It appears that if you purchase the new version of Sonar from a distributor the support/membership clock will not start to run until it is installed and activated. 
 
So is the following a viable strategy for people who were planning to skip X4 with the hope of getting back in with X5?
 
1. buy a boxed version while the intro offer is still available
2. use X3e for a year or so
4. install the first release 2015 version from the discs
5. activate the installation and be upgraded to the then-current 201? version with 12 months of support
 
Or is there a plan or mechanism to time out the old, never installed, software or charge a fee to bring the cost up to the then current price?
 
This may sound crazy but a 50.00 discount on a 200.00 purchase is waaaaay more than the equivalent interest on a money market or bank account these days.
 
p. s. Ask me how you can ensure a good return on your retirement by investing it all in the purchase of Forever Stamps. The USPS has been in business since 1775, so the risk is pretty low.

slartabartfast
 
p. s. Ask me how you can ensure a good return on your retirement by investing it all in the purchase of Forever Stamps. The USPS has been in business since 1775, so the risk is pretty low.

Zinngg!
 
Seriously, I am a version skipper. My reason is mainly financial -- I can't always afford a new version just because one is released. Clearly one of the aims of the new sales model is to stabilize the revenue stream, and for those who don't mind an annual fee it will work, and it will be good for them. But as broke as I am and as much as I need to save fifty bucks whenever possible, there's no way I'd be able to sit on a box of DVDs for a whole year without installing...

This is something I've been wondering about actually.
If you stop paying after a year you get to keep what you have. But I'm sure cakewalk wants their customers to start paying again...How much will you have to pay if you for example pause payment for one year and then decide you want to start up the membership again?
 
I haven't seen any information about this. ..I know this is a situation that noone can find themselves in yet, but it would be nice to know in advance how this will work.
 
Will it be like:
Keep on paying after one year: $199
Pick up paying after a one year pause: $299
Pick up paying after a two years pause: $399
..and after this it's full price again..?

First, an apology for adding to the confusion early in this discussion by misinterpreting access to the upgrade policy as requiring that customers continuously maintain an active membership. It appears that there is a plan to offer upgrade pricing to older customers for some unspecified time in the future, regardless of the current state of their membership.
 
http://forum.cakewalk.com/FindPost/3145782
 
 
In all fairness, there was never a contractual commitment to offer upgrade pricing to any prior version of Cakewalk products either. It was always a gamble. Currently the offer seems to be relatively firm, and at a predictable price. For most users this is a good deal.