Tripecac
Evidently the explanations which have been offered ad nauseum (by Cakewalk and the forum regulars) are neither convincing nor reassuring.

if that were the case this thread would still be going constantly.
Can I also add; I find it just as funny that 10 minutes after this guys comment...
you (who hasn't been here in 2 months) also show up
 
This is really old news. I thought most of us had moved on from the
"Cakewalk must be giving us a good deal because...."

its simple really, if you think you are being swindled in someway, then don't update.
but if you take it for what its worth, lifetime update at a fair and more than reasonable price,
then you buy it. even if you get a measly year out of it...it will still be worth it ? I think so.
 
sometimes as humans we over analyze things, its in our nature.
but when all is said and done, how can this not be a great deal ?
I believe it is. but no one is being forced to take the lifetime update "or else".
just keep paying monthly if you choose.
 
Good luck

I'm going to start a thread on Jan 1, 2019 and tell all the naysayers they were wrong about lifetime updates.

Yep. Read the whole thread. And the answers from Andrew were helpful. But when the company has had three owners in ten years, and they promise lifetime anything, I get concerned. Yes, it may well be a nothing portion of the Gibson company, but they would still dump it if it wasn't profitable. An altruistic company is still a company.
I will probably still buy the upgrade: I haven't upgraded since X2, so I'm due anyway. I have nothing to lose from trying this. At least I get a year or two of solid upgrade, which makes it worth the $199. If it goes beyond that, it's gravy.
But that doesn't make me any less skeptical of a "too good to be true" situation.

John
This has to be the most cynical notion yet posted on these forums. 
 
In order to have such a view the OP must be able to point to things Cakewalk have done to provoke this conclusion. 
 
Is there a promise that CW has made that one can point to as precedent? On what grounds is this assertion made?   

Totally agree, John. The model is different, period. It is not a yearly change any more, the upgrade is continuous over the entire year and stretching way beyond. The entire premise of the thread is in error. BRuys nailed it. And as Craig said, there are still others buying other products and not doing the "perma-update" on SPlat , if you will.

 
It kinds of reminds one of the old game "Telephone", for some reason. The whole thing is just silly. 
 

bapu
If the naysayers really want to speculate they need to start saying that Gibson is planning to build up CW and sell it off.
 
Oh snap, did I just say that? My bad.

Now, Bapu, you're just being evil (or is it "evil being"?).

 

 
 
 

is there anyone who knows why I cannot log in to the command center anymore
says wrong password
I have never changed it
 

moving air
But when the company has had three owners in ten years, and they promise lifetime anything, I get concerned.

 
Just FYI, Gibson offers a limited Lifetime Warranty on their guitars, and has for as long as I can remember. So at least for some companies it's not that weird a concept.

Is caps lock on?

kitekrazy1

Anderton
 
Here's another theory: Gigantic, flesh-eating pink poodles will invade Boston and devour the development team, therefore leaving all SONAR users high and dry without any further development.

BTW how many of you have software that is no longer developed but you still use that existed from the XP days? I'm not talking just DAW software.

And this is a really great point: Software doesn't become worthless the second it isn't being developed. It becomes worthless when it stops doing whatever one bought it to do in the first place.
 
Many of us still use Camel Audio's Alchemy. It didn't self-destruct when the company was sold to Apple. It continued to work/sound/function exactly as it did before the sell-off. Some things remain great for years after their respective companies have bit the dust. Stradivarius violins are still pretty decent instruments.
 
I get that, in electronic music, we are still on an upward curve insofar as sound quality and function are concerned; it should be noted, however, that the curve is not as steep as it once was. The current crop of instruments and software will fare far better in five years than the instruments and software current in 1985 fared in 1990. And some things got it right to start with; I think Alchemy falls into that category, U-he Zebra is another.
 
