Is it possible to download all their Web Help files on your given product (mine is X3 Producer) so that when the server goes down, users are not stuck in limbo with questions that will arise? Almost all of the Help Files are online!

And likewise the Forums, too? There's myriads of excellent answers from people in the Forums. There must be a way to download all the Forums to your personal PC to browse and search.

Tomas M.
why not make sonar an open source program. Like Gimp or Open Office?
Than people can develop the program. 

I think there is one thing that holds that back - Software patents. It's unlikely Gibson will give that away for free. Gibson is deep in dept now, and will grab any money they can lay their hand on. And software patents are worth a lot of money.
 
It is also possible that Sonar is licensing patents from other company's, and then you can't simply  open op your source code, because you will then violate the license(s) agreement(s).
 
Sadly - It's not as simple as "open up the source code". There are lots of things involved here.

Guys! On a practical note. 
I will be using my SPLAT for the foreseeable future as it is still the best damn DAW out there. However, I'm also previewing some other options, such as Reaper, Pro Tools and Mixcraft. 
I would advise any of you who plan to keep on using Sonar to get over to your Login page at Cakewalk, take a screen grab/print to file all your serial numbers and codes, and download all the stetup files and instrument files you can. It will probably take you the best part of a day, but you never know when the servers will go down and the files will disappear. Remember, Sonar is not just the DAW, it is also all the software and fx too which can be merged to any future DAW.
It's a lot to download, but if you archive it well, you'll save yourself heart-ache in the future. For example, I used Sonar Studio 8 up until migrating to SPLAT, and I see that all the fixes and update files for that have now disappeared from the servers.

burgerproduction
I would advise any of you who plan to keep on using Sonar to get over to your Login page at Cakewalk, take a screen grab/print to file all your serial numbers and codes, and download all the stetup files and instrument files you can.

That´s exactly what I did yesterday. Always a good advice. I didn´t have to download all stuff because I had most of the newer files in my download folder for command center. For most older stuff like Sonar 8.5. I have all the original CDs.
 
Altough I really like sonar very much, I grab the chance to get Studio One + Notion from the black friday sale. Maybe cakewalk will find a new owner, but it´s never wrong to have a second DAW. I also own FL-Studio and Pro Tools 12 but these two could never really be an alternative for me in comparison to sonar. A mixture of both could be fine: FL as an midi-beast and PT for the audio stuff.
 
At least we all should concentrate on our music and not only the tools we need to make it. If a hammer is broken, go on and take another one - slightly different, but it will work.

I have a question, perhaps two.
1. Concerning disabling the Internet;
What about things like Waves or other plugins which need to update periodically, or simply purchasing on the web?

2. Perhaps not a question but an observation;
The last thing I want to do is move to another DAW. Splat was my first and only 'wife'. Its way too soon to remarry.

Also, with Splat you got Melodyne Essentials and some adpaks from Addictive Drums. Can those be moved to a new daw?

But what happens if we continue to carefully and successfully use Splat for some time into the future...find new software to add to it, only to find the 'new' software not compatible with our Splat? And the further we take Sonar, the more ancient it becomes...

Wait! How do you download all the files when splat is already installed? Doesn't the updater look for the latest versions of everything before it decides what you need?
I'll do it, if I know how.

My guess is someone 'up there' is gonna see the firestorm that's raging down here, and simply pull the plug on the whole thing.
Oh, we'll pop back up eventually, scattered about, but they'll get rid of a multitude of issues with the flip of one switch.
This isn't he long them one iota.
Just one less bill they'll need to account for by switching us off.

deswind
If Gibson has a business loss in general, they do not need a deduction for a loss on Cakewalk. 
But Gibson, which I think is doing really well with guitars (they are better than they use to be), should care about its reputation.  And working with other companies to share the Sonar codes would be very helpful.

Not really
 

HARDDRlVER
My guess is someone 'up there' is gonna see the firestorm that's raging down here, and simply pull the plug on the whole thing.
Oh, we'll pop back up eventually, scattered about, but they'll get rid of a multitude of issues with the flip of one switch.
This isn't he long them one iota.
Just one less bill they'll need to account for by switching us off.

There's already an operational emergency but looks great, replacement forum volunteered site....

I'm betting Gibson knew all along they were going to pump and dump Sonar. Many times failing company's (Such as Gibson) buy other companies to boost their stock / value, then dump them for the tax write offs.
 
Love how Gibson had a float in the Macy's parade and the guitar player was using some cheap Epiphone, way to market your flagship brand!
 
Thing is, most people today that buy guitars (which is dwindling as well) just buy the cheaper brands.