CoteRotie
It's likely that we could all continue to use SONAR for years to come, especially if Gibson upholds the promise to make SONAR work for us even if they shut down the servers used for authentication.
 
Personally, I'm no longer interested.
 
1.  At some point a Windows update will break something in SONAR.  There will be no warning, all of a sudden we'll lose functionality, or stability, etc.  You can leave your PC unconnected so it can't update,  but I don't want to go that way.  Too many other things these days require online authorization or updates.
 
2.  There's no longer official tech support.  This forum is great, but I expect  interest to wane with time.
 
3.  Because of 1 and maybe for some 2, we will eventually have to migrate to  a new DAW.  At that point there will be some sort of a learning curve.  I'd rather get that out of the way now, with SONAR as a backup.
 
4.  There will be no further bug fixes (yes, there are still plenty of them) or improvements.  I was incredibly impressed with the pace of the updates, bug fixes and improvements that Cakewalk was pushing out.  I was on the lifetime plan and feel like I got my money's worth from that, but no fixes going forward is a deal breaker.
 
Given all that I'm planning to keep SONAR installed for existing projects, but I don't plan to use it for anything new.  It was a tough choice between Studio One and Cubase (for me, YMMV) but with the 50% off deal on Cubase pro I decided to go that way for now.  If I hate it I'll try Studio One.
 
I have no interest in doing anything new in SONAR unless I have to-  Anyone else feel that way?
 
 

Cakewalk/Sonar has thrown in the towel.......
Reality is, they have left the users no choice but to move on to greener pastures.
Sonar is a thing of the past....no tears for them.
 

After so many years l too Transitioned to Studio One. I have friends that were using Pro Tools and Cubase for years that made the move to S1. I had the chance to work with their Daw's both Pro Tools & Cubase extensively so I know those programs very well, they’re great programs but overall Studio One is a lot better for my Work-Flow.

I realized that I was staying with Sonar because of the investment and loyalty, but in recent years the program became more and more “Unreliable & Unstable” to many Crashes & Bugs!!! I just couldn’t find a reason other than to pretend that it was the best software, friends of mine couldn’t understand why I’m “still holding on?” So I had my eye on other DAWs I was also a long time user of Pro Tools HD it was a solid program and that's when Apple was on top of the "Computer Hardware" but ultimately I wanted to go back to PC, many recommended Cakewalk! I don't regret the years with Sonar, with the Gibson situation (I don't blame them either). Most have spoken about Sonar's "Legacy Bloatware" to be the Main Cause of Crashes, maybe that's why Most of the Professional Studio's around the world "Don't use Cakewalk" (a number of reasons I'm sure).
 
I'm Sorry for the Cakewalk group, I wish them all the best.

After a couple weeks of “long hours” of recordings, Studio One has been “Rock Solid” Never once a problem, it's so intuitive that I'm practically an expert (a lot more to learn though) once all set up & running, it's given me the confidence to record again.

There is no DSD support for both other DAWs.
 
I've had Cubase and Studio One for years before I started working with Sonar because of DSD.
I do not enjoy working with conversion.
 
I hope that the company Tascam Sonar buys and expands with HD formats and 3D and Binaural. For me that would be a solution.
 
I do not understand why people really just want to focus on a single DAW. For users where this is just a small hobby, of course, that's not the same.
 
In addition to the DAW Sonar, Cubase and Studio One, I also work with Notion 6 and Dorico. For me, Dorico seems to be moving in a direction that allows me to approach things from a different perspective. Also the software Overture is interesting, I'll take a look at it in any case.
 
I want to compose more in the future and use less artificial intelligence, I personally do not enjoy working with random generators, at least not filling the musical content with AI.

Ww have been using software for the last 30 years.

I am in the process of learning Cubase. It's doable, it's like learning a new language with a different grammar. I will keep Sonar for as long as it works, but I certainly will not start any new projects in it, as exporting to another DAW will of course be a tremendous hassle. 

What's Sonar?

When doing actual recordings, I will still use Sonar as I am more productive with it. 
But I am learning Studio One/Cubase and will switch in the future. 
 
Learning new stuff can be good because it will force me to think differently and be more creative.

Nothing wrong with starting something better.

CoteRotie
I have no interest in doing anything new in SONAR unless I have to-  Anyone else feel that way?
 

Agree completely with all four of your points. I will be installing Cubase Pro later this week.
 
I'm in between projects now and about go back into writing mode for a while so now is the perfect time for me to switch horses.
 
Yeah I could stop all updates of all my software and lock my computer in time. I've done it in the past I find it gets to be the computer equivalent of living as an Amish person after a while. These days I've got zero desire end up being the guy planting corn by hand behind a mule when tractors exist and are easy to get.
 
Like others have said, there will be a learning curve to any new platform. I think its a wiser choice to work my way through that learning curve while I can still fall back on a working copy of Sonar if needed. If I ride the dead horse until it finally breaks, I will then have no safety net while learning whatever new platform I go with. That just doesn't seem like a good choice to me.
 
I do have to say one thing I will miss about Sonar is this forum. I'm poking around a bit on the Cubase forum but so far it seems about as warm and welcoming as a truck stop colonoscopy. Lots of by the book/by the numbers boys in that crowd from what I can tell.

I'll be staying with SONAR.
 
Period.