Craig please check my post:
http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/3282802
 
What you are writing does make some sense, but what you are dealing here is perceptions...
Many people I'm sure do not participate in this forum and just use the product,

Ta.

I too have issues with the Start Screen. However, I have several specific ideas on how to improve it (aside from bug fixes), which I've sent to the Bakers. Of course I represent a "universe of one" but I do think if these suggestions were implemented, the Start Screen would be more useful.

Anderton
I too have issues with the Start Screen. However, I have several specific ideas on how to improve it (aside from bug fixes), which I've sent to the Bakers. Of course I represent a "universe of one" but I do think if these suggestions were implemented, the Start Screen would be more useful.

I agree Craig.  I've made my suggestions as well.  I'm warming up to it.  Thing is, if it's just not somebody's cup of tea, it can be disabled.

I've doubled down on Sonar so I'm not leaving. There will be a huge number (relatively speaking) of folks that will have their annual membership end in January 2016. I expect that some cool stuff will be delivered in late December to encourage people to re-up.
 
The only change I'm going to make is to drop down one level from Platinum. If we stack up the releases this year there were few that provided exclusive stuff for Platinum users. What there was, was pretty cool, but I STILL need Panup and the Sonar mods to really enjoy the interface. I bought Notion 5 to take care of the few times people ask for scoring tools. I would also love to buy a good Sonar book, but the new model has made that impractical, as seen by the lack of output from Scott Garrigus. I simply can't learn from a pc screen. 4 more updates to go but I feel I got good value for my money.

BobF

Anderton
I too have issues with the Start Screen. However, I have several specific ideas on how to improve it (aside from bug fixes), which I've sent to the Bakers. Of course I represent a "universe of one" but I do think if these suggestions were implemented, the Start Screen would be more useful.

I agree Craig.  I've made my suggestions as well.  I'm warming up to it.  Thing is, if it's just not somebody's cup of tea, it can be disabled.

The problem is that some of us made/make heavy use of the OLD startscreen... which AFAIK no longer exists in Hopkinton.
 
Based on some of the info I've gotten from Baker's and other users the new start screen is something that I would like to use EXCEPT for some specific issues that are deal breakers for me (not for Sonar but for the Start screen).
 
At this moment it's fine because there is nothing in Hopkinton that I need or am dying to try. I can happily keep working on the version I'm on. People have been moaning about the lack of goodies in this past release but really the Bakers have been busting their butts this past year and august is generally accepted as vacation season. I also never recalled any specific promise that we would get a mountain of new stuff every month or even a monthly schedule. That seems to have been some kind of self imposed challenge by the Bakers and they've certainly MORE than met it (seriously I thought we'd get more trickle style updates like Hopkinton as opposed to the flood of new things and I commend the Bakers for their enthusiasm and dedication to the new system).
 
Whatever... going off topic. I have been considering how to broach this in a non inflammatory way and perhaps seeing what the Baker's are going to do in regards to the new startscreen before posting a thread detailing my concerns but for now the ONE thing I would like to see is an option for a "Classic" startscreen included in the next update... at least until they can thoughtfully work through the issues people are having with the new one. My preference is to have the classic option available for... well forever but I realize time marches on.
 
For now the ONLY things I want to see happen with the new startscreen before I will enable it are...
 
1) An option to COMPLETELY disable the quicktips and newsfeed independently of the startscreen. So essentially I want to use the startscreen but have that "phone home" element turned off until I turn it on. Ideally it would ONLY phone home when I press a convenient button so I get that info at times of my choosing and my system isn't wasting time/resources trying to retrieve it every time I open Sonar (which is at least a dozen times a day).
 
I want it COMPLETELY silent, performing NO functions or actions in the fore or background... I want it doing NOTHING until I click a button that allows the program to reach out, connect and give me whatever tips and news have piled up since the last time I performed that function. I will use it. I just want to CHOOSE when it happens manually.
 
2) Instead of big snapshot icons an option to have a "List" style menu. 99% of the time I don't need to see what my project looked like when I last saved it. I know from the titles and would rather see a list that has MORE of those titles than a smalle list of projects in icon form. Since I use Save As to version my projects about a half dozen times a day (at least) the icon thing is pretty much useless to me for recent projects.
 
