I need to get the latest stable Sonar that will run on XP, that has take lanes and comping, and I'm thinking that's 8.5.  Really need to be able to open old projects and do drum tracks, using loops, take lanes and comping.   Mixing and mastering can be done with something else, if need be, but I really want to do the tracking in the original project.  
 
Is there any way to still buy that version, now that the Cakewalk store is closed?  (Not sure if they were still selling it anyway...)

Cakewalk stopped selling SONAR 8.5 at their store in late 2010.

Not legally.
 
And no, they haven't sold it for about 5 years now.  

Becuase of what has happened anyone who hasn't kept up to date is left sitting at the dock and the ship has sailed. Sorry if you just desided to go shopping for a product that is now taken off the shelves' 
 
And as said 8.5 is long gone. Why don't you just buy something like Mix Craft it's more or less the same thing, was just on sale so you probably missed all those deals too. 
 
And XP? that's hurtin. 

X1 is backwards-compatible (will read v8 projects) and will run on XP.  There's an unused copy of Sonar X1 on Ebay right now:
 
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Cakewalk-by-Roland-Sonar-X1-Producer-Unused/253289915652?
 
Minimum bid is $199, but the seller may be open to offers now that CW is done.  Wouldn't hurt to contact him.

Amazon in the UK have Sonar Studio 8.5, don't know if they'd ship to the US though.

They seem to have it:
 
Ok, I'm not allowed to post links but search:
 
fairdealmusic.co.uk 
 
 
 
 
 

JonD
X1 is backwards-compatible (will read v8 projects) and will run on XP.  There's an unused copy of Sonar X1 on Ebay right now:
 
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Cakewalk-by-Roland-Sonar-X1-Producer-Unused/253289915652?
 
Minimum bid is $199, but the seller may be open to offers now that CW is done.  Wouldn't hurt to contact him.

 
Thanks Jon!  I managed to get it for 100.  

$199 for X1?? the most buggy version of Sonar ever? 

Cactus Music

$199 for X1?? the most buggy version of Sonar ever? 

Got it for 100.  What I need is the tracking features.  All of my material over the last 20 years is in Home Studio 2, some older than that version.  You don't get take lanes and comping on that version.  I need to be able to open those, do new drum tracks (will lanes and comping) and then export the audio to Mixbus or something for actual mixing.  I'm not really interested in the FX and mixing features in X1. If all goes well, I will only be tracking in X1 while everything else is done in something newer.  
 
My alternative is to get something like Studio One 3 (if it will even run on XP) and export the audio from my old Sonar project into Studio One...track some drums...and then export all of that audio AGAIN into Mixbus, and etc...if I just install a good tracking version of Sonar I can eliminate that first export step and all the issues that come with it.  There's about a hundred songs to do this on.  
 
Yeah I could upgrade my machine, go Win 10...and then buy all new software, all new hardware, won't be able to run Home Studio 2 so I can kiss all of my music good bye and start all over.