Skyline_UK
I upgraded my laptop from 7 to 10 yesterday. Text characters are now blurry. A search on the net shows this to be a major problem experienced by many. No solutions seem to be available and MSoft aren't fessing up. There's no way I'm going to risk upgrading my desktop DAW until this is fixed; it would be a disaster for the small detail in Sonar and audio apps etc.

Drivers again...
I am guessing you have an nvidia adapter, what's supplied with Windows 10 here is generally sub optimal. Simply visit nvidias web site and do a clean install of the latest driver for your display adapter. Then reboot. If issue still persists afterwards go to nvidia control panel and adjust the resolution to the max for each monitor.
 
Or do something similar with ATI or whatever...
Should fix it...

I'll admit that I only read through page two. 
 
Here's is what I have to say about ANY OS UI.
 
I use it about for about 3% of my total computing time. So I couldn't give a rat's behind about how it looks.
 
Now, interwebs browser, DAW and VSTs, that another story..... they darn well better suit me or they are history.

GregGraves
Microsoft is not your friend.  How can I buy a complete laptop for $180 when the OS costs me $100?  Answer:  To punish people who build their own systems (me), and force them into a Dell or whatever.   That is why their nickname is Microshaft.  I don't see anyone here discussing the totally amazing things they can already do with Sonar on whatever OS you are using.  Its like a totally beautiful woman, she's a 10 or 11.  Yeah, she could do with a few tweaks, wee longer legs, bit of a lift here or there, but damn man, she's fantastic like she is.  Same with Sonar.  I could absolutely care less about "free" or $200 down the line.  It just doesn't matter.  Better threading?  C'mon!  Even with my currently way-less-than-ideal system, I have never run out oomph to get things done.  I love Sonar.  I love Cakewalk.  I don't trust Microsoft.
 
Sincerely,
Mister Paranoid

To be honest, I've read and re-read this post several times and I still don't understand exactly what you're advocating. I do understand that you don't trust Microsoft, that's about it. If it's any consolation, Microsoft probably doesn't trust you either. In fact, I suspect they actually are out to get you. Just you.   
 
Seriously though, no company is your friend. They offer a product. If it has value to you, you buy it. If it doesn't, you don't. That's the contract, end of story. So don't buy (or get for free) Windows 10. Easy-peasy.

kitekrazy1

John
Its Apple that resembles big brother not Microsoft. Only their approved software is allowed to run on their approved hardware. However, they are the ones that scream big brother about IBM and Microsoft. Its the big lie that for some reason people believe. 

 So true but MS seems to do a better job as pissing people off.  Rumor has it before W8 came out MS execs ignored that it wouldn't go over well.

I think people judge MS more critically than most any other technology company. People love underdogs and they hate successes. I worked there while Win 8 was in development (I left MS in 2012 after 15 years there. Full disclosure, I was not part of the Windows dev team.) That OS and its visual design language was a bet-the-company effort to out-innovate the competition, period. For years we've heard people in the press and in the industry who "knew the market" that MS was no longer an innovative company, that it was resting on its laurels and living off the fat of Windows and Office. (All of which was patent BS, by the way.)
 
So for Windows 8 the company invested hugely in a multi-year, multi-version effort to re-invent the Windows platform, it's development tools and even assumptions about its hardware form-factor. It's difficult to describe the sheer breadth of the changes made across the company in every single product and technology to align with that vision. Imagine our surprise when those same smart people pooped their pants over our "arrogance" at daring to alter the sacred Windows 7 paradigm. I laughed my butt off.
 
Many of us called for sticking to the plan and to move forward and fully implement the vision staked out in Windows 8, but new leadership wimped and basically changed the visuals back to W7, keeping only the fonts, color scheme and icons. All imho, of course.
 

kevinwal
Many of us called for sticking to the plan and to move forward and fully implement the vision staked out in Windows 8, but new leadership wimped and basically changed the visuals back to W7, keeping only the fonts, color scheme and icons. All imho, of course.

