yeah, but if the "customise right-click menu" still existed, it's a win-win ;-)

 
Exactly!  Customisability is a huge selling point for applications. Even games these days allow heavy customisation, in the form of options, key mapping, and mods. If game studios can do it, then why can't Cakewalk?  They did it for 8.5.3, so unless those programmers no longer work for them (perhaps all the nerdy 8.5.3 programmers were replaced with sexy X1 programmer/designers), it shouldn't be hard.
 
Not everyone bothers to customise applications (just like not everyone is willing to write CAL scripts).  However, there are some of us who routinely customise the programs we use frequently, and we would greatly appreciate the ability to modify UI of Sonar to more efficiently suit our needs. 

Feature requests would be a contender for slowest way to rename a clip

Base 57
Feature requests would be a contender for slowest way to rename a clip

I don't know - the OP says he has suffered with the X series for 5 years. If he put in a FR today - we can all meet back here in 5 years to see.

ikontact started a feature request thread about this. Can't hear a squeaky wheel over all the crickets (tinnitus?). Might take longer than 5.

8.5.3 is a dead end. CAL is still functional but not supported and not guaranteed to work forever. The OP doesn't like the way Sonar has developed and that's fine. There are other options. Why not get Duckbar. It will allow you to create a customized button bar and do all sorts of UI hacking. Check it out. That's the best way forward.
 
If the OP wants change, it's waiting for him. Lots of solutions have been presented but he doesn't want them. What he seems to want is for Cakewalk to say that they've made a big mistake and will put things back to the way they were. It's never going to happen.

What he seems to want is for Cakewalk to say that they've made a big mistake and will put things back to the way they were.

 
No, I want them to add back UI customisabilty.  The rest of X1/2/3/Platinum is fine (except for the piano roll misaligned bug).
 
Here are examples of what I would like to see:
 
1) add back the Menu Editor which they had in 8.5.3 (a custom right-click menu is similar to the custom panel in the control bar, but has the advantage of being closer to the object you are editing)
 
2) add Rename Clip to the top menu  (so that it can be keymapped or at least bound to a right click menu or custom control bar)
 
3) add back the option to show ALL note velocities if NO notes are selected (to match both the documentation, and the pre-Platinum behaviour)

4) add back the option to open note properties by right clicking (instead of double-clicking)
5) add back the option to adjust timing and transposition in each track itself (not the inspector), so that you can see them for all tracks at once
 
6) add option to save current quantize settings with the project  (so that you don't have to select a custom quantize preset each time you restart Sonar)
 
7) add option to restrict the Clean Audio searching to a specific directory tree (instead of scanning the whole computer)
 
8) add ability to modify colours of more UI elements (e.g., scroll bar slider)
 
9) add more objects to CAL (such as clip properties), so that those of us who want to customise Sonar further, can do so
 
10) add option to adjust quantize, nudge, and snap to grid all at the same time (e.g., different settings for different time signatures and degrees of swing)

Tripecac

it seems to me that the most reasonable approach is to have fully customizable menus and toolbars; to the point of being able to create complete toolbars that can be instantiated via hotkeys and/or context.

 
Yeah.  This is what I've been whining/squeaking/spamming about since X1: bring back the UI customisability that we had in 8.5.3.

 
I already explained why this is not as simple as you think, so in the spirit of this thread, I'll repeat it: in the X series, to reduce menu clutter, functions specific to specific views have function-sensitive menus - e.g., track view has mini-menus that are specific to track view. That way you do not have to deal with commands for, say, Console view while concentrating on track view. The bottom line is that menu items are no longer restricted solely to the menu bar, and as a software developer, I'm sure you understand that if the underlying structure behind a functionality has been altered extensively, you can't just paste a band-aid from how the functionality used to be over it. 
 
If you had been paying attention to the information on planned updates, you would have seen that "The future of workspace customization is coming to SONAR this fall, with innovative options that let you adapt SONAR to your unique needs and workflow." This is an overhaul of customization that is built on a new foundation, which takes time to implement.
 
So, you can complain that SONAR doesn't do exactly what you want to do and demand a solution that will distract the company from doing a proper job on an overhaul that takes into account the underlying structural changes, or you can be patient and let Cakewalk pursue its goal of proper workspace customization. It's obvious from what Cakewalk says about Workspaces they have indeed paid attention to the people who want more customization, so I don't know why there's a hue and cry about Cakewalk not listening. 
 
However as a touch screen user, I must say it has been worth reading this thread just to find out about Shift+I.
 
Let's face it: Like it or not, the music business rides on the coattails of consumer electronics, and is at its mercy. Desktop sales continue to fall, including the Mac, and are projected to continue falling. Laptops are falling as well. Shipment of touch screens continues to grow at a rapid rate, and while in some ways touch at present may seem like a novelty, the technology is young and exploitation of it will become more sophisticated in the future (you need look no further than GeoShred for a tantalizing glimpse of that future). Right-click is not a growth industry; SONAR is a tiny subset of the world of computers. Better to re-design customization that will be relevant in the future rather than try to prolong a past whose relevance is diminishing more with every passing quarter.

Base 57
ikontact started a feature request thread about this. Can't hear a squeaky wheel over all the crickets (tinnitus?). Might take longer than 5.

Already voted for it - as I had for previous similar FR's. (If your reference was to me and - that I couldn't hear the squeaky wheel - sometimes you have to just turn off a particularly annoying sound that goes on and on and on... my hearing (otherwise) is just fine, thanks)

"If your reference was to me and - that I couldn't hear the squeaky wheel"
 
No. Very sorry. I meant  I couldn't hear the wheel (must learn not to mix metaphors).
After years of Plexi's and far too much PA for a given room, It's a wonder I can hear at all.
 
Cheers
(edit) the italic I looked like a slash

this thread is turning into like something of a "Repeat" like a gilligans island episode ive seen 10000 times.
I know how it ends, but I watch because it still has some humor to it.