Very interesting discussion. The problem is that the style over substance issue comes up. People sometimes judge the value of something by how it looks rather than what it can do. For my purposes I mainly use BIAB to generate real tracks which I then manipulate in a DAW. The 32 bit aspect does not bother me as I only use the program for generating something that I manipulate elsewhere. However I do accept that it needs to be 64 bit as this is how everything is developing just that a 64 bit edition would not actually add anything functionally for the way I use it. Comparing it to Cubase is a bit odd as it the programs are so different. Cubase is also a Steinberg product and Steinberg is owned by Yamaha which is a very large company with deep pockets and huge resources. Many users think that Cubase updates are actually pretty expensive. They also charge for their .5 updates. Reaper is my DAW of choice mainly because I find it to be fantastically stable and very fast to use. I bought a Reaper licence several years ago and the updates (which have been numerous) have been free of charge. when they do eventually release a manor new version then the updated license price is pretty fair. I think the large DAW companies must be quite worried about just how good Reaper is.

I guess BIAB will ultimately need to smarten the interface but trying to woo the young user is possibly a risky enterprise. You also don't want to alienate longstanding users.

For ny personal perspective I would like more flexibility of how BIAB can produce the chords and effects you might want. Quite often you have to use workarounds. Shots, holds, syncopations are all great but often you cannot quite get the effect you seek. Only four chords in a bar is definitely an issue. For me personalky attending to these structural arranging/performance output aspects are far more important than becoming slick in appearance or 64 bit.

Anyway enough rambling it is still an amazing program

www.tonycliffmusic.com
http://tonycliff.bandcamp.com