Hey people!
I was wondering if the current "Rolling Release" model of Cakewalk is really the best way to improve the program. I usually agree with "Rolling Release" models because, in a more traditional business model, you have to wait for the release of a new major version to see some serious changes. However, Cakewalk comes with changes every month in form of "Monthly Updates" to keep us perpetually expectant but, in my opinion, this changes are a little meaningless lately.
In summary, I think It would be better to implement a "Rolling Release" model in which the updates really count and respond to the community petitions. Maybe this could be accomplished with an "insiders" program to test the changes and a "pre-release" discussion thread in the new upcoming Cakewalk Forum. Do not get me wrong please, I really want Cakewalk constantly evolving, but in a more democratic, logic and "to the point" way that avoid obligatory Montly additions. 
What are your thoughts on this?
P.D.: Sorry for my English. I promise that I have tried .

I would suspect they are working on a  new version as we talk.  

I tend to stay with a version for about 2 or 3 months, so I'm likely to encounter any bugs and odd behavior that may affect my setup. Of course if a monthly update has a feature that intrigues me, I may install it earlier.
 
The monthly updates do offer those who love to try out the new version each month that opportunity and lets others wait until they're ready to update. 
 
Also recently I found that we can have several versions of CbB on our computer. each version only takes up about 156 megs. This is really good for testing and also enables us to use a tried and proven version on serious no nonsense sessions where we want things to go smoothly (I have a post outlining this).

gmp
I tend to stay with a version for about 2 or 3 months, so I'm likely to encounter any bugs and odd behavior that may affect my setup. Of course if a monthly update has a feature that intrigues me, I may install it earlier.
 
The monthly updates do offer those who love to try out the new version each month that opportunity and lets others wait until they're ready to update. 
 
Also recently I found that we can have several versions of CbB on our computer. each version only takes up about 156 megs. This is really good for testing and also enables us to use a tried and proven version on serious no nonsense sessions where we want things to go smoothly (I have a post outlining this).

This is exactly why I am asking for an "Insiders" program and a "Pre-release" discussion thread. This way, the users who want the latest features will be able to obtain them and discuss the changes while the rest of community will have an "stable" version avaliable (It's like the Libre Office "stable" and "new" channels). Today, there isn't and official way to roll back the changes caused by a Monthly update and you have to look for a workaround like the one you have described. 

a13xhp
Hey people!
I was wondering if the current "Rolling Release" model of Cakewalk is really the best way to improve the program. I usually agree with "Rolling Release" models because, in a more traditional business model, you have to wait for the release of a new major version to see some serious changes. However, Cakewalk comes with changes every month in form of "Monthly Updates" to keep us perpetually expectant but, in my opinion, this changes are a little meaningless lately.
In summary, I think It would be better to implement a "Rolling Release" model in which the updates really count and respond to the community petitions. Maybe this could be accomplished with an "insiders" program to test the changes and a "pre-release" discussion thread in the new upcoming Cakewalk Forum. Do not get me wrong please, I really want Cakewalk constantly evolving, but in a more democratic, logic and "to the point" way that avoid obligatory Montly additions. 
What are your thoughts on this?
P.D.: Sorry for my English. I promise that I have tried .

There's nothing obligatory about the updates. You do not have to install them
 
When you're talking about a free product, I fail to see how democracy enters into the picture. We are NOT paying customers.
 
BTW, your English is fine.

a13xhp
Today, there isn't and official way to roll back the changes caused by a Monthly update... 

It may not be official, but it's easy enough. After you download the program, don't use BL Assistant to install Cakewalk after the file has been downloaded. You'll find the .exe in your downloads folder. You can save it off to a folder of different versions or whatever. When you want to install the program, just double-click on it.
 
To me, the updates are far from meaningless because they've been mostly about getting rid of bugs and increasing stability, as well as accommodating changes in Windows (which is a moving target anyway). That may not be particularly sexy, but it sure makes a difference in my day-to-day work. It's also something that a lot of the community asked for in the past - "don't give us flashy new features, just make it stable."
 
That said, I think there will be new features in the future. But I think the current emphasis is good. I download the update as soon as it's available, but have a backup if I need it. I'm just glad the program still exists ! 

with agile development methodology you're always in a beta phase so forget the "major minor version" thing of yesteryear and get with the program!

Anderton

a13xhp
Today, there isn't and official way to roll back the changes caused by a Monthly update... 

It may not be official, but it's easy enough. After you download the program, don't use BL Assistant to install Cakewalk after the file has been downloaded. You'll find the .exe in your downloads folder. You can save it off to a folder of different versions or whatever. When you want to install the program, just double-click on it.
 
To me, the updates are far from meaningless because they've been mostly about getting rid of bugs and increasing stability, as well as accommodating changes in Windows (which is a moving target anyway). That may not be particularly sexy, but it sure makes a difference in my day-to-day work. It's also something that a lot of the community asked for in the past - "don't give us flashy new features, just make it stable."
 
That said, I think there will be new features in the future. But I think the current emphasis is good. I download the update as soon as it's available, but have a backup if I need it. I'm just glad the program still exists ! 

I guess the OP's concern is that focusing on regular monthly updates (which give us mainly small features and bug fixes) is preventing the bakers working on bigger features.
 
Whilst working on minor features/bug fixes could slow down the development of bigger features (there's only a small team of devs), it doesn't stop it.  Modern source control software is pretty good at allowing you to work on parallel features at once.
 
IMHO the regular updates are vital to show that CbB is indeed alive and well, as well as all the reasons Craig has given.
 

I'm quite happy with regular and even small updates, cause it shows, they are working on it. Since it's free, there's nothing to bother at all. 

Some of it's just semantics, largely thanks to Microsoft-led doublespeak. "Insider" used to be "beta tester".
 
(Today, "Fix releases" have become "service packs". Somewhere on the Microsoft campus there is a group dedicated to terminology enforcement, making sure no words slip out that might have a negative connotation. "Bugs"? No, you mean "issues".)
 
Rolling updates allow bug fixes to be addressed sooner. So-called "agile programming" was a response to the limitations of the old marketing-driven major/minor scheduled release model, which forced users to live with known bugs for months or even years. 
 
Those bugs were often actually fixed even before the official release, but those fixes couldn't be included because the revision had already been frozen in preparation for being sent to manufacturing. But in the era of electronically-distributed software, there is no longer any need to freeze code weeks in advance while disks are being duplicated, packaged and shipped. When a bug is discovered and fixed, we can and should make the fix available as soon as it's been tested and verified.
 
Yes, we've all been conditioned to be wary of "new and improved". With software, that implies "old bugs you knew about have been replaced by new ones you don't know about yet". Software development is by nature a moving target.
 
However, believe it or not, code does become more stable over time as the underlying foundational nuts 'n bolts code becomes thoroughly debugged and optimized. It's actually been quite a long time since we've had a showstopper bug in SONAR or Cakewalk. No, "AudioSnap 'follow project tempo' and 'Enable Stretch by percentage' are not mutually exclusive" - not a showstopper.


To address the OP, if you want a heads-up on new changes, ask to sign up for the beta program. You can install the newest test build separately from the last official release. But don't do that if your main concern is stability. Instead, hold off on installing each new release for a week or two. Read the change logs and decide if any of the fixes or new features are crucial to you. If not, wait another cycle.