I'm sure I'll be great on Windows 8, but I'm holding out for 8.1. I'm ok with Windows 7, and although I personally saw a performance decrease from X2 to X2a, it wasn't enough to hunt for improvements. 8.1 is going to be full of refinements based on user feedback from Windows8, such as bringing back the Start button.

awesomely fast/robust on Win8 x64 with RME here.
 
that said, still have daily crashes with Maschine, but...

Did anybody do an in-place upgrade from Windows 7 to 8?  Is this crazy to even consider? 
 
A clean install would be quite a chore:  full day or more to get EVERYTHING re-installed and re-configured after Windows.

Good question. That's my biggest reservation. Now that my SOnar is running without crashes, I'm a bit scared to simply throw something like this at it.

I have read about prior upgrades in place from Windows 7 to Windows 8.
 
I chose to deliberately do a brand new clean install, considering it well worth the investment of time needed to get things installed all over again, rather than opting for the update in place approach.
 
I have no knowledge of issues with doing an update in place - having a background in technical support, I just normally opt for the safest and surest way of doing things, whenever possible.
 
Bob Bone
 

ZeroContrast
So I'll need to upgrade my OS (or computer) at some point soon (still on XP), and since Sonar is the main reason for the change and perhaps the most important thing I'll be doing on the computer, I have to consider compatibility.
 
In short, is Sonar X2 (and the X2a update) stable enough on Windows 8, or should I try to get Windows 7 to maximize compatibility and minimize bugs?

 Windows 7.  8 would be nice if you are using a touchscreen.   If you have any hardware that may not work in Windows 7, Vista drivers will work.

Studious
Did anybody do an in-place upgrade from Windows 7 to 8?  Is this crazy to even consider? 
 
A clean install would be quite a chore:  full day or more to get EVERYTHING re-installed and re-configured after Windows.

I did. However before doing the update I was careful to run the Microsoft upgrade advisor and resolved all reported compatiblity issues prior to that. I also cleaned up the system, removing apps I don't use and all browser cache's temp files and did a registry cleanup as well before running the upgrade.
It went very smoothly and all my audio and MIDI drivers survived the upgrade. X2 worked fine as well post upgrade. If you are using copy protected plugins like PACE'd products you may want to check with the manufacturer if they will still be authorized..

Noel Borthwick [Cakewalk]

Studious
Did anybody do an in-place upgrade from Windows 7 to 8?  Is this crazy to even consider? 
 
A clean install would be quite a chore:  full day or more to get EVERYTHING re-installed and re-configured after Windows.

I did. However before doing the update I was careful to run the Microsoft upgrade advisor and resolved all reported compatiblity issues prior to that. I also cleaned up the system, removing apps I don't use and all browser cache's temp files and did a registry cleanup as well before running the upgrade.
It went very smoothly and all my audio and MIDI drivers survived the upgrade. X2 worked fine as well post upgrade. If you are using copy protected plugins like PACE'd products you may want to check with the manufacturer if they will still be authorized..

That is very encouraging.  Thanks Noel! 
Interested in the "registry cleanup" you mentioned.  Was this a manual process?  Did you touch any Cakewalk registry entries?

I used CCleaner for the cleanup to remove all the dead stuff from old programs etc. Nothing manual.

So Noel, again no issues with the upgrade at all in comparison to a clean install?