Though I do believe CW was trying to make Sonar more accessible to new users I also believe it was also better for us old time users.  When one considers just how deep Sonar is and what it can do it was not the most user friendly for many of its features. I think CW did a really great job in trying to keep the power and at the same time make getting to them more consistent and over all easier to use.  This has been a hallmark of CW from way back. But with all the features grafted on through the years it was getting  a bit unwieldy. 8.5 was screaming out for a redesign, a new approach.  If one reads about the development of X1 its clear they thought long and hard on how to best clean up the old GUI. Now with a great version in X3 being very stable and most of the bugs we found in X1 and 2  gone its become a pleasure to open up Sonar X3 and just get to work.  
 
When I read discontent from new adopters it is not unexpected or news. It is the shock of having to relearn a program that took many years to get to the state pre X Sonar had gotten to. Work with it. Try not to get hung up with the way it used to be and see the improvements CW has incorporated into the new Sonar. It took courage to do what CW did. We as users need to tell them that we understand the need and that X3 is a hands down success.
 
I for one do not want to go back to pre X Sonar.  There are still things that can be improved and when X4 comes out I think we will be as wowed as we were when X3 was released. 
 
Happy Sonaring!
 
  

Well, I'm trying.  And of course there are good things already.   Really all my complaints come down to two thing:  if it's a repetitive thing that I'm going to be doing hundreds of thousands of times, the extra click, mouse move, enter key, or shortcut (long cut) key is going to drive me crazy.   If it's taking up screen when I DO NOT USE IT AND I CAN"T ELIMINATE IT, it irritates me.  Ok three things: unexpected short cut key behavior: too many unwanted shortcuts for things I never personally want to do.  This last one, granted, becomes less of a problem the more a person gets used to it, and it was a problem already in Sonar 3 and 5. 

I would think a short cut key for something you are going to do repetively would be a good thing (kinda like CTRL-S to save or CTRL-Z to undo).
 
Also, if you invest some time, you can create whatever shortcuts you want (and eliminate those that you don't) by editing them in the preferences menu.
 
Not sure what is taking up screen space that you can't get rid of, but post the specific question(s).  Someone may have figured out a way to resolve it.
 
But it is different and will take some getting used to.

I started with X1, so I certainly didn't have any previous versions to adjust from. In a relatively short time, I found my way around and was off and running with much of it. Sonar is CERTAINLY more intuitive than the monolith...ProTools. You don't need a college course or two to get familiar with it. The biggest and most frustrating adjustment I ever had, and still struggle with often is the change from Layers to Lanes. I don't struggle with how to manage them, however. I struggle with the problems the software has. But it'll hopefully continue to improve.

Living Room Rocker
 
I for one hate having to go to the HUD to change tools when editing.  (I do not have the Tools Module in the CB because it takes too much space which I need for more desirable modules.)  The X series has introduced more steps to get things done.  Even if it is just one step more than before, that is no improvement for a user's workflow.  And that is James' point.  We are not trying to make X work like 8.5.  Rather, as was long requested, we expected SONAR's workflow to improve so we may get things done quickly, more efficiently.

 
Use keyboard shortcuts.
Otherwise what specifically do you want? Here is a place to dump your ideas:
http://forum.cakewalk.com/Features-Ideas-f76.aspx
 

I've been watching demos at CES to people interested in SONAR. They generally come with no preconceptions, except familiarity with other DAWs.
 
Many features I've taken for granted are revelations to these people. Some flip out  because inserting an instrument simply involves dragging a plug-in from the browser to the track view. For others, Auto-Zoom is a "why doesn't every DAW do that?" feature. 
 
On balance any piece of software is not about attaining perfection, but about prioritizing tradeoffs. You simply can't have everything you want in the first tier of accessibility. Everyone's needs will  be different, so you have to predict which features are so needed by so many people they should have priority access, and which ones can be three or four clicks away and no one will get too bent out of shape. Then there are the compromises, like how much the smart tool can do depending on its position, and whether you're using modifier keys.
 
SONAR has all the gear that a quarter million dollar studio had not that long ago. No one expected to walk into Record Plant and run a session all by themselves with everything a patch cord away, yet those expectations influence how people expect to use a DAW. 
 
I've always said the key to transitioning from SONAR 8.5 to SONAR X-series is less about learning X-series and more about unlearning 8.5. Of all the DAWs out there, Cakewalk has chosen priorities that come very, very close to my priorities, which revolve around songwriting, audio for video, narration, and of course recording songs. So, there's a "match" and I'm very happy using SONAR.
 

I get where the OP is coming from. I was there for a while.
I was busy with projects and didn't want to subject clients to my learning curve, so as a result I never REALLY jumped full into X until X3. 
I think the improvements are deep and often gradual as they present themselves as such.
New ways to do things go from "why did they do this?" to "ok, that's really very cool".
 
Biggie for me was unlearning all my custom key bindings, as many of the default ones were very good and useable...and many conflicted with my custom ones. I had to do a re-think.
And I did.
And it all works beautifully now.
Don't give up on it; the beauty in the workflow will become more obvious over a little time.