FWIW, I was scared to death of moving to 8.1 but I did and have had no problems whatsoever. I know it's bad advice to tell someone that because surely the next guy who does it, well, his computer bursts into flames. But, honestly, I have had nothing but great behavior for about 4 months now. I should say that the computer already had 8. I just upgraded to 8.1 from there.

scook
If you are moving from 32bit SONAR to 64bit, most of the older DX plug-ins were not ported to 64bit and will not load in 64bit SONAR. The 32bit only DX plug-ins are no longer included with X3. Beatscape, VC-64 and V-Vocal have been dropped too. It may be easier to perform a full install of 32bit X1, then a full install of X3 32 and 64bit, then an advanced install of X1 64bit to add the missing 64bit plug-ins. V-Vocal is the only plug-in that is not separately installable, the X1 SONAR program itself must be installed to pick up V-Vocal. Having both 32bit and 64bit versions may help with transitioning to 64bit SONAR.
 
Copying the VST directory may not be completely successful. Plug-ins that use a Windows installer usually update the registry and have files located in directories other than the VST path. Best to re-install them using their installers. The same is true for copy protected plug-ins.
 
SD3 is part of X3 still see here for the full list of items included in X3 http://www.cakewalk.com/D...mp;Req=Comparison.html
 
Copying projects will be OK.
 

What about R-Mix Steve? Or was that part of the X2 installation?

R-Mix was only X2.

Sidroe
FWIW, I was scared to death of moving to 8.1 but I did and have had no problems whatsoever. I know it's bad advice to tell someone that because surely the next guy who does it, well, his computer bursts into flames. But, honestly, I have had nothing but great behavior for about 4 months now. I should say that the computer already had 8. I just upgraded to 8.1 from there.

Exactly. I've got two instances of Win 8.1 that run fine. If drivers are compatible it's probably going to be fine. I believe you can install Windows 8.1. anyway and if that does not work out (for some odd reason) downgrade to Windows 7 until you are ready to upgrade again (of course you need a Win 8.1 license for this).. Please double check this in indeed the case though by ringing the Microsoft Action line (some confusion here as to whether this OEM only or not at my end).
 
FAQ and details here:
http://www.microsoft.com/oem/en-gb/licensing/sblicensing/pages/what_to_do_downgrade_rights.aspx#fbid=LV1eys_6VhD
 
Also this article:
http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/how-to/windows/3459580/roll-back-windows-7-from-windows-8/
 
If you can upgrade to Win 8.1 straight away it's going to save you a heck of a lot of trouble in the future.
And as I say it may be simpler and almost as cheap buying a new machine. Backup always...

Bristol_Jonesey
 
What about R-Mix Steve? Or was that part of the X2 installation?

X2 Producer only