there's no "standard" but rather just "grandfathered" daws, oi reckon

Grandfathers can get old and tired too! I think for audio it is hard to deny that Pro Tools certainly were one of the originators. For midi though the two big guns really started around 1980. And they were Logic and Cubase. Both of which are still with us.

For audio and midi now there are many and they all sound great and there does not seem to be any real leaders now. Just many choices.

is there anything close to a "standard" daw project file yet? omf seems to be the only really cross-daw format at the mo? is there any impetus to define or implement a standard, or it is it all just commercial competition hoo-har?

Jeff Evans
Studio One will never hold you back realising your musical ideas. You just need some good ideas to start with.

That can be true for most users, but not for everyone. And that was my only point.
S1 was the first option I have checked, but in my case there was 2 show stoppers:
* it may have wonderful integration with wonderful hardware, but I do not have that hardware any they do not want an integration with other (official answer)
* it is not accessible (while I already used to do some operations without looking at computer/devices using that technology, that is not a real show stopper for me. But it is for people which I try to help)
 

pwalpwal
is there anything close to a "standard" daw project file yet? omf seems to be the only really cross-daw format at the mo? is there any impetus to define or implement a standard, or it is it all just commercial competition hoo-har?

Reaper RPP can be such format (text based, with extensions support). There are several common XML based formats, OMF, MXF, etc. but they are more video oriented. I guess in the DAW world, strong concurrence  with aggressive discount prices prevents good interchange format.

Jeff Evans
The reason for that is because Studio One is simply very very good and for some strange reason many Sonar users just cannot see it or will accept it.

I think many Sonar users agree with you as it seems to be the most popular choice. Most of the DAWs on the market are also very very good but different DAWs suit different people, styles and workflows. Considering how young Studio One is it is very impressive, but it does lack quite a few features at the moment. So it doesn't suit everyone and that's why a lot of Sonar users have gone for other DAWs. At the end of the day, everyone used Sonar differently for different things and there isn't one single DAW that can fill all those gaps. I think Studio One will get much better as it matures and although it doesn't fit my bill right now I will be keeping it updated to see how it develops.

I will admit that popularity was a key consideration in my selection of Studio One for my main DAW.  Is it perfect?  No, but I expect it to improve.  Popularity means to me that a product will continue to sell well, be continuously developed, and have a large community of support.  Factors that one would hope should offer an opportunity for a lengthy product lifetime. 
 
My DAW selection criteria basically was this:
 
Must be cross-platform.  There were a few other options that were Windows only, but passed on them because I did not want to deal with that limitation again.  IMHO that may have impacted Sonar's marketability and perception.
 
Must have an active community and well supported, and not one of the "other" DAWs.
 
Must be cost effective.  The special crossgrade price was stupid low.
 
Must meet my needs.  I work with MIDI mostly, but have retired my external synths.  S1 appears to do what I need with virtual instruments, and the plugins I have seem to work so far.  I have Overture, but may pick up Notion for the $49 deal.
 
I also have a few other DAW-like programs, but view them more as idea starters.  Not things where I would really want to attempt a project mix down in.  Would really have preferred Sonar lifetime for that, but oh well...

Jeff Evans
The reason for that is because Studio One is simply very very good and for some strange reason many Sonar users just cannot see it or will accept it.

This of course is just one man's opinion...

Logic is probably the best, but I don't want to waste money on a Mac! 

I feel like the guy who lost his wife and went looking for a replacement. I've dated a few new daws but still like the way I could work in Sonar. So far no other has been as easy for me. Admittedly this is because I grew accustomed to how it all worked and I could pull off some amazing things in it really fast.
 
I'm still dating. I have a few girlfriends but no one I plan to marry.....yet.

I've ummm'ed and ahhhh'ed over all the DAWs; tried them out; but in the end I agree with what Noel said. Unless Gibson are complete c**ts, Sonar should be usable for years to come. I've got Reaper on standby; it works great, and can be activated at any time without the 'hard sell' of an 'offer date'; and I got the latest Sound Forge 12 64bit because it does everything I need it to do to clean up audio recordings - I don't really need the bells and whistles of Pro. Presonus has a great DAW, Mixcraft are great guys, Mixbus....is kind of ok, and Samplitude is just plain enormous.
In the end, I've decided to save my money; not buy into bulk bundles just for the sake of it; and invest my money in some synths and updates that I really want.