Microsoft will keep making the bulk of their money on developing and upgrading new software, licensing for new computers, and cloud services. You can shut down Cortana, default to any search engine of your choosing, and block all popup adds from Edge and IE11 web browsers, but being they do a good job at researching products, prices, and vendors for you, you might be cutting yourself short by doing so.
 
 Also I'm pretty sure there is already is and has been  a way(s) developed to run any Windows based program/app including SONAR on a Linux system.
 You can easily find out how to do it with a Google search, and or perhaps Bing, but be forewarned they both will be making money by listing links from companies who want to sell you stuff.
 I'm perfectly OK with that, and a huge fan of Google and Gmail services. Come on, the wrote the book on how to make money by giving stuff away for free. ;-)
 
 And I'm perfectly OK with continuing to support the software vendors who give me fair and honest support.
 It was only a few months ago when Cakewalk changed their minds about a $100 upgrade offer I was planning to take advantage of and lopped off and entire month. Oops, somebody made a mistake that glitched out my monthly budget that I couldn't correct in time.
 I had an extra couple of hundred Franklin's to invest, and thinking I had an extra month to get the  subscription deal, I jumped on a $50 off of an Audio Technica AT4040 deal, and I'll tell you what, that is one KILLA ARSE MIC! I absolutely recommend it.
 And than the very next month when I was considering doing the $150 subscription anyway, up pops a Google add in my browser for an Audio Technica AT2020 with a free boom stand, cable, and shipping, and I couldn't resist.
 OK so it's not as bodacious as the AT4040, but at 1/3 the price I wasn't expecting it to be, but it's nice, REALLY, REALLY NICE placed in front of guitar cabs for a $100 that also matches up well with my all purpose Rode NT1a.
 The AT4040 is all purpose as well, but really excels at vocals. Kinda like an AKG 414 does.
 
 So looking back in retrospect Karma was on my side especially being I would have gotten kinda pissed off when Cakewalk offered the new and improved $200 life time of, umm, I'm not really sure, ahh, maybe stuff they should have done before my subscription expired in the first place? :-p
 

The Grim

John
 
Is there a promise that CW has made that one can point to as precedent? On what grounds is this assertion made?   

[playing the devils advocate] if you cared to take the time to look you could find untruths, perhaps not a broken promises as such, but certainly back flips to stated things, for example there will be no mac version for sonar to name one, and what do we have now? we all know that has been stated many times over the years, i am just stating a fact. if you are going to pretend to be squeaky clean, you best be squeaky clean. i know this will be roasted, turn inside out and flipped on it's head by the fanatics, but it is the truth none the less.
 
i am just pointing it out in relation to the apparent belief that there is no guile to be found in this company. companies are all the same, at the end of the day it is all about what is best for them, their survival first and foremost, everything else is secondary, anyone who tells you different is either deluded or flat out lying.
 
anyway, the news has broken, didn't really excite me much, very thankful for the $99 lifetime deal, the latest version seems fairly good, however not near enough to drag me from my daw of choice. now as a lifetime member i can check back every now and then until sonar ceases to exist in its present form and see how things are going at no extra cost to me, i wasn't going to renew my subscription next year, but this was to good to pass up, you never know what the future brings, i am not tied either emotionally or any other way to a particular daw or company as many others here seem to be, i will go with what i see as the best at the time, the best for me, and that is not sonar at this time on either count, perhaps down the road aways it may have those things i desire, or perhaps it may be another daw all together, but for now i am more than happy where i am

Your example is ridiculous. So they say for years no mac version then after many years AND RESEARCH they find they can do it and it's feasible. You find that a flip flop? I call it progress....Jeezzz 

Yeah that example is kind of ridiculous, and it lost me at the spending a $99 for something you're not ever going to use just because you thought it was a good deal (????)
Since I've been using Cakewalk it's been owned by 12 Tones Inc, Roland Corp, and now Gibson Brands, so at this point what ever Gibson says is POLICY and that shall be that. Nobody ever offered me a $99 "lifetime" subscription upgrade.
 Oh bother, may hap I should be changing my profile pic to one featuring me playing the SG? LoL, maybe even update my signature[build] below too.
 Ah but hey, I like that pic with SONAR PE 8.5 as the backdrop and although I really like the SG, I Freak'in LOVE my pure stock year Fender Stratocaster. The only things ever replaced on it were strings and pickup selector switch, and only things added were a couple of dings which actually hurt me more than the Strat. :o( 
 Seriously though, I'm not here to trash mouth or trade war stories, and SONAR is in fact my favorite weapon of choice, and I learned a long time ago that I don't need to keep up with the Jones for the latest and greatest versions and hyper active sales hype and bragging rights.
 