Yeah that's what I thought as well, I notice devs liked Win 8.x more than most because they understood what M$ were doing. The fact is Win8.x was always going to be an intermediary release anyway (Windows RT seemed the give away). It was stuck in the middle of Windows 7 and Win10, a half way solution. The full vision was to be able to develop easily on for all devices (desktop,server,phone,tablet,third parties) and supply a solution for all devices, which may have now happened on Win10.
 
The mistake could have been that they should have waited an couple few years... i.e. Jump from Windows 7 to 10, but then people would have accused them of being slow... Then again I regarded 8 a great success, loved it. Silly it all went to bits over a stupid start menu/start screen. Most people didn't realize they could configure it the way they want at least with 8.1, or just could not be bothered. All the start screen was anyway was an extra large start menu.

bitman
M.S. is likely trying the herd us all into one pen so they can then "update" Windows to a play to use model. That's why it is free kiddos. Your C drive and the setup you have going there is your toy for your use whenever you see fit - keep it that way  Win 10 is "license to run software" run amok.
 
Imagine if your Tonka toys went rental, you would have thrown a fit!
 
The start menu isn't even that great.
I'm sticking with 7 until kingdom come.
 

That's why I imaged my Win 7 installation before upgrading. Thank goodness for real installation discs and product keys. If anyone wants to find out the keys for MS software on your machine, you can use ''.
 
As far as I'm concerned, anything that is installed on a computer is a software PRODUCT not a service. The subscription only model is bad for consumers. At least Cakewalk and AV software companies have it right by allowing users to keep what they paid for. To hold users to ransom by pulling everything that they have paid for needs looking into by trading standards organisations. I get that if subscriptions are not renewed that FUTURE services will be withheld, but to remove prior purchased products or downgrade to free versions should not be allowed. The product should be left at the state it was when the renewal was not taken. Companies wouldn't be able to take an install disc off someone after a year.

I'll be staying with Windows 7 Pro for another couple of years until I need to buy new hardware and then I'll see what's available. All I need is a stable host to run my applications and right now I've got it.

Doktor Avalanche

When Cakewalk drops support of Win7 or Win8 for Sonar, because the latest Microsoft libraries force them to do so, much like when they had to drop Vista support, don't say I didn't warn you! Also please don't expect the wait for that to happen to be as long as Vista had.

Not only that your drivers and plugins suppliers will also be forgetting about these OS's.

Or another way to look at it is that your current large investment in hardware/drivers and plugins will gradually stop working as you move on to an "improved experience" that will cost you more in trouble and treasure than just the cost of a "free" upgrade, and far more than just staying with an OS on which current products will work. As Cakewalk moves into the future, and breaks with the past, your investment in time and stuff will be eroded. The only defense is to learn to use what you have and stop dreaming that the newest system is going to make your music better. If a violinist had to keep up with an instrument that is adding another string every couple of years, it would not necessarily make it a better violin, nor would it make him a better violinist. Pro Audio was a major improvement over Cakewalk (the sequencer, not the company) in terms of new features for those so inclined. The difference between X1 and X3 not so much. Sure the bugs in your current version will never be fixed unless you constantly get something new, but the new bugs will never be fixed without getting something new either, even if it is just the next monthly update while waiting to pay the next yearly membership/subscription fee. 

kevinwal
 
Many of us called for sticking to the plan and to move forward and fully implement the vision staked out in Windows 8, but new leadership wimped and basically changed the visuals back to W7, keeping only the fonts, color scheme and icons. All imho, of course.
 

Kevin I agree with most of what you say except for the above. Having been involved with the changes at MS through various generations including the Vista-Win8 period, there was definitely a marked difference here. While I was happy for MS pushing the envelope and developing a hybrid model scalable across devices form factors, management lost sight of a key factor which is what ultimately led to the failure. What matters most to users is the *software* running on Windows not Windows itself. There was a sense of arrogance with the Win 8 management to force all developers to switch to the metro model even through many of us pointed out why the model was flawed and unsuitable as a replacement for the Win32 based desktop API. 
 
I think its fortunate that the new management realized this mistake and changed course. You can't blindly stay the course and expect success when the vision is flawed :) I don't see it as caving but as understanding a mistake and taking proper steps to rectify it. 

I have a question. I don't have internet at my house(I use my phone to get on the forum). Is there a way that I can give Microsoft my serial # and download the files or request a disc?