Hi guys.
Until now I've never really had much interest in the touch screen aspect of Sonar.
 However, after recently watching a presentation of it I became quite interested.
I liked the way it was suggested that touch be approached as an extension of the mouse rather than an environment which becomes the exclusive option.
A lot of what I saw was just the kind of thing that I would like. For instance, moving backwards and forwards through a project quickly, and also zooming in and out quickly are 2 things.
I write EDM so shifting constantly back and forth along the time line is something inherently more frequent whilst producing than many genres (stop it! did I say to copy and paste?!).
I find I'm having to zoom so much too to tweak midi. Timing is so important, even down to 128th note placement in some instances. When I saw just those 2 functions being effortlessly controlled with touch I was sold.
Sorry Guys I'm rambling..
Basically my question is about upgrading to win 8 from win 7 because Cake states a Win 8 requirement for touch.
I would really love what touch has to offer but unless it is almost 100% painless I'm out!
It's taken 2 years to get my win 7 daw running as it does. Seriously there were times when I wondered which was going to go through the window first, the DAW or me.
I know, I'm no hero, you guys all know the pain there can be. I just don't want to return to it and find that my music making experience has been destroyed rather than enhanced because I've been seduced by a non essential tech.
 
Cheers. 

Hi I'm using a HP Envy touch laptop with 8.1.  Whilst I don't use the touch features that much yet, still getting use to it, it's a nice option and it virtually eliminates the need for a second control device ie:ipad (unless you want transport controls whilst away from the computer) I've moved to 8.1 and whilst it needs a tune to get rid of Metro, it's smooth I haven't even had to turn off the normal memory hog stuff, as in the past.  So it runs straight out of the box ala a Crapple.  There is now an update set to be released in the next few days from Microsoft that eliminates the tune up too.  It restores the start menu completely and boots to the normal Windows scree.  So there is now no issue with upgrading to 8 from 7,
 
Ben

Running WIN 8 PRO here... love it, don't use touch that much but when I do, it is slick.  Really like the remote desktop thing and use my SURFACE RT as a remote PC screen for tracking and controlling the DAW desktop remotely from the tracking room.
 
JK

I use touch in Console View quite a lot. I like touch when I'm practicing to.
 
I don't use touch when I'm working with envelopes.
 
I don't usually use touch when mixing a big project. If I have a lot of work to do fast, I'm still faster with the mouse.

I am so afraid of win8. The couple of few times I got my hands on it…I could do anything. Not intuitive at all. 
I am on win7 64 and love it. Not issues, but no touch too...
What are the benefits of upgrading to win8, apart from touch?

I recently went through the upgrade process for touch. I held off upgrading for over a year for several reasons notably hardware drivers and, of course, the hassle factor. Then my C:\ drive started going south and I was forced to replace it. And it came to pass that I also did the upgrade from Win 7 to 8.
 
I like Win 8 a lot. I like to use touch but honestly I use it mostly in Console View. I suppose the question is: Was it worth the time to do the upgrade? I've spent a couple months getting all the missing parts back in place, it has not been painless, but, in the end, I'm glad I made the effort...I can look forward to many years of usefulness.
 
For the individuals who dis Win 8 I have to say I don't understand where they are coming from at all. With Win 8.1 you can boot to the more familiar 'Desktop' view if that is your preference (it's mine) and totally ignore the 'Metro' side of things. I'm not a big fan of Metro but it does have some uses...on my Surface I actually prefer the 'Metro' interface.  
 
Regards,

Hi,
Thanks for all the replies guys.
I will probably update my mobo and cpu sometime this year, so I think I might go Win 8 with a touchscreen at the same time if I'm able to resist the GAS until then.
I've never experienced a smooth OS migration yet so I've decided that it would be unwise to hope the expierience would be any different this time around!.
Cheers.

Unintuitive? Its Windows no matter what people say. I don't get it when people say this about Windows. It has Windows Explorer. The same Explorer that has been in all Windows from the first Windows. It has Control Panel just like all other Windows. It has the Registry just like all the later Windows. It has WordPad Its got the Task Manager its Windows for crying out loud. It has search and indexing. It has better security. Audio is better and so is video in Windows 8. Nearly every area of Windows 8 has been tweaked or improved over past versions. 
 
You say all the past Windows had all those things. I say they are better in Windows 8. Windows 8 file explorer is way better and so are all the other applets that ship with Windows 8. Copy and paste files is better. The improvements are impressive in Windows 8 yet we still hear this echo from users that seem to me ignorant of its power and how well it works.  
 
You can't get past the Start Screen? A few minutes spent on the web on nearly every blog, forum or MS's knowledge base will tell you how to bypass the start screen and boot to the desktop. You want the start menu back? Get a Start Menu add on. Some are free. Others offer added features. And so on.
 
Windows 8 is a faster more stable OS than the past Windows. And it also offers multi touch for those with a touch screen.
 
I know, why not read up on it where you learn its features and abilities and stop fearing it. Its just Windows. Nothing to fear or bash.
 
BTW Windows 8.1 update will be out on the 8th of this month. It will add windowing to Metro apps and a exit button to apps. They will be shown on the Task Bar as well. 
 
 
 
 

John
Unintuitive? Its Windows no matter what people say. I don't get it when people say this about Windows. It has Windows Explorer. The same Explorer that has been in all Windows from the first Windows. It has Control Panel just like all other Windows. It has the Registry just like all the later Windows. It has WordPad Its got the Task Manager its Windows for crying out loud. It has search and indexing. It has better security. Audio is better and so is video in Windows 8. Nearly every area of Windows 8 has been tweaked or improved over past versions. 
 
You say all the past Windows had all those things. I say they are better in Windows 8. Windows 8 file explorer is way better and so are all the other applets that ship with Windows 8. Copy and paste files is better. The improvements are impressive in Windows 8 yet we still hear this echo from users that seem to me ignorant of its power and how well it works.  
 
 

Yep, the explorer is better. I also think the task manager is way better in W8.
 
Like you, John - I cant really understand why people are crying out about Win8. 
-Don't like Metro? - Well, don't use it then? 
Other than that - Win8 seems to me much more stable and also small improvements all over (like the task manager, explorer and so on)