Offline activation has been eliminated as well.
I finally installed SONAR Platinum on my studio's primary and offline DAW this past Thursday as I figured that any day now the last chance to do so would occur.
For a short while I was enthusiastic, but over the weekend it occurred to me that I will never migrate any of my SONAR 8.5 projects to Platinum as it is a sand trap of sorts. Anything I commit to Platinum is going to require an online DAW to rescue when my current primary DAW is replaced with a new offline system.
I do like the fact that someone finally figured out that all the third party free stuff was nothing more than expensive government cheese, and I applaud the idea that the third party bundle agreements have been recognized as a waste of resources.
It bares the truth that the development of the actual function of this particular DAW did not cost much more than the current pricing reflects. The costly bundling of BLOATY crippleware seemed like a poor substitute for the development of the DAW. I am glad to see a new development model emerge. It could even be called a rapid environment for audio production, engineering, and recording or something catchy like that.
The best part about this announcement is that the new pricing structure dumps the value of DAW technology to historic new lows, so maybe now Presonus, Steinberg, et al will see a need to morph into shells of their former selves and become social media recruiting tools with amorphous goals and ambiguous profit structures.
I am thankful I have yet to sell my acoustic guitar. I may have to use it as firewood someday. Soon.