Edit: (old title) Project5 Lives On ... Maybe In Bitwig?
 
Disclaimer: I am not encouraging anyone to go out and get another new DAW.  I like Sonar :-) 
 
But, I just wanted to point out some similarities here, and also to ponder why Cakewalk can't incorporate this feature into Sonar? It was originally good enough for P5, and apparently now good enough for Bitwig ...
 
I recently got curious enough about Bitwig to see what all the fuss was about, via YouTube. Apparently some ex-Ableton guys started their own DAW project a while back.  I have an old version of Ableton Live, so my first impression is that they started with that design, and added a few new ideas from scratch.  The whole idea behind the vertical Live session tracks and scenes, and horizontal arrange view, had never really clicked for me.
 
But, Wow!!! While watching this Bitwig demo, at about 3:25 minutes in, I got a huge P5 flashback! 
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RGeFBNXojHw
 
If you have P5 installed, and watch this YouTube clip side by side, you can see that Bitwig has a very similar layout to P5 (for Track Pane, Arrange Pane, and Groove Matrix).  The Bitwig Arrange view even slides over to reveal their Scene view (ala P5 Groove Matrix). While Bitwig is in this mode, their Scene view is now horizontally aligned with the tracks in the Arrange Pane.  Seem familiar?
 
This is another YouTube clip by the same guys as above, but goes deeper into the arrangement mode. You can skip to about 3:55 minutes to where they begin discussing the horizontal arranger view.  New feature, ha! ROFL!!!
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JXYwIkSstis

It does look a lot like P5.  I have been on the fence for a while.

mumpcake
It does look a lot like P5.  I have been on the fence for a while.

I think P5 still works well enough for me that I will probably resist the urge to jump the fence, for a new scratchpad.
 
I guess my point is that if Bitwig can do it, why can't Cakewalk update the Sonar Matrix to be more like this?  They had the template first, obviously a different take on Live's Session View ...

someone mentioned possibility of resurrecting p5 1st June 2016 and it drew a response from Craig Anderton (hmmm...), also Andrew from Cakewalk did not shoot it down either, he made a cryptic remark that anything may be possible....
 
What does it mean!!!!! Plans may be afoot!

I'd have to say Craig's "Hmmmm" gave me a surprise. I still use and love Project5.
 
Sonars going into a whole new ecosystem in the Mac world. If they finally brought the Matrix View and Step Sequencer/Editor up to the level of Project5 functionality, they might turn a few more heads. 
 
Currently no Mac user using Sonar for the first time is going to be very impressed with Sonar for non linear playing without some major work here.  
 
Could Project5 live on....... Maybe in Sonar, Finally?
 
 
 
 
 

fwiw, i ended up going to ableton live after p5 was abandoned, but bitwig didn't exist then

For those of you still looking for a replacement for Project 5, Mixcraft 8 may be an option.  It has a very similar layout and workflow to P5.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-0grIYiIOE
 
http://www.acoustica.com/mixcraft/v7/help/performance-panel-topics.htm
 
http://www.acoustica.com/mixcraft/
 
 
 

Interesting ...

kb420
For those of you still looking for a replacement for Project 5, Mixcraft 8 may be an option.  It has a very similar layout and workflow to P5.
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w-0grIYiIOE
 
http://www.acoustica.com/mixcraft/v7/help/performance-panel-topics.htm
 
http://www.acoustica.com/mixcraft/

That looks like everything you can do now with Sonar Matrix View.  Except have the matrix line up beside the track view.
 
Since Platinum 2016.11, you can even drag a highlighted section of a clip from track view (say just a couple of bars from a long clip, no splitting required) into a cell in the matrix.
http://www.cakewalk.com/Documentation?product=SONAR&language=3&help=NewFeatures.006.html
 
You still cannot record directly into the Sonar matrix, as far as I can tell. 
 
I hope they keep improving the matrix in Sonar.  It's very usable at this point.  Maybe not enough for live performance, but as a composition tool, it's cool!

BobF
Interesting ...

I also started a thread a while ago about Bitwig,  but for some reason this Mixcraft actually reminds me more of P5 than Bitwig does.