I finally caved and bought Play 6 from EW. And I gotta admit, I like it.
 
Much better interface, browser is great, its less of a PIA to setup multiple patches and assign them separate to midi channels (it wasn't difficult before, just a bit awkward and annoying), and load times for the samples are a bit faster -- at least on my system. 
 
Now to see if it performs any better than version 5.
 
I'd be curious to hear other folks experiences with 6...

I bought Play 6 a few weeks ago and I love it. It organizes all my EW programs very nicely. Much better than version 5. Much faster, plus it has a search function, you can call up many patches by just using a key word, for example type in "bass" and all your bass patches will pop up. You can set it to scan just your programs or the entire EW collection....very handy !! You can call up patches between EW programs almost instantly. For example you can call up a piano sound from EW Pianos one minute and switch to the Madonna Piano in Fab Four in just a couple of seconds. It's so easy to use once you learn it. It really does speed up my work flow, it's well worth the money.

They say Play 6 has integration with Akai and MAudio VIP keyboards. I will have to see what that means.
http://www.soundsonline.com/play6
 
NI NKS too.

BassDaddy
They say Play 6 has integration with Akai and MAudio VIP keyboards. I will have to see what that means.
http://www.soundsonline.com/play6
 
NI NKS too.

NKS would be great so I have just had a look. I don't see Play or any of the instruments in the Komplete Kontrol browser, so I loaded play from the "Plugins" menu. There is certainly some sort of NKS linking going on as the keyswitch zones are now illuminated on my keyboard which did not happen with Play 5, this is extremely welcome given the importance of keyswitching on many EW instruments. The parameter settings appear to be transmitted to the encoders, but the encoders do not change the values. It looks like a "work in progress" but I will try to dig out some documentation later.
 
Edit - Using the encoder to change parameters did not work in KK stand alone but it does work whit KK loaded in Sonar.
 
Edit 2 - looks like you need to download the NKS support files separately

Integration for Native Instruments Komplete Kontrol Keyboards and Maschine software (go to the SUPPORT CENTER > Software Updates > NKS Support Installer)

 
http://www.soundsonline.com/play6

If all else fails read the instructions.
 
Yea! I am happy. Once the NKS support files are down loaded and installed the instruments appear in the NKS browser and the encoders not only work, they now have more obvious names displayed.
 
Sometimes it will be easier/better to use the Play browser of course but the option is there. One thing that is not implemented yet is the audio patch preview.

Well, after an evening and a morning using Play 6 I'm pretty happy with it. Loads faster, browser is really helpful. I have VIP software available to me (via my MAudio Oxygen49 keyboard), and I really need to get around to trying it out, especially if it will work with Play 6.

This is one of those times when even I (an outspoken PLAY hater) have been satisfied and pleased with it. This is definitely a step in the right direction and the update clearly made PLAY better.

Hmm, I guess it's time for me to upgrade from 4.xxx?
 
Lol, I skipped all of Play 5. Go me!
 
Dan

I only have one EW library I use, SO Gold. Play 5 works fine for me, I'm saving my money.

So if I buy a EW library will I get Play 6 for free?