TheSteven

pjfarr

I'm not an expert on how this stuff is done, but if they fix some of the bugs from X1 in X2, couldn't they then put those fixes into a separate patch for the X1 users to download and install...? Or is that dumb?

Not a dumb question but its rarely as simply as that.
Software, unless its a dead product, is a continually evolving thing.  So a particular bug fix for X2 might have involve changes to code that didn't exist in X1 or relate to code that was modified for another reason in X2.


Even if the bugfix in X2 was applicable to X1 (and someone would have to spend the time to do an analysis to determine that) since people don't like to work for free you are taking about Cakewalk paying people to make the changes, to test the changes to make sure that they work as intended and don't cause new bugs, to create a release package, document the changes, update the archives, notify people (email,web update, etc), etc., etc.
It gets expensive fairly quickly - and how many new copies of X1 will it sell? or how many updates to X2 will they have to sell to cover the costs? What other projects will get delayed while the manpower is spent here instead of there.

I'm not saying that Cakewalk will or won't make create a patch - just that its not the simple process that many people assume that it is.

...Steven

To further elaborate here is somewhat of a direct answer from Noel from Cakewalk to a very similar question in another recent thread about updating past versions:

Noel Borthwick [Cakewalk
] 

This is a common question/misconception so I will try and answer it. The analogy to companies like Microsoft and Apple are not comparing apples with apples. Cakewalk is a microscopic in size as compared to these companies, and we don't write operating systems that require periodic updates to support the platform. Its a completely different business model. 

The retail software model includes one product cycle worth of updates. This is common to most companies and not just Cakewalk. We released 4 updates to X1 spread out a year and a half after the release. These included hundreds of fixes and even some new features from ongoing work in X2. The last update was X1D after which we focused our efforts entirely on X2. In this model its simply impossible to continue updating earlier product releases once a new product is released. What might not be obvious to those outside this industry, are the costs involved. The assumption that if a problem is fixed in a new release its easy to move that into the older release is incorrect. Many of the issues addressed in a new version are deeply entrenched in deeper design changes or even newer features that don't exist in the earlier version. Moving these to an earlier version would take months of regression testing since they are likely to introduce new problems living in a different environment. It would also drastically slow down development of new versions. 

In X2 we committed ourselves to addressing user reported problems on equal footing with new features. Our upgrade prices are incredibly affordable for the value you get. There isn't a lot more we can do beyond this. 

chefmike8888


But if Cakewalk put out 'The Perfect DAW' so to speak. 
One with no issues at all, I'd still be on S6PE.
That would definitely put them out of business.
There would be no need to upgrade.

But CW would have been able to stay in biz by selling their perfected S6PE to new buyers looking for a better and more reliable DAW than their current [insert other buggy DAW name here] rather than keep leading their current customers down the endless upgrade path to the next new buggy version (and losing some along the way each time). A new version could still be introduced when necessary (whenever a new Windows version or relevant service pack was released).

But CW would have been able to stay in biz by selling their perfected S6PE to new buyers looking for a better and more reliable DAW

Disagree.

No matter if 'perfection' was achieved or not, there are whole legions of Cubase & PT out there who would NEVER swap their existing buggy software, no matter how good 6PE was.

Anyway, 6PE wasn't perfect, and it lacked loads of features which we now take for granted.

This is what I do professionally. It's not about the money. In fact, I have to spend X amount of dollars per year for tax purposes, so Normally YAAY for a $99 upgrade. I don't want to support a company that SCREWS me and then leaves me hanging and leads me to believe they're fixing the proble, then tell me they are not fixing the problem at the last minute. I love to whole heartedly support companies who support the ones (us customers) that support them and there families. I've tolerated minor bugs before, my problem is when the last major X1 update (d) left Sonar Crippled NOT able to fastbounce/clipbounce timecode plugins (lots of plugs uare timecode/tempo based) THIS TAKES EXTRA STUDIO TIME, AND SOMEONE HAS TO PAY FOR IT... They should NOT released a half baked patch that screwed up more than it fixed. The botched patch should've been fixed ASAP via 'quick fix' or a Quick Re-bake of the patch. Unless it was PURELY a marketing strategy to BREAK X1 d and force those 'every other year' upgraders to half to upgrade now or run handicapped. I've been calling and emailing since March (on this issue)(upon release about all the other stuff such as quantize audio not working till X1 C). Support told me to 'stay tuned an update was in the works' in regards to the Cakewalk-caused problems of X1 d (not the melodyne memory leak which didn't effect me). As a professional, I don't appreciate Cakewalk Re-Crippling X1 and leaving it messed up. We've been fastbouncing for many years and versions, why leave X1's legecy WITHOUT that ability. VERY Un-professional CAKEWALK!!! I also don't appreciate being lied to by customers support. Also very unprofessional. Cakewalk DOES NOT APPRECIATE the long time customers that got them where they are today. I've also used Roland since I was a kid and was excited to see when they joined with Cakewalk, but the Cake has turned upside down. Clear message: "CAKEWALK DOESN'T CARE"

No, but most likely there will be a X2 patch before X2b to fix all the 'new version release bugs'