How to upgrade and Why?

I need drums bass and chords simple music few tracks. I have Cubase 3.5 installed and a Cubase 4 dongle and a DVD that does not install on Win7 64 bit new PC.
0. Can Cubase 3.5 not run under Win7 64bit ?

  1. How do I upgrade ? (In the cubase universe everyhing is complicated methinks) I have C4 dongle
  2. I like to keep things simple is Cubase 8 more user friendly ?
  3. Is Fireface 400 RME external soundcard still useable ?
  4. Can I test Cubase 8 before buying it?

I’m running Cubase 3 on Win7 64bit as a convertor for old Cubase VST projects. No problems noticed. You can find a link to download this final version of Cubase 3 from the ‘Re: Cubase VST Song import in Cubase 4/5: a solution’ locked thread at the top of this forum. Try that first - but you may need to download the latest dongle driver to get it to work.