As a user of Sonar Producer 8.5, I was horrified to see that the option of logging a call with Cakewalk support for any issues with 8.5 has now been removed and in fact, you can't log a call anymore!
 
Why have Cakewalk done this?  8.5 should still be supported as it's still very relevant.  It's the last version without the Skylight interface and was probably Cakewalks best selling product to date as it was a huge update, not to mention all the development and optimisation that was made in its code.
 
It also works on XP/Vista/7 as it was fully tested!  Windows 7 is likely to supersede XP in being the best selling and probably longest used OS and Sonar 8.5 fits nicely with it!  Also 8.5 is available in 32 & 64 bit versions.
 
As Vista and especially Windows 7 are still very much relevant as far as Microsoft are concerned, in fact they still offer support for XP, extended support only that is, but still they support it some 12 years later and in fact until 2014!  Therefore I feel that Cakewalk should still support Sonar 8.5 and not penalise those of us who only invested in their flagship product less than two years ago!
 
I don't think it's unreasonable to expect mainstream support for a product for at least 5 years!
 
As Roland are now the parent company, Cakewalk should take a leaf out of their book and learn why people like me have been buying Roland products for years!
 
That's right, anything you've got with the Roland badge, they consider their baby and will still support the product regardless if you're the original owner or bought it second-hand!
 
Here's an example, some 5-6 years ago I bought an MKS-70 Super JX rack and guess what, I was able to get a manual, some spare parts and they were even happy to supply me with updated ROMs!
 
How about that?  They still had the ROM program, the chips, the knowhow and the willingness and customer care!  That's a 27 year old product that they helped me with Cakewalk.
 
I'd like an answer to this Cakewalk please.  When was the support dropped and why?
 
Anyone else care to contribute on this topic?

It's standard practice for software companies to only support 2 revs back. Many only go 1 rev back. It's a practical matter, as staff turnover is high and after a couple of years there isn't anybody left who knows the old versions.

Imagine if automobile service worked that way...

RickJP909

As a user of Sonar Producer 8.5, I was horrified to see that the option of logging a call with Cakewalk support for any issues with 8.5 has now been removed and in fact, you can't log a call anymore!

Try posting your problems here on this forum.  There are plenty of experienced Sonar users who are willing to help.

bitflipper

It's standard practice for software companies to only support 2 revs back. Many only go 1 rev back. It's a practical matter, as staff turnover is high and after a couple of years there isn't anybody left who knows the old versions.

Imagine if automobile service worked that way...

 
As far as I was aware, the automobile industry does work that way or Ford and GM in Europe do!  If I go to my GM dealer in London with my 10 year old car, they can still sell me most of the spares and not only that, they'll service it and offer me advice on what to do or offer to do it themselves.  That's my whole point!
 
My GM car is now 3 generations old but what Cakewalk have done is tantamount to my dealer saying, sorry we can't sell you spares, offer advice or service your car for you as we only support the current generation and the previous one.
 
To quote, the parent company Roland don't operate that way and I gave a very good example of that above.  I appreciate that Cakewalk can't offer support for discontinued products indefinitely but in Europe car manufacturers are obliged by law to supply parts for 10-years!
 
As Cakewalk release a new version every year, I don't think it's unreasonable to expect them to support a product for at least 5 years.
 
Also, staff turnover isn't the customer's problem and this doesn't cause major issues in other sectors of the software industry.  Again to quote what I said above, everyone knocks Microsoft but "hello" they're still supporting an OS which has passed its 12th year, hell yeah that's Windows XP I'm talking about. 

Kev999

Try posting your problems here on this forum.  There are plenty of experienced Sonar users who are willing to help.

 
Thanks for that and I appreciate it but I'm just making a point as I think to survive in the current world economic climate, companies have to be prepared to go that extra mile when it comes to customer car.
 
Guys, my last point on this is while I think it is reasonable NOT to expect a company to continue development and fix software issues beyond a certain point (and I wasn't expecting that), I don't think it's unreasonable to expect a company to at least offer e-mail support for some legacy products and in Microsoft's case, their cutoff point is 5 years.
 
I think Cakewalk should follow that example, that's all I'm suggesting.
 
Imagine if hardware companies did that with device drivers!  We'd have to change all our computer hardware and interfaces after every other OS release!
 
Cheers!

hey,i can order all original parts for my 96 Hilux because Toyota,after a few glitches, got it right and stuck with a good product with reliability as it`s key function.
Roland should re-brand 8.5.3 as the "hilux" of the brand.
-simple,functional and above all,robust.

if you need a luxury car,buy the X2 

i reckon half the challenge of using X2 is the complexity of the program and the mind boggling array of tools and their infinite combinations and obviously,for some,they have had to become mechanics just to drive the system.

just saying.......

 

Imagine if hardware companies did that with device drivers!  We'd have to change all our computer hardware and interfaces after every other OS release!

They do.
I've been ****ed by hardware companies more than software companies.


I agree with your original premise. Actually, I think if you buy something from a company, they should support it for life (original owner).

bummer, I hate being out of style and out of touch. Don't need the support though with 8.5

Is x2 or whatever its called actually working now?

John

Imagine if hardware companies did that with device drivers!  We'd have to change all our computer hardware and interfaces after every other OS release!

It's not quite that bad, but you try getting hold of 64 bit drivers for some older hardware.

Welcome to planned obsolescence.

webbs hill studio


Roland should re-brand 8.5.3 as the "hilux" of the brand.
-simple,functional and above all,robust.
 

Thanks for your comments guys.  I believe that Roland have been fairly hands-off since they took over Cakewalk but personally, I know the support folks have been overstretched at times especially during promotions.
 
I think this is where Roland could add value, taking over some customer care and share the same ethos - support products for longer, in a tech support sense and not the development of bug fixes that is.
 
Like you said, if I buy a product new I at least would expect to get support for 5-years of the products life from it being released and that brings me nicely to my next point, where was the announcement of the support being ceased? 
  
If I had known that, I would've raised my issue weeks or even months ago instead of trying to workaround it.
 
I think an end-of-life or support ceasing announcement is the least Cakewalk should do, especially to loyal customers as I've been using Cakewalk since it was owned by Twelve Tone Systems!
 
Cheers.

Speaking on behalf of the 8.5 fan club,, I wonder how many of us are still here? I too have no desire to jump on the beta testing bandwagon and 8.5 is the most excellent version so far.. like windows 7. I agree with you there, an excellent combo. 

Note: My Xp Asus netbook just downloaded and installed about 12 XP related updates,, so support lives on even though they threaten to cut us off. MS now offers a $20 upgrade to W8 for it, but I would loose my Office 2003 suite I paid $300+ for and a few other software items that are all working perfectly fine under XP. So the $20 OS then costs me $ 300 in other upgrades.