I can use it in any DAW of my choosing. That would seem like a nice gesture for the loss of "Lifetime Updates". 

Agreed.

Every DAW I've ever seen advertises that it has the world's best mastering tools.  Which DAW doesn't?  I ask because I'm looking at DAWs just in case Sonar goes down.

To my ears the adaptive limiter is way above average. No hyped frequencies that I can hear.

TPayton
To my ears the adaptive limiter is way above average. No hyped frequencies that I can hear.

Same here.  It was the best thing I saw in the last year.  I wonder if Bandlab intends to offer some of the Cakewalk plug-ins separately.  I'd like to use the Adaptive Limiter in all the DAWs I use.
 
And I guess that brings up a strategy I haven't seen really discussed here.  I have a specific set of plug-ins and VSTis I am very comfortable with.  Some from Izotope. Some from Waves.  Some from Overloud.  A few others.  I don't see any advantage to a DAW-specific plug.  I want to use "my plugs" on all the DAWs. 
 
In that case, why have more than one DAW?  Well, there are significant difference in core features.  Some support ARA.  Some have chord tracks.  Some have usable notation.  Some are better at MIDI editing.  Some have better control surface support.  Some have better arranger features.  Some have a nice mastering work flow.  etc.  So depending on the particular project, it can make sense to use a different DAW, but that is easier if I can keep the plugs that I know best.

cparmerlee
In that case, why have more than one DAW?  Well, there are significant difference in core features.  Some support ARA.  Some have chord tracks.  Some have usable notation.  Some are better at MIDI editing.  Some have better control surface support.  Some have better arranger features.  Some have a nice mastering work flow.  etc.  So depending on the particular project, it can make sense to use a different DAW, but that is easier if I can keep the plugs that I know best.

For me it's too confusing to switch back and forth per project. So my choice is to make the most of just one (although now that I've "learned" Samplitude, I'm keeping it just in case ) and the plugins I have that will work with it.