I think before you paint yourself into a corner (it’s difficult to break workflow habits once you spend significant time in any one ecosystem) it’s wise to network with others who are using other programs, and see if any of the others suit you better.

One thing I’m curious about is, if your donated laptop isn’t connected to the internet, what are you using to post here? A tablet might offer a more up to date DAW than an old Cakewalk version…