meh
I am just perplexed as to why we would get something like the theme editor which has nothing to do with making music vs enhancement to staff view which was the reason I originally bought cakewalk.

Perhaps not for you, but for many of us, it has everything to do with our ability of looking at the GUI for long periods of time.  Consequently, it affects our ability to make music.
 
I could argue academically that the "look" affects more folks than the staff view.  We all have to spend hours looking at the GUI, but how many here can read music?  (Don't get me wrong.  I read music, having been classically trained on piano and French horn, so I see both arguments -- I just don't see the merits of putting one concern over the other).

Theme Editor is Platinum user only. It replaced something that originally available to all users. I was disappointed to find that not everyone could use it. Only a small percentage of a percentage probably do.

I don't need the SV so it is little concern to me. I may use it to look for stray notes or something that may be hard to see in PRV but that is not often.  I can understand the need and desire for those that need it. Perhaps they could do a few little things each month to improve the SV. Maybe in a year or two it will meet most of the expectations.
 
As was said by others, programmatically a theme editor is much simpler than something that requires a lot of musical notation expertise and loads of logic. I can see why they chose to put it out as it takes little programming and would satisfy lots of users (more bang for the buck). Again, it doesn't really matter to me as I prefer the Mercury theme.

eph221
At a minimum it'd be nice to be able to see staff view on a full page, like one can on Pro Tools.  Or can we already?  Maybe I just don't know how to use it.  The ability to compose in Sonar, click a button and have the entire piece print ready on staff paper would be amazing.  I think that's asking too much.

In X3, I opened the Staff, selected Print>Print Preview which gave me a full-page display of the score. Minimized it. I then opened the PRV and entered a few more notes which were displayed in the preview when I maximized it again.

This thread is all about personal preference.
I myself do not use staff view, but agree its part of the software and should have some basic functions.
now will staff view improvements take a way from other enhancements ? of course it will.
Does that bother me at all ? well considering I don't use it, yes. but that's not necessarily fair. that's just my personal preference.
 
I think there is something we are all possibly over looking.. and that is Cakewalk has sent out Questionnaires out in the past and its only my guess (but probably a pretty good one) that Staff view is only used by a small percentage of Sonar users.
when I say small, im talking hundreds but compare that to one hundred thousand people who use the software, that is indeed a small percentage. 
 
I use to be that guy who would say "buy a software that does notation, not a software that's a hybrid Digital Audio Workstation Software" (hence the Digital Audio part) but I've learn to sympathize with the staff view people.
I'd like to see Session Drummer 3 upgraded, but instead I bought EZ Drummer. I'd like to see the Matrix upgrades but...no never mind, I don't know anyone who uses that .
maybe you see where im going with this, don't wait around for Sonar to make updates. have a back up plan.
im guessing if Sonar removed staff view all together, people would be upset. then if Sonar put it back in on their next update people would be happy to at least have it at all.

Back in the 90s I used to do a lot of mouse-click composition with the staff view.  The tools available in Cakewalk for working with the staff view, albeit simple, were much better and easier to use back then. I'm a visual person and it was much easier to use my knowledge of music theory while composing. Meanwhile piano view does nothing for me.
 
Cakewalk doesn't need to provide the abilities to print orchestral scores or anything, but having a basic staff view/editor should be part of the basic package.
 
Last week I plunked down the $200 to upgrade to Premium, but I seriously considered switching DAWs, and one of the reasons was the clunky staff view.
 
Anyways, Cakewalk won this round but just because I get frustrated learning a new DAW and it was $200 vs. $700.

Wow, looking at you signature, and reading your post, was that the PC you started on. DeJa Vu for me, as the same specs as my first. Even the 3.11 Windows, which I believe was for Workgroups, instead of 3.1. I had 3.11 as the software came from me Uni IT department.

Kamikaze
Wow, looking at you signature, and reading your post, was that the PC you started on. DeJa Vu for me, as the same specs as my first. Even the 3.11 Windows, which I believe was for Workgroups, instead of 3.1. I had 3.11 as the software came from me Uni IT department.

And a 16bit sound blaster with mpu401 midi interface! It wasnt an Osbourne PC by any chance? Oh the memories.....and the nightmares! Midi timing after moving from DOS to windows 3.1 was horrible:)

tenfoot

Kamikaze
Wow, looking at you signature, and reading your post, was that the PC you started on. DeJa Vu for me, as the same specs as my first. Even the 3.11 Windows, which I believe was for Workgroups, instead of 3.1. I had 3.11 as the software came from me Uni IT department.

And a 16bit sound blaster with mpu401 midi interface! It wasnt an Osbourne PC by any chance? Oh the memories.....and the nightmares! Midi timing after moving from DOS to windows 3.1 was horrible:)

I don't remember the name of it, I don't remember the mpu bit either. It was my first step along with a Novation Basstation.  Into music. Wow how my tastes and ideas have changed in 20 years.
 
Little Side Story: My 5 year old nephew came up to me and after looking at the Cakewalk Screen, asked "Does it really weigh 12 tonnes?"

Kamikaze
 
Little Side Story: My 5 year old nephew came up to me and after looking at the Cakewalk Screen, asked "Does it really weigh 12 tonnes?"

 
Haha - gold!