Vegas v5.0 was quick to load, stable, seldom crashed, and fast enough for most users. Version 6.0 has proven to me to be none of the above. And why did they make files created with v6.0 unable to open using v5.0.? I guess they don't want me to look backward.
V4 could not open V5 files... and no surprise V5 cannot open V6 files. It's a pretty tall order actually to be able to create a system that has many new features and still make it possible to open those same files in a prior version.
they even put a big warning up when you open/save files too.
But I haven't had any major problems with V6 in the few limited things I've done with it so far. I'll find out at my next big project at the end of the month.
Almost any new version of almost any program I can think of (Word, Excel, etc.) can open files created in older versions (just like Vegas 6 can do), but does not save in a format that older versions can open. Having said that, it is also true that many of these programs DO let you save in the file format of the earlier version, but they will then automatically strip out everything having to do with the new features that require the new format. This often leads to really nasty surprises. For instance, create an Excel spreadsheet using the latest version, and then try saving using the file format for an earlier version. If you have used any features only available in the new version, those things may be lost, and your spreadsheet -- while it can be opened in the old version -- may be completely useless, thus making the whole exercise a complete waste of time.