Cactus is correct in saying CbB offers few improvements over the November release of SONAR. It even takes a few things away, which may or may not be important to individual users. Personally, I plan to switch to the new version right away - knowing that I can easily switch back if some unforeseen showstopper is later revealed.
 
I would, however, be reluctant to uninstall it, even if I was disappointed by it. I can't guarantee that some existing SONAR files wouldn't also get removed.
 
There is really no compelling reason (AFAICT) to migrate to CbB immediately. Unless you're on an older version of SONAR, in which case you'll be delighted by the substantial upgrade for free!
 
 

I didn't uninstall it, but I have to concur, I see little difference between it and my Free Home Studio version. The RED icon was a nice touch to keep me from getting lost. And I also dislike the dark PVR, cant see notes of the other tracks very well now. Will try that there trick posted above. 

Cactus Music
First I saw nothing new or improved over what I already have. I really hated the new PVR. Why of all things that were wrong with Sonar did they choose to change something that didn't need changing. I've never read of anyone complaining about the way the PVR looked!
 
Then the Bandlab assistant becomes a nag screen that keeps popping up. Seems no way to disable it. So I uninstalled it too. 
It also showed as being third from the top of the list of background apps using memory. 
Typical shareware syndromes. 
 
And a warning. When you un install it - very much sharing files with your original Sonar so don't let it nuke those files.  
I am so disappointed that they didn't release something different. I don't like the way this is a  lame duck "update" of what we already have and invasive to my system. 

Bandlab Assistant is running three process 129,088k,38,764,91.384. Right-click and once you end one process the other two just disappear as well.Bitflipper gave a way to get it from starting up each time

There are pretty massive differences from Home Studio to CbB, which is essentially the same feature set as Platinum.
You can refer to this comp chart which only shows a few differences but there are even more features missing from HS. 
http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/SONAR/Versions
 
Besides track and bus limits, its missing the prochannel, flexible control bar, synth rack, vocalsync, aux tracks, mix recall, and more.
 
Regarding the PRV, the change was something that should have been there from the get go when we introduced themes and work had started on this before Cakewalk was shut down. As such it finishes the work of themes. If you switch to the mercury theme you can get back the light look of the PRV that you like.
 
There are also other internal things in CbB. One small one was the code is compiled for the latest windows SDK which makes it even more Win10 compatible. Its pretty much the same amount of things you would get in a typical new months release last year. Of course there are a ton of things on top of that we had to do to make it a brand new app independent of SONAR. But of course most users don't care about that stuff :) 
 
For the reasons Bitflipper pointed out I don't recommend uninstalling either Plat or CbB since it might affect the other install.  

Also we're currently testing changes to BA that will allow users to stop it running on startup, as well as some other fixes to it to make it more compatible with AV programs.
 

Thanks Noel - as a HS user who posted in the release announcement thread with that query about the differences but didn't get a response that was useful. My other key question is whether your changes in BA will include letting us choose our additional content install path as I only have a 256Gb SSD and it would be useful to have the extra content (presumably there is more content than I currently have with HS) but I understand it is quite a large install!
 
I'm holding off in the hope that that will be addressed
 
Cheers for all the info - great customer service!

Yes we will be allowing for customizing the content path. Just didn't have time to do it in time for release.
You can always change it after the fact manually however...

That's great thanks - I'll wait for the option just to be on the safe side :-)  Any rough idea on timescale for that update?

Would I be correct in thinking that if I install the Cakewalk .exe file and the content files then that will have no impact on my HS install? I noticed elsewhere that there seems to be an issue with AIR plugins in Cakewalk and I have a few of those which I will want to use in HS until the issue is resolved in CW
 
Thanks again

Correct.

Thanks for chiming in Noel..  OK, you guys talked me back on board... I have  re installed it and will give it a Go. 
Here's what I mean about the PRV.   I'll just have to squint :)  
 

The other thing that bugs me is the controller pane in the new PVR the graphs are white or very pale. Old version they followed the color of the track. I really don't see the appeal of making it harder to see? I guess I'll have to learn about the theme editor. 
 

 
I tried Mercury and it gives me a correct PRV but makes the rest of Sonar way to colorful.