Auto locate can be initiated with markers. This is what markers are for. i think your just looking for short cuts. for example instead of something taking 2 mouse clicks, you just want one mouse click. Well this can be said with every program ever made. Allot of the stuff can be done in sonar.

If you ask 10 different people what they want new in Sonar, you'll get 10 different answers. So its really impossible to make a program that has "Everything" that you want. 
If they ever made a program that has every single feature request, the program would be so damn CPU heave and the GUI would be so hectic, you couldn't even work in it.

The thing is to find the program the is the closest to what you need. I think i just went way off topic, but ....... ...... ......   ................

Cj

There's an option to go back to "now" time when you press stop so you continue editing or recording where you last began playback... I do it everyday. I'd quit if I didn't have this option. Perhaps I'm misunderstanding your issue :(

I agree with coloring actual tracks. Pro Tools is easy to see at a glance what drums are, bass, guitars, vox, etc.

Timeline zoom and auto zoom look like big timer savers to me. But maybe you don't want to record CLIENTS any quicker than you have to. Keep them waiting and paying. Isn't that why guys prefer PTools with no fast bounce.

hey fooman! yes, "Go to Now" is completely different than a Locate. The "Now Time" always changes with your Selection, and makes locating "Now" occur without the Preroll you might want, which is important to able to hear what's before your selection- so you get better context of outside/before the edits you're working on within your selection.  

And yah, CJ... I AM talking about less mouse clicks! When you do hundreds per day, wouldn't it be sweet to have half as many... 4 times less? I used to be able to do what I'm asking for 20 years ago. It's not wildly complicated stuff. Just really PRACTICAL, day-to-day, hour by hour, engineering. Just a suggestion for how Cake could make studio work much easier. It would be worth some money to me!

They seem to be more designed for individuals who want to edit virtual software instruments than live musicians who are recording real instruments. 

Cakewalk started as a sequencer with no audio editing ability whatsoever. I for one was pretty disappointed at how much effort was being put into making it a virtual recording studio over the years, but the current iteration looks like a reasonable compromise. A better multitrack digital recorder/editor could probably have been built if that were the entire focus of development no doubt. But it would be a lot less useful tool for making music.

When I set up my "Rewind to Now time on stop" (or whatever the option's called), I often begin my playback a few bars back for that very reason. I need context, and the artist needs a few bars to get into it before they sing/play. When I press stop cause they stunk up the joint, my now marker returns to the "preroll". I come from post-tape... so maybe my terms are mixed up with "preroll".

You can also set up loop points with a single button click so you can continuously loop a section of music, which I do a lot as well when working on a specific issue that is apparent at a point in time, or doing take-based recording. Saves from even having to press anything.

I, once again, apologize if I'm missing your point :(

I think the new "landmarks" feature might have some of wha you are asking for...

Having run this proggy in a real studio with huge console and several control surfaces I can appreciate your frustration, but it really is a matter of setting up the program to do what it is told to do...

Unfortunatly the process resolution you are looking for is probably contained in sitting down for a day and making templates to load up...

We did exactly what you suggested for years in Sonar...and have only used the vocal correction thing on occasion since our motto was "Do it over"...

I think the best feature we could ask for in any DAW is how to get the very best performance from our client...sort of a "Shine in the groove" button...if the bakers ever create that feature they will dominant the industry...

Until then we will have to use a non-digital approach...

We used to have a cattle-prod over the door that said "Do it right in one take or else"...

maybe a project should have 2 layers of markers as a preset one for editing and one for navigating through the project when not editing. drop down menu gives you choice of marker preset 1 and marker preset2 plus you could have the option to offset were you have the project start by so many seconds or beats before the marker. In preset one you have navigation were you go to the start of key snap shots and in preset 2 it has markers for the key edit points you are working on fixing.

i have never had a problem navigating and recording. One hand on the mouse, one the keyboard and muscle memory. Colors I can get behind. Something as simple as the little tabs which appear when using a control surface should be implemented for all users.

Personally i was totally sold on x2 within 5mins of the video...  dramatic workflow productivity improvements for me.. and i suspect >90% of x1 users.