Once I start using it I'm sure I'll have other suggestions but those are the two things that I know about the new startscreen that will make me IMMEDIATELY disable it as soon as I update to any new version from this point forward.
 
For now just an option to keep the old startscreen until this new one gets tweaked based on user input would be brilliant. I would hope at least that will happen before the track to track routing gets introduced which IS a feature I will want to check out and use.
 
I have full faith the Bakers have been watching and will tweak all this for us so this is totally not a freakout or diss.
 
I sincerely hope they are all taking a well deserved summer vacation to spend with their friends and family after an epic year of epicness. I could not be happier to be a Sonar user at this point in time.
 
Cheers.

ampfixer
I've doubled down on Sonar so I'm not leaving. There will be a huge number (relatively speaking) of folks that will have their annual membership end in January 2016. I expect that some cool stuff will be delivered in late December to encourage people to re-up.
 
The only change I'm going to make is to drop down one level from Platinum. If we stack up the releases this year there were few that provided exclusive stuff for Platinum users. What there was, was pretty cool, but I STILL need Panup and the Sonar mods to really enjoy the interface. I bought Notion 5 to take care of the few times people ask for scoring tools. I would also love to buy a good Sonar book, but the new model has made that impractical, as seen by the lack of output from Scott Garrigus. I simply can't learn from a pc screen. 4 more updates to go but I feel I got good value for my money.

 I sort of left.  X3 was suppose to be my last version or was it 8.5? I don't remember.  I still upgrade Sonar.
 

sure, but if they'd been "batched up" for a yearly release, the bugs showing up monthly surely would have been found "in house" before users got/discovered them?

 
I've worked in software development for 25 years and small releases are much easier to handle in regards to testing. When they test a monthly release, they have a relatively small number of things to test. A major release requires a correspondingly major testing effort in conjunction with full regression testing. I think the Bakers have been doing an admirable job of providing a balance of fixes, features and quality.

Beepster
 
The problem is that some of us made/make heavy use of the OLD startscreen... which AFAIK no longer exists in Hopkinton.

 
In a way...it does, if you use the File menu.
 

• Click on File to see the equivalent of "Recent Projects."
• Choose File > Open to see the equivalent of "Existing Projects."
• Choose File > New to see what is IMHO a great way to start a new project that was introduced in Gloucester, but it's also a very convenient way to choose a template, and even select a default template.

 
Here's the way I see the Start Screen: Going in the right direction, but only got halfway there. Right now I think it tries to make things easier for beginners at the expense of those who are more experienced in the program. As a result, I find using the File menu to be faster and more efficient. However, I definitely think that with a few tweaks, the Start Screen could be a very helpful way to consolidate the things you need to do when you first open SONAR.
 
Meanwhile, I must say the next update looks pretty significant... 
 
 
 

Yeah, agreed. I like the new start screen, but without wishing to be rude, it feels a bit more version 0.9 than version 1.0 right now.
 
I only say this because it stands in contrast to the last six months or so. Drum Replacer, for example, came to us very fully realised from day one, and then got updates the very next month. That kind of thing is amazing.
 
Start screen isn't a nightmare, or anything, but it's not been delivered to that standard.
 
That gripe aside, I do like the basic design of the thing, and Cakewalk have earned my trust enough to roll with it for the time being. For my money, the option to roll back and / or delay updating makes these things mostly a non-issue. It will only matter if a bad change happens and doesn't get fixed for a long time. Thus far, that's not been how it's gone.

Anderton

RD9
I suggested quarterly updates might be more convenient for most users.

 The reason Cakewalk structured updates the way they did is you can update quarterly if you like. Or if you want to be on the bleeding edge, you can update every month...or update one month if there's a feature you really like, then not do anything for another six months. Or jump off for a year and come back in again later.

And this is why I just don't understand the folks complaining of too many changes.  I certainly do not upgrade every time and have long periods of stability and familiarity on a version.  If I see nothing in a new release that I need or want, I stick with the version I have.  And I certainly don't upgrade if a multitude of users find problems within a few days of release.
 
If you are upset about too many changes, upgrade only when you want/need to.  And even if you do upgrade and don't like the change, roll back.  If you are not liking the pace of change, remember, you are the person clicking the upgrade button.  Nobody is holding a gun to your head.  Sheesh!
 
Of all the things to complain about, too much choice is not one of them in my book.