i use ableton live for composing/arranging/songwriting/performing - sonar doesn't come anywhere near to the flow therein, i'm not sure even how it could, so i'm interested to see this too, "different strokes for different folks" indeed

As a guy that runs a software company I can tell you that the summer months are brutal. Between vacations of employees and vacations of people we want to sell to - it's a hassle to keep things moving properly. It seems like I have a manager out every week so moving big projects forward goes a bit slower.
 
Once the kids go back to school things start to settle down...

John
For the life of me I can not see a downside to the monthly updates for the end user.  

 
The beauty of the monthly updates.......they are all voluntary. Have no need or desire to
update monthly then fine................as all updates are cumulative then update once a year. Personally, 
I enjoy and look forward to the monthly updates. Quite refreshing to get new features/enhancements
and timely bug fixes on a monthly basis rather then having to wait for the next big 12-18 month upgrade 
cycle of years past.
 

I probably only use a small percentage of Sonar and mostly use it as a "tape recorder" for recording.  I do use some of the built in VST's and also Izotope Ozone for my mastering.  But, I like the frequent (monthly) updates.  It keeps my installation up to date with the bug fixes.  One caveat I've been in computer tech and management for many years and "managing change" is what we lived by in the Industry - it was always changing and we accepted it.  I see that right now with those that "hate" Windows 10, when I've accepted it and have no issues with it. 

There is only one downside to monthly updates as far as I'm concerned.  Keeping up with the documentation.  I do download updates on a semi-regular basis.  I just can't keep up with what's new.  Every time Cakewalk announces a new update is ready, I print out all the documentation included.  Then I'll put that into a 3 ring binder to come back to later for review.  Even if I don't use a new feature or two, I still want to read about it and even experiment with it just in case I might want to try the feature in a new project.
 
Do I do music on a full time basis? No.  I'm sure if I did, I could keep up with all updates as they're released.  As it stands now, I am more than a year behind reviewing every new feature.  If I'm paying for it, I want to know about it.  So maybe my routine is a bit sluggish, but I only have so much time in a week.
 
Other than that minor complaint, which probably only applies to me and my work flow, Cakewalk is doing something beneficial for all of us with their monthly update service.

IN SUMMATION: 

The OP's main concern seems to be that working on monthly updates somehow makes working on more complicated long-term development less efficient, as if they'll never get around to tackling the big stuff with full energy if they're always busy with small-ticket items. And that's a misunderstanding of current software development practices, which 35mm addressed in his post in some detail.

Hey, thanks you all for participating to this thread.
Even tho I admit I don't know how software developement works, I am ceratinly not picturing the bakers scratching their head month to month trying to come up with something to put on the plate.
I evidently have not expressed clearly enough because no one got the main reason behind my post (not considering the exchange I had with Craig Anderton that was more personal and centered on my preferences).
 
Let me rephrase:
Are we, as the user base, allowing the bakers to do their job in the best way possible?
In the last days before the release of the new early access I noticed a lot of questioning in a few threads, with people inquiring about the date of release of the update. Quite a bit of speculation, a touch of inquisitive attitudes here and there. If I put myelf in the shoes of a developer I would perceive that as pressure.
Hence my question: is our attitude towards the monthly releases conducive to good work? I myself must have refreshed the forum main page like forty times in the impatience of seeing the early access, er, accessible.
Could it be that all that scrutiny on release dates and alleged skipped months has an effect on how the bakers structure the releases?
How would we react if the bakers decided to skip a month for some reason like (knock on wood) unexpected last - second instability or because they'd redirect the efforts to complete a critical update?
Are we enabling the developers to use their best judgement or do we make them feel like they need to give us something every month just to keep faithful to their pledge?
Am I making more sense?

trtzbass
Are we enabling the developers to use their best judgement or do we make them feel like they need to give us something every month just to keep faithful to their pledge?

 
I think the point you may be missing is that there's always something that can be released. As an analogy...I tend to gather up the songs I do over time and release them as an album. But I could just as easily post each song when it's done.
 

Anderton

trtzbass
Are we enabling the developers to use their best judgement or do we make them feel like they need to give us something every month just to keep faithful to their pledge?

 
I think the point you may be missing is that there's always something that can be released. As an analogy...I tend to gather up the songs I do over time and release them as an album. But I could just as easily post each song when it's done.
 

That makes a hell of a lot of sense in those words.
 
As a side note I want to remark how my observation came from a place of respect for the developer and it was more like an attitude check on our side. When you are a user / customer sometimes it's easy to forget that the people on the other side are fellow humans

trtzbass
Hey, thanks you all for participating to this thread.
Even tho I admit I don't know how software developement works, I am ceratinly not picturing the bakers scratching their head month to month trying to come up with something to put on the plate.
I evidently have not expressed clearly enough because no one got the main reason behind my post (not considering the exchange I had with Craig Anderton that was more personal and centered on my preferences).
 
Let me rephrase:
Are we, as the user base, allowing the bakers to do their job in the best way possible?
In the last days before the release of the new early access I noticed a lot of questioning in a few threads, with people inquiring about the date of release of the update. Quite a bit of speculation, a touch of inquisitive attitudes here and there. If I put myelf in the shoes of a developer I would perceive that as pressure.
Hence my question: is our attitude towards the monthly releases conducive to good work? I myself must have refreshed the forum main page like forty times in the impatience of seeing the early access, er, accessible.
Could it be that all that scrutiny on release dates and alleged skipped months has an effect on how the bakers structure the releases?
How would we react if the bakers decided to skip a month for some reason like (knock on wood) unexpected last - second instability or because they'd redirect the efforts to complete a critical update?
Are we enabling the developers to use their best judgement or do we make them feel like they need to give us something every month just to keep faithful to their pledge?
Am I making more sense?

Your point assumes we have power over the development team. We are users on a peer to peer forum. We are not the owners of CW.