Sonar was the best of the bunch. Is the best. A sad ending. No other DAW comes close.
Even if some parts of Sonar was´nt so user friendly and part of the code old..no other DAW comes close.
Can´t even think of how sad I feel over this. Cubase is no option. Cause it just can´t match Sonar in a thousand years. No DAW can.
I´ll try Mixcraft or maybe buy me a Mac and try out Logic. Or go offline and never look back/forward.
I will allways miss Sonar.Állways.
This can´t be happening.Its a nightmare. Someone has to continue develop Sonar! At least so it can withstand Windows crashes.
 

HeatherHaze
The thing is...I hadn't planned on running X2 and Windows 7 forever.

This comment may be the "answer" to your own question (at least for 5 years I would guess). Win7 as an OS is "stagnant" and "stable" so it will continue to work in its "as is" state. Doing an image of the C: drive (using Macrium Reflect or similar) will restore it to the state it was imaged in (I do this monthly). For those who have gone on to Win10, the close integration of the OS to the newer SONAR versions adds complexity. Keeping a machine on Win7 is not going to harm you; a new OS won't added features or functionality to what you own today (but can cause you issues).

So I pulled the trigger on the Cubase and Studio one crossgrades.  I plan to try both, and I'll post back here with my impressions once I get some time on both platforms.

I actually was looking in Studio One (Demo) and , yeah, GUI is nice and easy. I watched some Tutorials (Youtube) to get a grip, fairly easy at all. Tomorrow I have to check Video . . .. but what I can say from first Impressions, the Plugins and the Instruments doesn't catch me, though the Instruments are not that bad - Cakewalk Splat has much better stuff IMHO. Unfortunately not all Things work in S1 too. I'm waiting for the Mail from Overloud, Nomad doesn't work . . . I think, I will not buildt on one DAW / Solution alone, Sonar is definitely indispensable, since I don't want to go to Cubase again, didn't like it that much a few years before. So, there is no dramatic towel to throw, I still depend on Splat and its Instruments and Plugins, but still have to check some Demos . . . but as I stated before, I'm not in a hurry. 
Need my towels in the Gym and in Spa . . . .

It's funny to me that I was using Sonar 8.5 for YEARS... never updated to any of the X versions because I kept reading how different and buggy they were, so it just didn't seem worth it when 8.5 was fine for my purpose. And I was on version 5 for a long time before finally upgrading to 8. I've never been a prolific songwriter, but over the years I completed a couple albums in Sonar 8.5 and I was happy enough using it except for one major bug that I just put up with.
 
Less than a year ago I finally took the plunge and upgraded to Sonar Platinum. It was really a huge improvement over 8.5, that huge bug was gone, and I looked forward to the updates every month. But as soon as I found out Cakewalk was shut down, Sonar felt dead to me, like hanging out with a corpse. I know that sounds like a bizarre overreaction, but that's how it felt. So I took the Cubase 9.5 Pro offer and have been enjoying learning that. There is so much to chew on in that program, lots of really cool features. For all I know at least some of them were available in Sonar too, but I never knew about them.
 
Personally I think Cubase is the most similar program to Sonar, at least in terms of the density of it and the richness of available features, and Cubase is expansive in some other areas that Sonar had never developed (I like that I can reasonably score a film in Cubase if I ever want to try doing that, for example). But maybe that's just in how I work with it. They are still very different programs.

mkerl
Unfortunately not all Things work in S1 too. I'm waiting for the Mail from Overloud, Nomad doesn't work . . . I think, I will not buildt on one DAW / Solution alone, Sonar is definitely indispensable, since I don't want to go to Cubase again, didn't like it that much a few years before. So, there is no dramatic towel to throw, I still depend on Splat and its Instruments and Plugins, but still have to check some Demos

The unlock codes from Overloud work fine, and the plugins will work anywhere, including S1.  Same with the unlocked versions of the AAS Session instruments.
 
Nomad Factory has the Blue Tubes bundle for $79 here: http://store.dontcrack.co...39&products_id=215
 
True Pianos is offering a discount for Sonar customers, details here: http://forum.cakewalk.com...om-Sonar-m3703296.aspx
 
So that leaves the Cakewalk Adaptive Limiter as the only plug I'm aware of that you cannot take with you.  The Cakewalk instruments are portable.

abacab

mkerl
Unfortunately not all Things work in S1 too. I'm waiting for the Mail from Overloud, Nomad doesn't work . . . I think, I will not buildt on one DAW / Solution alone, Sonar is definitely indispensable, since I don't want to go to Cubase again, didn't like it that much a few years before. So, there is no dramatic towel to throw, I still depend on Splat and its Instruments and Plugins, but still have to check some Demos

 
So that leaves the Cakewalk Adaptive Limiter as the only plug I'm aware of that you cannot take with you.  The Cakewalk instruments are portable.

Thanks for your help. I'm curious, where I'll  spend my money finally :)
 
Cheers :)

Sonar seems too valuable for Gibson to simply give up. I'm hoping another company will buy it, but hopefully not Adobe, because you know they'll do subscription-only pricing. I like that with Sonar, you had a choice to subscribe or buy a version with a year of free updates.
 
The biggest problem with trying to sell Sonar is that it's currently Windows only. That really limits the potential when most audio professionals use Mac.
 
Personally, I'm going to continue to use Sonar as long as I can, but keep looking at other DAW's. Samplitude, Cubase, Studio One and even Harrison MixBus all look pretty good. I'm sure each one has its strengths and weaknesses, but at least they all support VST2 and VST3. I'm sure I'm not alone in having several VST effects and instruments that I like to use, including those that were bundled with Sonar.

Yes. This sucks. My signature was true - all was done in Sonar.
 
I'm learning Reaper right now. It's a steep learning curve, for sure, not a very user-friendly GUI, but it has some really cool features and an active user base. I'm watching videos and playing along. If I can't get into it in the next few weeks I'll try...one of the other ones.

This is the unique thing about software. Sonar was, but Sonar still is for now. No matter what else happens with Gibson, we can still use Sonar. At least in the near foreseeable future. The only way I see that changing is if a competitor buys it to strip the useful code and then kills it. Even then, that buyer has the option to allow import of old files.
 
I might be one of the lucky ones. I've been using Cakewalk software since Pro 8. I have always had my computer online. A windows update has never broken my machine. Sometime an update would change an audio setting. That's a 10 minute fix for me to go in, see what it changed and change it back again. Simples.
 
I'm not knocking anyone who unplugs, just saying I have had no major issues. Now I'm not surfing while I'm recording and I watch where I go online. I'm hip to those scam emails. If I get anything from my credit card company or my utility. I do directly to them if I have a question. Usually a scam is obvious- " Plese chek your account" lol.