What is the next best thing?

 
Hi Jon, and welcome aboard.
 
I recently posted a reply to a similar question: HERE
 
See if there's anything there that tickles your fancy, and if you need any further advice, post back with any questions you might have and we'll do our best to get you sorted.
 
Guitar Tracks 2 was my first foray into the world of digital audio, and although I've progressed through various Cakewalk products over the years, I still remember it with a certain fondness. If you do move on to a more current Cakewalk program (or any manufacturer's software for that matter), there will definitely be a learning curve to work through. The principles are definitely the same, but the implementation may be different, and generally speaking, more sophisticated.
 
My opinion, regardless of your needing to find something that will run on Windows 8, is that you have so much to gain by investing some time in using a newer program. I think that once you get comfortable with a different GUI, and better tools, you've got nothing to lose long term.
 
Just out of interest, and if you are dead set on sticking with GT2, have you tried running it in 'Compatibility Mode' on Windows 8? I'm still on Windows 7 here and GT2 runs fine on my system, but on my older Vista PC, I had to run it in Compatibility Mode for XP to get it to work - you might find that one of the options allows you to get it going on your new machine.
 
Steve.
 
 
 
 

No probs Jon.
 
To be honest, GT4 is probably the last program I listed in my other post that I'd choose. Also, I forgot to check but the links might be a bit out of date now, SONAR is now on version X3.
 
The one major advantage any of the newer programs is that, unlike GT2 (and GT3 for that matter) which is audio only, they will allow you to use MIDI (which allows you use thousands of 'virtual' instruments and drums).
 
Anyway, to answer your specific query, all the various Cakewalk options I listed feature a separate Track View (same as GT2's 'Edit' View) and a Console View (= 'Mix' View), as well as other Views designed to help with MIDI, Step Sequencer, Guitar TAB and Musical Score Editing.
 
Here are a couple of screenshots of SONAR X3 Producer to show you:
 
Track (i.e. 'Edit') View:
 

 
Console (i.e. 'Mix') View:
 

 
 
Another enormous advantage of all those programs is that they allow 'bussing'. To briefly explain, in GT2, the output of each individual track is routed directly to your soundcard - this is a deliberate design feature (albeit a limitation) as this behaviour accurately replicates the identical routing architecture of an 8-track tape machine.
 
Bussing is really quite a simple concept, but gives you much greater flexibility than the GT2 method. It allows the output of each individual track in your project to be sent to a 'bus' (i.e. another channel strip). Each bus can be routed to other busses, the theory being that eventually, all your tracks and busses should ultimately end up routed to a single 'Master' bus, which in turn outputs to your soundcard.
 
This method allows you to group various instruments together so they can all be sent through a common set of VST plug-ins. For example, say you have four guitar parts recorded, and you want all of them to have the same amount of reverb added. Instead of adding four separate instances of your reverb plug-in to each individual track, you simply route the outputs of each track to a 'Guitar Bus' and insert just one instance of the reverb plug-in there.
 
Another big advantage this gives you is that if you have a separate bus for each instrument type, you can use the fader in that bus to raise or lower the volume of all the instruments sent to that bus together. For example, you could solo the guitar bus (which has all your guitar parts routed through it), then mix the guitar tracks individually (with their own faders) until you're happy that they're all at the correct volume relative to each other. Once you've done this, any time in the rest of the mixing process that you want to change the overall level of your guitars, you just play around with the bus fader.
 
Using the same project as above, here I've isolated the two rhythm guitar tracks in the Console View to show you how I've routed the audio. The output of each track is sent to a "Rhythm Gtr Bus 1", which as you can see has two plug-ins in the FX Bin (PSP Vintage Warmer & BX Shredspead). Hence these two plugins will process both rhythm guitars.
 
Following on the chain, the output from "Rhythm Gtr Bus 1" is sent to another bus: "Rhythm Gtr Bus 2" (which currently has no plug-ins inserted). This bus then sends the signal to my "Master Bus" (this bus is where all the audio from my project eventually ends up) which in turn sends the signal out to my soundcard.
 

 
 
Don't worry if it all seems a bit complicated at first, once you've got the gist of it you'll wonder how you ever managed without it!
 
Anyway Jon, if I were going to suggest a Cakewalk product for you to move on to, I reckon you'd be best of choosing one of the three versions of SONAR X3.
 
The base model is an excellent starting place, it's got a really good set of features and shouldn't prove too difficult to get used to. Check out the specs HERE.
 
If you fancy a bit more sophistication, X3 Studio offers a great toolkit of effects and MIDI instruments as well as the incredible "Pro Channel".
 
Finally, X3 Producer contains the most comprehensive set of features, and is a wonderful bit of kit for sure.
 
For my money, I'd suggest X3 Studio of the three choices.
 
In any case, there's a free trial version of each available to download - there's a link at the top right of all three product pages - so you can have a play around with them all before deciding to commit or not to any of them.
 
Also, if you do decide to purchase one of them, don't forget that as a registered user you will be able to get your copy at a discounted price.
 
As X3 is probably about half way through its annual cycle, Cakewalk is also currently running a sale (but only until the end of April) which means you can get an even better price.
 
Check out all the discounts available and current prices HERE.
 
If you do get any of the trial versions (or buy a full version) and have any questions about getting started or how to do something specific, just post back in here and we'll do our best to get you going (we're probably a bit more patient that the SONAR forum!).

The good news is that I actually finally worked out how to use GTP2 on my Win8 machine. The other bit of good news is that I have gone out and bought a copy of MC6 to experiment with. I tried the download evaluation copy of Sonar X3 Pro, but I couldn't make head nor tail of it. I always used to get irritated with older people who couldn't get their head around new technology, but at the age of 55, many years of abuse have begin to harden my arteries, and I have become one of those irritating old gits.
 
Thanks for your help guys, I will tell you how I get on...

I believe the demo is the Producer version, minus some of the plug-ins.
The core program of all three versions is identical. The difference is in the bells and whistles.
I wouldn't really sweat the X3 demo. MC6 is fundamentally similar, but limited.
The standard version of MC6 is actually based on X1 Essential. There are some subtle variations, but for the most part, what you learn using MC6 will translate directly to X3.
Much of what you see in the newer versions is what you are used to. It just looks different. Don't lose your bearings.
Underneath all the gloss, it's still just tracks, Input/Output, and effects.
Focus on what you know. You'll catch up with the rest. As Steve noted, there will be a learning curve, but if you look for the familiar, it's not really that bad.
From one old fart to another( I'm 56) you can do this.

 
51¾ here.... can in get in on this Old Farts Club thing too
 
Jon, MC6 is a great starting place. If you've been using MIDI with Fruity Loops, you shouldn't find it too difficult to port your knowledge over to using it in MC6. And having everything in the same project will give you the utmost flexibly with your projects.
 
And with guys of the calibre of Herb and Bob (who was one of the guys that did so much to help me get up and running with GT back in the day) on your case, you'll be fine - just ask away!