Cakewalk by Bandlab is going to be superseded by a paid version

[norfolkmastering]

Just in case you haven't seen the news, the free 'Cakewalk by Bandlab' is going to be replaced by a paid for version called 'Cakewalk Sonar'.  No pricing has yet been announced.  According to Noel Borthwick (Bandlab staff member) there is going to be one more update of 'Cakewalk by Bandlab' then no further updates.  I believe there will be no time restriction on its use and you won't have to do the refresh activation via your Bandlab account in the future.

As I understand it, 'Cakewalk Sonar' will be built from 'Cakewalk by Bandlab' with the first major enhancement being the use of vector based graphics for the GUI.

'Cakewalk Sonar' will be a separate install and won't overwrite 'Cakewalk by Bandlab'

I was one of many who bought the (Gibson era) Cakewalk lifetime license but it looks like that won't be honoured for the new 'Cakewalk Sonar' version.

I will probably stick with the free version on my Windows 10 PC then maybe think about buying 'Cakewalk Sonar' when I replace my PC at some point.

[azslow3]

What they will do is unknown. I am an "old" style man, I don't like when a company spread rumor about unknown things. I remember Cakewalk was spreading rumor about "Cakewalk on Mac". That was at mentioned by you "lifetime" thing. Sonar Platinum "lifetime" is dead. Yet it still requires activation... I don't think CbB will ever stop ask for re-activation, the same for any future versions of Sonar/Next.
I still miss simple Cakewalk step sequencer and Matrix in REAPER. But for that I can use Maschine, which covers both (and some other) areas well, especially when used with own controller (plan to buy). I know NI also has online activation, but I gave up looking for free or offline license based instruments. Old Cakewalk staff and TruePiano are outdated. So I need NI staff in any case.