 I was kinda hoping for another SPlat user who might have had this hang time problem and could suggest a solution that doesn't involve gutting my Platinum install to the point of trashing a perfectly good X3e install.
 
 

John
This has to be the most cynical notion yet posted on these forums. 
 
In order to have such a view the OP must be able to point to things Cakewalk have done to provoke this conclusion. 
 
Is there a promise that CW has made that one can point to as precedent? On what grounds is this assertion made?   

 
...+1.....
 
In my view, this is one of the most pointless and silliest threads of all times.... 
Cakewalk have radically changed SONAR selling model, and SONAR Platinum is not SONAR version X4,
which won't be followed by SONAR X5, and so on.....
 
Plus,  the lifetime offer is only available until the end of August limited to people buying or renewing Platinum....
 
Thus the OP's comparisons are pointless speculations.............
...assertions based on nothing........... useless thread.............

Umm, yeah, hardly pointless and ACTUALLY take away the sales hype and rebranding SONAR into a subscription plan than Platinum is in fact, nothing more than X4.
 
 It is also a fact that when opening a project in X3 that was saved in Platinum, a pop up warning appears identifying the project as being made in SONAR X4.

Steev
Umm, yeah, hardly pointless and ACTUALLY take away the sales hype and rebranding SONAR into a subscription plan than Platinum is in fact, nothing more than X4.
 
 It is also a fact that when opening a project in X3 that was saved in Platinum, a pop up warning appears identifying the project as being made in SONAR X4.

It may be nothing more than X4 to you, but to me, all the enhancements since X3e are simply awesome.
 
Dan

dcumpian

Steev
Umm, yeah, hardly pointless and ACTUALLY take away the sales hype and rebranding SONAR into a subscription plan than Platinum is in fact, nothing more than X4.
 
 It is also a fact that when opening a project in X3 that was saved in Platinum, a pop up warning appears identifying the project as being made in SONAR X4.

It may be nothing more than X4 to you, but to me, all the enhancements since X3e are simply awesome.
 
Dan

same here, im not sure I could go back to using X3.
there's just been so many improvements (and features) in platinum right now that my work flow is honestly, at minimum 3X times easier.
 
Get that ? =
X3...3X easier in platinum

chuckebaby

dcumpian

Steev
Umm, yeah, hardly pointless and ACTUALLY take away the sales hype and rebranding SONAR into a subscription plan than Platinum is in fact, nothing more than X4.
 
 It is also a fact that when opening a project in X3 that was saved in Platinum, a pop up warning appears identifying the project as being made in SONAR X4.

It may be nothing more than X4 to you, but to me, all the enhancements since X3e are simply awesome.
 
Dan

same here, im not sure I could go back to using X3.
there's just been so many improvements (and features) in platinum right now that my work flow is honestly, at minimum 3X times easier.
 
Get that ? =
X3...3X easier in platinum

 
Ditto here. Platinum is pretty scary. In a really good way. 

 
@Steev
 
..nope, me dear mate.....
 
Sonar Platinum ain't no way "Sonar X4".....
Sure, it's X3's inheritor, yet it's just SONAR in its NEW major version....
No number version, and whatever its full name may be from now on, it shall be JUST Sonar,
with lifetime updates ONLY for those entitled.....
 
Conditions have been CLEARLY stated by Cakewalk. period.
 
Image-Line has been doing this with FL Studio (which I own..) even for EVERY user for ages now....
 
Actually, a thread like "Sonar Platinum - being retired soon ???" is pure crap,
a waste of words and time, based upon a huge NOTHING........
 
 
Best regards.

The Grim
 
[playing the devils advocate] if you cared to take the time to look you could find untruths, perhaps not a broken promises as such, but certainly back flips to stated things, for example there will be no mac version for sonar to name one, and what do we have now? we all know that has been stated many times over the years, i am just stating a fact. if you are going to pretend to be squeaky clean, you best be squeaky clean. i know this will be roasted, turn inside out and flipped on it's head by the fanatics, but it is the truth none the less.

I guess you missed this statement that Cakewalk made in 2006:
 
"There will be a Mac version 10 years from now, because we have 100% accurate psychic abilities, and can see clearly into a future time when new technology we can't envision will exist and make a Mac port feasible! (And by the way, you might want to buy some Apple stock. Just sayin.')"