Hi all, I'm going to give the X3 trial a go, to see if it's worth upgrading from 8.5. However, if I do not choose to upgrade, I'll have to uninstall X3 at the end. So I have 2 questions:
 
1) Will installing X3 alongside 8.5 cause any problems? I assume they will use the same VST paths along with various other shared files, so hopefully the installation doesn't overwrite anything that 8.5 relies upon?
2) Similarly, if I uninstall X3, it will be removing files from shared locations - has anybody verified that uninstalling X3 won't remove any plugins that were installed for earlier versions of Sonar?

Trial versions like any new version of SONAR update shared utilities, for example the plug-in manager. So it will affect any previous installed version of SONAR. Uninstalling a newer version of SONAR may require a reinstall of the older version. The  only portion of the trial that is time expired is the DAW. Delete it, if desired, and leave the rest installed.

The X3 install allows prior versions to co-exist.  It installs most release-specific items to separate folders.
 
Please note that the Cakewalk Plugin Manager is different, and I believe it may replace the older one.  PLEASE note that I cannot state this as factual - I believe my X3 install changed the X2 plugin manager (I am not at my music computer at the moment).
 
Someone else will hopefully chime in with info on the above.
 
But, I can tell you that regardless, on my system X2 and X3 live happily next to each other, and others have X1 and X3 playing nicely, and I would be fairly confident in there being some folks that have as far back as 8.5.3 as well.
 
X3 WILL have a learning curve, but is well worth the upgrade.  SOOO many nice things, once you get used to the massive change between 8.5.3 and X3.
 
Bob Bone
 

I don't really want to have to re-install all of 8.5 if X3 overwrites the plugin manager. So I'd love to hear an authoritative answer on this. Sonar installs are fiddly at the best of times (due to the multitude of sample/preset/data directories, plus copying data from old installs to new, as well as VST locations) so I'd rather avoid it if possible.
 

robert_e_bone

X3 WILL have a learning curve, but is well worth the upgrade.  SOOO many nice things, once you get used to the massive change between 8.5.3 and X3.
 

My main concern is that I don't like the new interface. It seems to force the main track view into a small area of the screen, which will make it harder for me to work. But I'm also hoping to see stability fixes (since 8.5 is pretty poor, for me). And FX chains will be handy. I don't care about Pro-Channel, Addictive Drums, VST3, or most stuff that's been added. So it's mostly about the interface - and if that's no better, it will be hard to justify the upgrade price.
 
I was also hoping to see FX at the track-folder level and a way to cut tracks with an automatic crossfade, but I don't believe they have been implemented. They are other reasons why I may choose a different DAW instead of paying to upgrade Sonar. But, I want to give X3 a shot first! :)

While waiting for an authoritative source, I can tell you using the trial versions was a way for some to take advantage of bug fixes for shared utilities. New versions have to overwrite shared utilities when updated. In this case VST3 support work work without an update. But I too await a definitive answer.

I think the only shared utility I use is the Plugin Manager, if that is the tool that lets me select VSTs and save them as FX/Instrument layouts. I have no problem with that being updated, as long as it still works properly in 8.5, both while X3 is installed, and potentially after I uninstall X3 if I decide not to upgrade. (Same goes for any VSTs, I suppose - happy to see any updates that won't break 8.5 during or after X3 is installed.)

The plug-in manager has to be backward compatible. It still supports user defined layouts. If I were concerned about impacting an old installation, I would not run the uninstall process to remove the trial instead delete the folder containing the trial program.

Well, you have screen sets, and you can float views and collapse panes and such, so there are lots and lots of ways you can really exercise control over what is displayed and how.
 
They have the demo available - so once someone indicates for sure what happens with the plugin manager, you could investigate things with that - since you are mainly interested at the moment with the UI of X3, this would give you the opportunity to see if things could be setup in a manner that enhances your work flow.
 
Many folks had initially complained loud and quickly about the radical changes between 8.5.3 and X1 and beyond, but many of those same folks came to really like the new work flow.
 
Bob Bone
 

Another option available is to create a restore point of your system prior to the installation. Then if you choose to back out of the trial version completely, you can. This option will not allow you to "pick and choose" what you want to keep, however.

or make a backup.