'd never mastered Ctrl+C or Ctrl+V.

A very fine post above. It deserves one take note of it. 

Everyone has different needs and techniques.  I understand the shortcut problem.  There are ones I know and use, and then, there are others I don't.  It is very hard to memorize short cuts if you aren't on a program constantly and don't have the shortcuts right in front of you to learn them.
 
when I work, I'm using everything - a lot of mouse for editing among other things, keyboard for certain shortcuts, and touch for everything else.  If I had a hardware controller I'd incorporate more of that.  There is no right way to control SONAR, although there are certainly easier ways to do certain tasks.  But if someone finds a simpler way to do tasks, who am I (or anyone) to say there are  wrong?