And if, perchance, something we bought and loved stops doing whatever job for which we bought it because of OS progress or whatever, something will be there that will do the job better, faster, with less waxy build-up, and no chemical aftertaste. It'll will be a better piece of software, floor wax, AND dessert topping. We'll be okay.
 
Except for the gigantic, flesh-eating pink poodles.  Of Boston.
 

 
 

Well... In my Opinion for the survival of the company the "OSX New line"  will be Critical. no doubt about that... so definitely The Actual Platinum will Die some day... 1 year? 2 years ? Who Knows?... the "Lifetime updates" its a good deal until the end of the current version... even if it last for 1 more year!
 
this way you own a more updated DAW Platform and Cakewalk get some more money Up front to pay the expensive Development of the upcoming Win and OSX Versions... We have to remember the fact that Cakewalk is a Business... its a profit entity and behave like its suppose to be...for their own benefit and survival... different strategies will be necessary in order to accomplish this in a very competitive and aggressive DAW market...
 
Other thing i'm  thinking about future possibilities: Been many years a "Win Only DAW" The "Sonar Name" have some kind of "Consumer-level DAW" reputation among Professionals Using Mac's ... in a marketing perspective there will be necessary to come out with a Fresh image that Position Cakewalk products on the new Market segment they are targeting.... we are talking about, new Name , New image, new product line, maybe..  in few a words: As soon Cakewalk release and perfection Mac-Win products... closer the end of Platinum series  or maybe of "SONAR Name" it self... Who Knows? 
I work For a Marketing Firm In Atlanta GA, and i have seen how companies re-design, re -named and re-invent them self's in order to get a fresh start in their markets, i support whatever is good for the grow of the company and the development of more powerful tools for Audio-music Production, i consider Sonar a very  robust and Professional tool regardless it is just a Windows Only... and im using it since Cakewalk 9.

manciamusic
Well... In my Opinion for the survival of the company the "OSX New line"  will be Critical. no doubt about that... so definitely The Actual Platinum will Die some day... 1 year? 2 years ? Who Knows?... the "Lifetime updates" its a good deal until the end of the current version... even if it last for 1 more year!
 
this way you own a more updated DAW Platform and Cakewalk get some more money Up front to pay the expensive Development of the upcoming Win and OSX Versions... We have to remember the fact that Cakewalk is a Business... its a profit entity and behave like its suppose to be...for their own benefit and survival... different strategies will be necessary in order to accomplish this in a very competitive and aggressive DAW market...
 
Other thing i'm  thinking about future possibilities: Been many years a "Win Only DAW" The "Sonar Name" have some kind of "Consumer-level DAW" reputation among Professionals Using Mac's ... in a marketing perspective there will be necessary to come out with a Fresh image that Position Cakewalk products on the new Market segment they are targeting.... we are talking about, new Name , New image, new product line, maybe..  in few a words: As soon Cakewalk release and perfection Mac-Win products... closer the end of Platinum series  or maybe of "SONAR Name" it self... Who Knows? 
I work For a Marketing Firm In Atlanta GA, and i have seen how companies re-design, re -named and re-invent them self's in order to get a fresh start in their markets, i support whatever is good for the grow of the company and the development of more powerful tools for Audio-music Production, i consider Sonar a very  robust and Professional tool regardless it is just a Windows Only... and im using it since Cakewalk 9.

Read the FAQ.
 
It doesn't matter if the name changes, we still get lifetime updates.....
 
Sonar is a great name and they have solid logos, and I don't think any kind of re-branding is necessary.  The name Cakewalk is dated (IMO), all they have to do is continue to push Sonar as the product name and just get the word out about what it is now.  it will be easy to slap Win + Mac logos on the Sonar advertisements and literature.  
 
 

kitekrazy1
 I still use a file renamer that was developed between W2000 and XP.  Vsampler that came with Sonar 3 still works. Even the Sonic Timeworks compressor that came with 2XL is a favorite with some.

