I see hereabouts that people are concerned that SPLAT will be decimated by a future Windows update, presumably on Windows 10 which is still a moving target.  If I am running SPLAT on a stable Windows 7 box, with zero issues noted in my usage it seems to me that I am safe for the rest of time from this problem since Windows 7 is at End of Life.  I should not that I have a dedicated security hub installed on my home network (actually it IS my home network) that keeps the wolves outside the wires, so attacks on Windows 7 down the road are not really an issue for me.

Am I wrong?

I think that if you stay with Windows 7 and SONAR Platinum, it will keep working for a while.  All that will happen is that Windows 7 will stop receiving updates in January 2020. SONAR Platinum will never receive any updates either.

If your Windows machine is connected to the internet, after 2020, then you would want to have real-time antimalware software installed.  Your hub/router will have an inbound firewall (or even NAT) which will prevent nasties getting in through an IP port.  However, it won't prevent malware sending outgoing nasties that get in via drive by malware.  Of course, if you don't intend having your machine internet connected than that's not an issue.

Personally, I would schedule a time (preferably when you have the least number of projects on the go) to install Cakewalk by Bandlab as it contains bug fixes and more features. Cakewalk by Bandlab outshines SONAR Platinum as as time goes by, the difference will be greater.  Of course, leave SONAR Platinum installed for the exclusive SONAR Platinum plugins or for those plugins that require it to be present.

Bottom line is:  Windows 7 and Sonar Platinum should work for quite a while yet.

promidi
I think that if you stay with Windows 7 and SONAR Platinum, it will keep working for a while.  All that will happen is that Windows 7 will stop receiving updates in January 2020. SONAR Platinum will never receive any updates either.

If your Windows machine is connected to the internet, after 2020, then you would want to have real-time antimalware software installed.  Your hub/router will have an inbound firewall (or even NAT) which will prevent nasties getting in through an IP port.  However, it won't prevent malware sending outgoing nasties that get in via drive by malware.  Of course, if you don't intend having your machine internet connected than that's not an issue.

Personally, I would schedule a time (preferably when you have the least number of projects on the go) to install Cakewalk by Bandlab as it contains bug fixes and more features. Cakewalk by Bandlab outshines SONAR Platinum as as time goes by, the difference will be greater.  Of course, leave SONAR Platinum installed for the exclusive SONAR Platinum plugins or for those plugins that require it to be present.

Bottom line is:  Windows 7 and Sonar Platinum should work for quite a while yet.

Thanks for your reply and comments.  The security hub I have is the Bitdefender Box 2 and my machine has Bitdefender Total Security 2019 on it as well as part of the Bitdefender software/hardware solution.  It works great actually and covers ALL my connected devices both at home and on the go.

The reason I ask and why I asked a few days back about CbB is because I am at a crossroads.  I have for a number of years had both Cakewalk's SONAR Platinum and Propellerheads' Reason 10 and used both for different reasons and as the mood moved me.  Since Reason now (and has since V9.5) supports VSTs, the ones I had acquired via Cakewalk can and do work within Reason, along side the many proprietary Reason Rack Extensions (REs) I have and so it is entirely viable to use Reason going forward, although not QUITE as capable as SPLAT is.  But then too, Reason's workflow is supremely intuitive so what it lacks in raw powers it makes up for in far less angst tryinjg to figure out how to do something.  But then again, both these environments exceed my paltry skill set as a recording guitar playing hobbyist -- but I digress.

So, I plan to vacillate between these environments going forward, but I am trying to decide which I'll ultimately end up on -- the somewhat in flux SONAR environment or the extremely stable (never once crashed on me, and undo works even in REs) and well supported Reason 10 -- which also has some killer synths in it -- along with the many REs I've bought.  I am seriously considering just cutting my losses and staying with Reason, with the idea that when/if I need something not available in the many REs I can add what VSTs I have, or alternatively record in SPLAT and take the audio files and export them to Reason.

Hope all that makes sense.

The big life-limiter on systems that have been “frozen in time” tends to be hardware failure. Eventually something or other stops working and drivers for its replacement aren’t available for “old” operating systems. Or, at an extreme, the connections external kit, RAM, cpu or drives needs are no longer present in newer hardware.