I'm not new to DP. I know well DP's workflow because  have been DP user for a long time. A few days ago they released demo for Windows. I downloaded, installed and today, am uninstalling it. I can just say that you should thanks to Cakewalk for Sonar. :)

Good positive feedback there Jack.

May I know the reason why? Is it because the windows version isn't as good as the mac version? Or DP8 itself isn't as good as Sonar X2?

ok, 

first, sorry for my English.
- Windows version is very unstable. I had crashes every 10 minutes. 

- It didn't work with my Presonus Audiobox asio driver, it crashes. I can only use asio4all driver.

- There is no drag and drop vst/vsti support.

- No media browser.


- I can not mix 10 stereo, 6 mono, 1 video tracks project. Projects become very laggy after  adding audio files. I have to wait 5-6 seconds after pushing stop button..My system is very powerful. I'm mixing 50-60 tracks without a problem in Sonar..


- Gui is great but really tiring for eyes. I'm not happy with sonars big buttons, track panels etc. but at least I'm not so tired after 7-8 hours workings.


- Channel strip is just like a joke.  They also should send a magnifying glass with DP for free to able to use eq and compressor on the channel strip.


- In genreal, you feel "slow response" behavior.   


- There are much more negative things..

I installed DP8 for Windows too.  The ergonomics are beautiful, I've never used DP before and I found it very easy to learn, intuitive, I really like the interface.  Unfortunately, it crashes every single time I try to exit the program, even if I just open it, do nothing, and then close it.  It's also having a problem communicating with my audio card--which happens to be a MOTU 2408 mkIII with the latest drivers!!  

I have a policy of never purchasing version 1 software, but I am sure MOTU will address these issues as nobody will buy a program if the demo crashes incessantly upon exit. 

JG
www.jerrygerber.com 

I was planning on giving DP8 a trial run (purchase), not to replace Sonar, but as a viable alternative. I'm going to keep an eye on this thread for other reviews.

Yea, I dloaded the DP 8 demo also.  The picture playback and creating streamers is fantastic!  Notation is a big improvement. Right after that it goes downhill and quick for the above stated reasons.

hard to see gui.  64 bit does not work anywhere as good as Sonar.  Although you can change colors, customization is weak ..comparatively (how ironic).  editing midi ain't as much fun.

version 8.03 is out..wonder what that does.      

Well, obviously Sonar was developed for Windows vs DP on the MAC. It sounds like MOTU gave the obligatory Development order: "Ok, guys, we've got the MAC down. Now convert this to work in Windows." Microsoft isn't very good at making their own DLLs and middleware work very well in their own OS. DP suffers that fault as a result. I'd have a high notion that most of the failures and crashes are either bad Microsoft software, or bad documentation. 

Cakewalk likely knows enough about that crap to provide their own workarounds like FireFox did. In other words, it wouldn't surprise me if Cakewalk has in their code, comments like,

# To fix an MS bug that any middle-school student could fix.

I'm sure DP will have some like that soon enough. It's a tough gig to convert, but if Adobe could do it successfully, it can be done.

You know Cakewalk will have an easier time converting to MAC OS.