I've used Esprit since way back when it was called Vantage. It started out as a very powerful system; it had to run on a Unix system, or at least a unix platform (Xwindows, etc.). As they became more popular, they still kept their original interface, but still required a powerful platform (NT, not 9x). About 5 years ago, they came out with a totally redesigned Windows look-and-feel interface. Unfortunately, they took a giant step backwards as far as functionality and performance. Not only was the entire system buggy and unstable, but they lost a LOT of the features that had made it the powerhouse it was.
After the initial release, they've done a lot of bug fixes and have implemented some better features, but they are nowhere near as good as "back in the day".
As far as simple milling, they've usually been pretty good with most 2/2.5 axis contouring, but the cutting conditions (lead in / lead out / approach / retract) screens take for freaking EVER to get through! It's a trade off between "having control" and "having time for lunch".
If you can trade down to an older (Esprit-X) version, I'd do that. Unless you need 4 and 5 axis contour milling capability, the old Esprit can't be beat.  |