There is not going to be an offline authorization. I'm not buying it. Bandlab wants everyone to use the new version because that's what they own. There is no reason for them to give us authorization for Sonar Platinum. This is what I believe now.

I get a kick out of this "They have my personal info" What did you give them? I'm Cactus Music... I don't have a birth certificate or have even an Address.. All I ever posted was I live "in the Bush BC" They don't have my phone number or a credit card number. Purchases were made via Cleverbridge a 3rd party store.  
I have the software, for life.
 
Judging by how we have been treated so far I'm not predicting loosing the Server unless Bandlab themselves give up on this whole thing. 
And now we have Cakewalk Bandlab I don't really care about my old version. 
All the additional content is in my hands as well as the serial numbers. There are a few exceptions it would seem, but I have more VST's than I can ever use so if I end up loosing something it's not a show stopper. 
 
Back to Craig's OP- It's not an update like the last few years because it does not overwrite Splat. It's more like the upGRADE from X3 to Splat. And it's more like Artist than Splat if it was all you had. We still need our old content to have all the goodies. 

Mosvalve
There is not going to be an offline authorization. I'm not buying it. Bandlab wants everyone to use the new version because that's what they own. There is no reason for them to give us authorization for Sonar Platinum. This is what I believe now.

 
I suspect they believe that at some point CbB will be a more compelling program than 2017.10, so people will voluntarily switch to a better program that's free. Remember that if you use MIDI, MPE is already here and MIDI-CI has been ratified. Additions to the MIDI spec with higher resolution are slated by the end of the year. Granted, none of this obsoletes previous MIDI gear or software (the MMA and AMEI have made that a priority) but I think by next year at this time, 2017.10 is going to look pretty long in the tooth. And who knows what Windows will have done by then.
 
Whether there's an offline authorization for the remaining users, BandLab just keeps the authorization servers going, or they end up feeling it's the same situation as 32-bit users and there aren't enough to justify spending time on them, I have no idea. The main point is there is an exit strategy for existing users, which is to download the program that will be supported in the future.
 
I have no dog in this fight. I work with several companies and am using multiple programs because my main activity these days is writing books, and I need to know how all the programs work more than ever. My opinion is based not on how things are now, but how the industry will be in a year and how the users and the company will react to ongoing changes. My predictions don't come with a guarantee, but I've had a pretty good track record.
 

Says the guy that helped put Gibson and Cakewalk together.

Larry Jones

bitflipper

...I understand a lot of older people have this innate mistrust and/or hatred of social media

That's because we old people are the last generation to have experienced both worlds: before and after social media. Younger people have no basis for comparison. They are far less likely to value privacy, because they've grown up in a world where it never existed. In another generation everyone will know everything about everyone else, and it'll be viewed as completely normal.
 

This is, in fact, Mark Zuckerberg's stated objective for Facebook.

Yes, and I wonder if the twerp really believes his own nonsense?  Why on earth would I want, or need to be, 'connected' to everyone else in the world???? I prefer the old fashioned extreme robber barons with their fat bellies, waistcoats and gold fob watches, at least they didn't slyly cloak their intentions in silicon valley pseudo-mankind-benefits hogwash.  Although the towering arrogance of both types are equally revolting.

bitflipper

Leadfoot
The big difference now is that offline Splat users are pretty much out of luck when it comes to updating to CbB...

A temporary problem. Noel has promised that an offline registration option will be forthcoming, and I have complete faith in Noel's word. Don't fall prey to the FOMO syndrome. Given that this first version of CbB is essentially the last release of Platinum, you're not missing out on anything by holding off a bit.

Holding off a bit while continuing to work in the replacement daw is my plan.
 
I have no ideas about how to replace this forum though :(

craig, any idea what's happening for steam users? there is currently still no official representation over there, and the silence is deafening... can't believe nobody at bandlab uses steam?

Steve_Karl



I understand that the company no longer exists.
My specific question to bitflipper was
"Did Noel say there would be an offline registration for SPLAT versions?"

http://forum.cakewalk.com...all-know-m3747302.aspx

Anderton
Maybe I'm underthinking this, but it seems to me that CbB is pretty much like downloading a monthly update, except you're getting it through BandLab Assistant instead of Command Center. 

That's the way it appears to me as well with one small difference. This will install separate from your existing install instead of over it the way a traditional update would. So maybe I'm underthinking it too, but I just don't see any upside to installing at this point.
 
Its going to increase the size of my Sonar install (turns one install into two) and from what I can tell, it doesn't fix anything. It also doesn't add much except a new look to the PRV which might be great or might be horrible. To be honest I've never found myself wishing PRV looked any different than it does.
 
Then again, right wrong or indifferent, I've always taken a wait and see attitude toward first gen releases of pretty much everything both software and hardware related. This is BandLab's first stab at a Sonar release. While there might not be much downside to installing it, there's not much in the way of upside either. What I have works for now, I'm going to leave it as is and see what develops in the future.

 
The delivery system depending on a software "front end" isn't new and is adopted  all over with lots of software companies. If this is how I get my updates I'm ok with that personally. The time between updates isn't that important to me. Ableton waited 4 years. Knocking out some of the more serious bugs three or four times a year would be fine with me. Frankly I don't like the idea of a forced monthly update scheme. The software engineer should not feel pressured IMO. I  want him to feel like he has the time to get it right. No rush, just get it right. Getting it right trumps a timed release update 
Forget adding novelty with no real purpose. Just continue build a solid easy to use program and keep it current.