I'm absolutely sticking with sonar. However if PreSonus or somebody comes up with a fantastic deal for sonar users I'm going to take it. It doesn't mean I'm going to start using that software right away. I just want to have it in my back pocket at a great price. I can take my time on how to use it. I think Platinum is going to be usable for a long time.
Quite frankly, if you didn't pay for the updates you are in the same situation as you would have been. You're using a software that is locked and will not be updated.

MagicMike
Studio One: NO Track Templates  . I have the demo installed and have been playing around - quite like what I'm seeing but this is a deal breaker for me.
 
I use Track Templates extensively and have built up a useful library. Try setting up a 13 mic drum setup from scratch all the time and see how boring that gets. I know you could have a song template with the setup and routings but I love the flexibility of including any template within a project file.
 
Will stick with SPLAT for as long as possible.

I have never used Template. Why not create what you need, set your drum tracks, what ever else, and save it as a Project, call it "New Project", and then open it every time with the new song, and then rename? I been doing it for years. 

No panic here.
 
But I don't think it wise to invest my time in a DAW that will never be updated and that could crap out on me at any moment. I don't want to watch other DAWs update to the latest and greatest features and know that my DAW will never have those features. I don't want to have to pass up new VSTs because they won't work in SONAR. I don't want to have to forgo Windows updates, or to take my computer offline. 
 
I'd rather move on and start learning a new DAW, which for me is Cubase. I bought it today at 50% off. My time on SONAR is already to some degree wasted. Why get in deeper? Time to cut my losses, and the sooner I move on the better off I'll be.
 
I doubt SONAR will ever come back in any form. Too many people are (like me) already making other arrangements. With their announcement Gibson raised the pistol to Cakewalk's head and pulled the trigger. No one will buy it knowing their user base has scattered.
 
Again, no panic, just my reasoned opinion.
 
 

35mm

Ken Matson
Funny how different things are important to different people people. I don't think I've ever used a track template! I use project templates quite a bit, which takes care of all my tracks.

Probably a bit late now, but I recommend you try track templates out. They are very useful.

I agree! Ironically, the day before the announcement of the ship sinking, I updated all my track templates and project templates...
 
Walt

MagicMike
Advice? If I disconnect my PC from the internet, can I create a very basic virtual PC machine that resides on my PC and use that to connect to the internet? Does my internet adaptor have to be enabled on the host PC?

Good question. The answer is yes, you could limit your internet connection to a VM and leave the host offline. At least, it's possible in the VM I use (VirtualBox from Oracle).
 
However, that may still not be an ideal solution.
 
First of all, some of your third-party software (e.g. Waves) is going to have licenses that are tied to your hardware configuration. The most-used piece of hardware for that is the network card, because it's guaranteed to have a unique ID (its MAC address). Disable the NIC and the license will fail. 
 
Second, the reason people leave their DAWs online is for convenience when authorizing new plugins. You're probably not going to be able to do an online authorization from within your VM. Products that use a simple license file won't be a problem, but challenge-response authentication requires that the plugin have a direct connection to the server.
 
Which is not to say your idea isn't do-able. Nearly all plugin vendors support offline authorization, even if some of them make it maddeningly difficult. Shopping, purchasing and downloading plugins could still be done in your VM. 

I use VirtualBox too for running Linux and Vagrant devs. It would be easier to do it the other way round. Have internet on your machine, but block it on your virtual machine. But why do you want your DAW machine to be offline? Unless your network card is causing problems for your DAW (if it is, get another one) there's no point. If you are worried about windows update screwing things up, it most likely won't, but you can disable updates if you are that worried.

For those who still love Cakewalk and Sonar, here is my petition!
 
Cakewalk and later Sonar has been our favorite DAW (Digital Audio Workstation) for many years. It is the home we go to when being creative. From writing songs, record songs, mixing songs to master songs and albums. We deeply love Cakewalk and Sonar.
 
Gibson is now stopping developing and service of Cakewalk and Sonar. So they are basically giving it up.
 
Dear Microsoft.
 
Please rescue Cakewalk and Sonar out of Gibson. You can make Sonar a system like Office and Office 365. And Music Creator to an app in the store. And please make it under insider, so that we, the users can have a say in the development. You can rebrand it if you want, but please make it backward compatible with current Sonar, Music Creator and plugin base.
 
https://www.ipetitions.co...ewalk-and-sonar-out-of

I seriously doubt that Microsoft will have the chance. Gibson will hang on to it until they have to liquidate their assets. By then saving Cakewalk for the users will be too little too late. But good luck with that petition. Maybe I'm wrong and this is the right idea.
 
 

I think the Mac people are going to be the biggest losers out of this. If I were one I'd jump ship asap! The way Apple changes their OS and makes older versions incompatible. It's only recently that Sonar became Mac compatible. I had WIN XP Pro and Sonar went 64bit and dropped compatibility with their new version (I forget) but had to upgrade my OS and motherboard to 64 bit to make the new version work. Yes Sonar was ahead of other DAWs with 64bit and it was a big improvement over 32bit. I never had a CPU slowdown.  As I said before, Sonar will NOT release any new versions and unless MS comes with a new OS that makes older products incompatible like Apple does time and time again, PC owners are safe. 
 
Someone had mentioned about commercial facilities and Sonar. I don't know too many, not because of it being inferior, but it was the buzzword of Pro Tools that clients ask and judge a studio by the popular candy of the day. I closed mine because it wasn't worth it. Just like I had ADAT only because all the musicians had it and thought they be an engineer and recording studio only to F#up the music. Yeah D88s were better no question but everyone had ADAT and they paid for themselves 100 times and over with new business. Pro Tools is the same today. I closed my commercial facility and when I need a tracking session with drums and bass, I go to a large studio and save my .wav Pro Tool files on a flash drive and dump them into Sonar at home and work on the dubs in my project studio.
 
If I were to go to a new DAW my number one request is: manual punch-in/out on the fly. No friggin' programming! I'm old school. Funny I purchased the Presonus FaderPort only to find out from Sonar support that it didn't support the FaderPort... Huh!  I keep a Tascam DP24SD just for that.

I am definitely not panicking.  I am definitely disappointed but not surprised.  However, that being said, I can't see the sense for me to start any NEW projects in SONAR and the sooner I can identify the right replacement DAW for me the better.  
 
I am leaning heavily toward Presonus for numerous reasons but haven't eliminated any options yet.
 
Good luck to all and talk about a BLACK FRIDAY weekend?