The current default folder structure is crazy. Historical fits-of-inattention.
 
No consistancy:  Presets found in at least 4 different, unrelated, folders.
 
The insanity of "Shared" as a prefix for ONLY FIVE folders! Shared with what?
 
User saved presets placed in hidden, buried folders.  Not easy to backup.
 
 
X2 will have updated versions of current plugins.
 
I do not want the updated plugs to replace what I know works with current projects.
 
I do not want to use the defined paths for X2. I want to choose.
 
So, PLEASE, a new default folder structure.
 
Preferably with NOTHING placed in:
    C:\ProgramData\Cakewalk
    C:\Users\ME\AppData\Roaming\Cakewalk
 
These are hidden folders. User saved stuff should NEVER be placed in hidden folders.
 
(Quickbooks, Peachtree, MS Outlook, no longer bury data files. They are placed in the DOCs folder for easy backup.)
 
 
Best Default: C:\Sonar   and ALL/EVERYTHING put here.
 
I prefer to be able to select ALL folders during installation. Not after the fact of default folder creation.
 
Example: I want ALL samples on the D: disk, for ALL CW instruments.
 
And presets/programs in easy access locations.
 
And so on.
 
j
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

You may be a little late for X2 implementation ;)

Late or not it's a great point. The default folder structure is out of hand. 

+1. It's probably too late for X2, but I wouldn't be offended if they released a quick mover program to move data files to someplace which made sense, and then updated the registry entries to reflect those moves.

+1. The current folder structure is a bit chaotic.

I'm all for this tpe of change just for convenience sake.   But to be honest, it would be pretty low on my personal wish-list since I already know where to find this stuff.   But for a new(er) user... certainly.
 

Indeed, as Matt said - you are VERY late. Do people think software is written in a night? When software is announced - the feature set is already set in stone many months before. The installer needs clean up for sure - its a disaster that Cakewalk is habitually regurgitating each year, but I don't agree that a default install path of "C:\Sonar" for everything makes any sense at all- that would be pretty dumb in fact. I do agree with the OP that choice of install path for all elements would help the installer, and the Shared and Cakewalk folders are annoying for plugins and sample data. It should all be cleaned up and consolidated. I guess last year the amazing "DAW 2.0" reinvention of the wheel did not include reinventing the disastrous installer mess or removing ten years of bitmaps from TTRES.

If you're under 40 you may not fully appreciate the term "backward compatibility". Software developers have learned a few important lessons over the last half century, at least those who've held jobs outside of Microsoft. Consistent file structures is just one of them. 

This request does NOT change ANY program's code.  All path info is stored in the INI/config files and the registry. Anything can be placed anywhere. We already select some folders during install. And are provided with a utility to change 15 after installation.  Need a Clean Install option.
 
Consistency is good. I am sad no one was paying attention to such historically. And the transitions to the various versions of windows only made it worse.
 
And, also, the dudes who thought through all the aspects of the first Twelve Tone sequencer have left, with way much of the organization's memory. "Why we did it that way" has been lost to way too many companies.
 
I remember the great DOS days when a program was in ONE folder. And that folder could be copied to another computer and be way oblivious to its current location. (copyright?  ya,....)
 
And then came the MS hegemony. And now multiple folders named without frontal-lobe involvement. And the tyranny of THE REGISTRY; Loosing your credentials at your most vulnerable moment.
 
An annoying example I encounter often:
   C:\ProgramData\Cakewalk\z3ta+\Programs
   C:\Cakewalk Content\Z3TA+ 2\Programs
 
Maybe I want all the programs in one folder for all the versions of an instrument. Maybe I do not.
Lack of consistency has resulted from loss of memory, fits-of-stupidity ("Shared "), and following a false Profit (MS) down the dumb-path of using hidden folders, and THE REGISTRY (bowing required), which has resulted in lost stuff, program confusion , hidden user settings,.... 
 
And NO way to properly backup user saved data and settings short of imaging the disk. (And/or Scripts,...)
 
 
I think it is time to create a new historical base line. And it is easy.
 
This is not changing ANY program's code.
 
All path info is stored in the INI/config and the registry. This is a simple, and easy, FEATURE addition.
No doubt the X2 install process is designed to use the pre-defined paths.
 
I want choices to NOT use such.
 
I do not want ANY of X2 to be installed in ANY of the folders that contain files of 8.5.3, or X1. These programs are working fine. 'Twould be stupid, in any way, to disturb them.   Don't need to buy-a-vowel to get this.
 
(My Demon:: Uninstalling the SonarX1 demo nuked my 8.5.3 install. This should not have happened. The demo, supposedly, does not use any of the defined paths. But it does use THE REGISTRY [avert your eyes].)
At least,   I want a CLEAN INSTALL option,   and a SELECT EVERY FOLDER option.
All path info is stored in the INI/config files and the registry. Adding these choices to the process is not a major change. Because major-majority of the code is already written. The current install process creates folders and adds keys to the registry.
 
Adding an install menu to the process is way easy: copy the code already written for creating folders, and adding registry keys, and change as needed. 
 
Reasonable. Simple. Easy. Quick. Happiness.
Menu:
 
  Installation options
   Clean                            (default for new installation)
   Use current folders      (only displayed if previous version is installed)
   Select all folders
   Exit
 
((And::::: if the user has chosen the wrong process, and uses short, loud, words and syllables, he/she can install again to the new folders. This routine would MOVE all the folder/files to the other options' choices.
))
====================
This structure makes sense for a clean install:
 
C:\Sonar  

 Miscellaneous 
  Playlists
  Studio Panels
  Track Icons
  
 Instruments 
  CW Sound Center
  Dimension
  Rapture
  Studio Instruments
  Z3ta
  
 Presets and Programs 
  Arpeggiator Patterns
  Cal Scripts
  Dimension
  Drum Maps
  FS Chains
  Groove Quantize
  Metronome
  PC4Gate
  ProChannel
  PRVTools
  Rapture
  Step Sequencer Patterns
  Sysex
  Track Icons
  Z3ta
  
 Program (sonar program files)
  
 Projects          ( i keep mine on the E disk)
  Audio Files
  Tutorial Projects
  
 PlugIns 
  DXI
  MIDI
  VSTs
  
 Samples 
  Audio Library
  Dimension
  Loops
  Midi library
  One Shots
  Rapture
  Z3ta
  
 Surfaces 
  ACT Data
  
 Templates 
  Project
  Track
  
 Utilities 
 
=======================
 
Backups should be easy.
 
-------------------------------
My grandmother told me, "Too many choices are a waste of time. Too many things will take what little there is of life.
j
 
 
 

I agree with you jm24, at least in principal if not the exact details. I'm a software developer (off and on since about 1980), primarily using M$ technology, and have become pretty dis-enchanted with their philosophical changes over the last decade or so. I know a lot of the changes are likely due to security issues but some aren't, like the "ribbon" crap, the hidden and convoluted folder structures, etc. I too feel that since the adults have stopped having influence or input we've now almost no forethought or reasoning as to what makes a good UI or folder structure. It's also why I don't like the UI in X1 and haven't upgraded. It looks like they got out the big crayons. The ONLY reason I'm considering even looking at X2 is for the automation channels.