Pretty livid about this announcement with no level of detail other than it will continue to work. It is my hope that they continue to patch updates to sonar platinum users for a year to ease the transition or give partial refunds to those that purchased SPLAT. One windows update can break a piece of software. Ugh! Loo forward to some level of detail for how customers are going to be handled. 

I am pretty much speechless  
 
So sad for all the great Cakewalk folk who have helped to make it the excellent DAW that it is.
 
As for my lifetime updates, well let's just say that I always hoped the naysayers were wrong but unfortunately that wasn't to be.
 
I had also literally just convinced a friend to buy Sonar Professional which he did at lunchtime today. 
I hope that he can get a refund.
 
My hope is that some hidden benefactor steps in with a takeover bid.

It would be nice if Cakewalk users boycotted Gibson from here on out, to give them some extra help easing into that grave they've so capably dug for their brand.

Well, it was pretty obvious once CW was sold this was gonna happen. Sad for Noel and the gang.
 
I came to the realization about 4 years ago that:
1. The Music Biz as we knew it growing up was dead
2. That the majority of users of CW are probably much like myself: weekend warrior types who liked to noodle around and make songs they should have made 30 years ago, but now just do it for ****s and giggles... Sonar was always geared to that market more than any other.
3. Look at the musical interests of today's youth...I have two kids in HS...neither them nor anyone in their extensive groups of friends play an instrument, are in a band, want to do ANYTHING with music other than drop beats and rap. That is a sea change from our collective upbringings.
4. As all our musical heroes are either dead or doing sad baby boomer nostalgia tours (ahem, Rolling Stones, McCartney), and there is NO ONE TO REPLACE THEM. Hence, old school software like Sonar was just marking time.
 
Sorry for the rant...I've enjoyed CW and their forums, met many friends and loved collaborating...thanks to all for being a part of my life.
 
Yoyo

Here's a grand idea...Gibson should assemble the transition team and let them assess what it would take to keep the platinum line afloat. Then...Start a kickstarter or indiegogo campaign to fund a small dev team for a few years. Let Sonar be the PBS of DAWS. If I know anything...Cakewalk users would fund this. Gibson could essentially sell this to the userbase. Just a thought to pass up the overpriced guitar company flagpole. 

Interesting development after many of us subscribed to Sonar Platinum Lifetime Updates.  I feel really let down at the moment.  I will have to think about this, for sure.

LJB
I'm a little shocked right now - being a professional engineer who runs my studio totally on Sonar for projects this now forces me to look at other DAWs, learning curves, decisions about how to transition to another DAW, never mind all the Sonar specific plugs that I know like the back of my hand.... wow... much to contemplate.

Same here. I found out Friday that Cakewalk was officially closed down from contacts at other companies, and called Noel on Sunday just to make sure. To me it's like a death in the family.
 
On the bright side, there are still people using ancient versions of SONAR, so I think it's probably safe to assume I'll get plenty more years out of it before Windows changes to the point where it's unusable.
 
On the other hand...as I've mentioned before, I also use Studio One Pro for the mastering-oriented Project page functions and Ableton Live for live performance. I've always felt SOP was closest to SONAR, so I guess it's time to learn the Song page functionality and move on.
 
I'm downloading the Studio One Pro soundsets in the background...
 
BTW someone might want to hip Gibson to the typo in the "Annoucement" headline.

I noticed that although the Tip of the Week thread is gone, I followed the link at craiganderton.com and you can still access it. Feel free to copy it, save it, and share it. Obviously there won't be another Big Book of SONAR Tips.

Gutted.............. F*** Gibson! 

#BoycottGibson