My wife is the queen of this. She had a reference program she used for school (she's a Special Ed teacher) named Microsoft Bookshelf. She absolutely adored that program. I managed to get it to run on her machine from about Win95 through Win7. Win10 was the deal breaker. And, for her, it was the heart breaker as well. She hates change on her computer. 
 
She still has the same picture of a baby harp seal on her desktop through at least the same time period (maybe longer).  

outland144k

Brian Walton
 
 
Sonar is a great name and they have solid logos, and I don't think any kind of re-branding is necessary.  The name Cakewalk is dated (IMO), all they have to do is continue to push Sonar as the product name and just get the word out about what it is now.  it will be easy to slap Win + Mac logos on the Sonar advertisements and literature.  
 
 

I thought the name "Cakewalk" was dated when I first bought "Cakewalk for DOS 3". I really didn't get it. I still don't. Where did the name come from? Was it a reference to Debussy's "Golliwog's Cakewalk"? Is it this (from Merriam Webster's Dictionary)?:
 

cakewalk

play

noun cake·walk \ˈkāk-ˌwȯk\
Popularity: Bottom 30% of words
Simple Definition of cakewalk

• : an easy contest to win
• : an easy task
  
  
  
• I'd really like to know what was in Gregg Hendershott's mind when he picked the name.
  
  

Music production in the early days of computing was a daunting task to most people.  Cakewalk is a common term for "its easy" as you can see by the Dictionary.  I get where it came from, but never felt the name was "modern"
 
Sonar on the other hand is a perfectly fine modern name, and just use the product name when talking about it/them.  
 
(the font, size and color combo you are using to type replies is difficult to read, for what it is worth)
 

Steev
I'm of the opinion that although Platinum has more bells and whistles than X3e Producer it still isn't even half as solid or dependable, and that really pisses me off after a year of Platinum 2015 updates that translated into nothing more than; "Oh yeah baby, we're almost there, so keep your subscription running or you won't get any fixes, you beta test porch monkeys!"
 I'm sorry, maybe I'm feeling bitter because I feel like I've been mugged because Platinum 2015 utterly bugged out with the Windows 10 Pro (Redstone) "Anniversary" update, Rapture Pro no longer runs standalone, and ever since I upgraded my aging audio interface to a Focusrite Scarlett 18i20 Gen 2, SONAR Platinum 2015 hangs up for 20 or 30 seconds every time I hit the space bar or stop on my MIDI DAW controller. Yeah, so am I to assume I'm held hostage to a never ending subscription plan packed to the gills with a supply of **** I don't want or need to have this condition solved?
 Thank God I never uninstalled X3e PE.. Still working GREAT after all these yeers, and seems to be the only alternative I have to actually getting any REAL work done in respect to actually performing and recording music, as opposed to trying out all the new bells and whistles. ;-p

I switched from AMD (like you, a similar build) to an Intel build I7 and platinum is solid as a rock here.
my drivers used to hang in X3 (my Focusrite (like yours) the drivers wouldn't release so recovering from a crash to ages. however I did notice a change while still using my AMD with drivers being released in platinum Cambridge update.
man I do hope you find peace with your daw and platinum. I can feel for users who have had problems running DAW software, ive been there man, it stinks. I thank my lucky stars I have little to no issues at all right now...well except certain features I wish were there (my own feature requests) like colored strips, track templates that could be used on existing tracks.exc..
but for the most part, platinum has been a life saver here. it is funny the software works well for some but not as well for others.
 
that's the difficult thing about designing software, your not going to be able to please everyone.
I hope you take that with a grain of salt man .
what might be a problem for you I don't have..what I might have a problem with...you might not.
that's not always easy to design. good luck.

Everything else works great on my AMD machine, and ya know what? Rapture Pro works great in X3ePE in plugin mode so all is well.
 I've been using Cakewalk since the days of Pro Audio and happily upgraded ever since and LOVED every second of it and even bragged about it and always will.
 But if they can't support what's wrong with Platinum 2015 I WILL NOT UPGRADE TO 2016!