Use version 27, upgrade, or look into other CAM?

I have not used my mill since v27 was new. I think I even upgraded BobCAD twice before that and never had time to use it.
Now I am finally going to use my mill again and I am wondering if I should invest the time in reinstalling and learning (relearning what little I knew) v27 or look into spending my time on a different CAM package or try to spend more money yet again negotiating the newer version of BobCAM?

Every time I get around to trying BobCAM again (which can be years), I am a few versions behind already and waste a bunch of time and money trying to get back to the latest package. I have only used it for a couple parts over all these years and certainly never used it enough to justify what I spent yet.

However, now I want to start a project that will require some CNC mill work in aluminum and hopefully making enough parts to get some good experience.

I am not sure what is out now worthwhile and affordable or if I should go ahead and install my version 27 again and use it? My time is valuable to me, so I want to spend the time learning something I will stick with if at all possible.

I will not be using the CAD, only the CAM. I have Alibre Design Expert 2019.

Opinions?

I'm still running V25, it does all all the things I need it to do.
I've tried V30 but I can't cope with the file bloat and so having to copy all your finished geometry to a new file to get something that isn't slowed down massively by the ridiculously large current file.
It's a right pain in the arse to have to copy multiple layers to new layers in a new project just to ditch the change history that you don't need, there should be a Merge Down or Flatten Layer style function to save all the mucking about, but there isn't.

I think what you have is perfect. spend your time learning what you have, it will do the job. Spending more money will not let you learn faster. After you learn it then you can see if the upgrade would help. I started with V23 and now I have V 29. when I got the simulation that was a huge help. I think that was 27. My parts are small 2 part molds out of aluminum. I have Alibre 19 also.

I tried to reinstall it and the one of my licenses was already in use LOL. What a pain. I haven't used it in years. This morning I went 3 computers back where I had used it last (computer was handed down to my daughter). BobCAD was not installed, but the files were remaining on the C drive that I guess it needed to let me reinstall it and register again on that computer. However, now I have to go through the process of calling them to deauthorize it on that computer and get it moved to my main computer :) I guess I will call them today. I took a screen shot of all the codes you have to give them just to deauthorize it. What a pain.....
You would think if you have a copy up and running on the current license that you could just click deactivate and it go out to there server an take it out of use automatically so that you could do this all without calling them. I suspect they want to try to wrangle you into buying maintenance or something during this process.
One thing I don't like about bobcad is that I actually spent more time dealing with upgrades, sales, and licensing than I have actually using it. Every time I take a long hiatus I have to spend a bunch of time getting it going again or updating and paying.
I was also reading last night how you don't even get bug fixes or any updates on your current version unless you pay for maintenance and buying a new copy gets you only a very short time of updates. You should at the very least get a year! Also, even if you pay for maintenance I guess you are still just stuck with your current version forever unless you buy the software again. At least with other programs when you pay for the maintenance you get to stay on whatever the latest version is and you can stop maintenance and be frozen, but as soon as you pay for maintenance again and possibly a lapse fee, you get back to the current version again and get a year of updates. With Bobcad you have to pay for a new version of software constantly and pay for maintenance. I don't like that. Too much hassle, time, and money wasted. Especially when your a person that hardly ever uses it. I am not making any money with the software at this point or ever in the past and likely anytime in the near future. However, I have a project I want to start using my mill again, so I have to get back into some CAM. I just hope I have a version that is not full of bugs, because like I said I only made two parts then never used it. So, I likely did not even get my 45 days of updates or whatever ridiculous time frame it is, because I never used it again after those two parts.
With that said, I am going to call them today and at the very least get mine working again. It kind of sucks that I really haven't even used it (made two parts when I bought it), and now I am 4 versions out of date with no bug fixes available to me. I also read that they are going to start only supporting two versions back at some point in the future, so this is going to make it even more cumbersome to stay current.

"Effective September 1, 2019, BobCAD-CAM Inc will support current software and 2 versions back."
https://bobcad.com/support/software-...uct-lifecycle/

Don't beat yourself up for not doing the things which were required, everyone occasionally lets things slide.
Just make the effort and get it installed and running.

So I did a thing today.......
I am still waiting for a call back on the deauthorization of V27(which is the normal procedure for this version of software), but I talked to BobCAD sales also and voiced my concerns and everything I listed above.
Long story short, I caved again and upgraded to version 31 for what I "think" is a reasonable cost. I got all the options I had with 27 again (even though I never used them yet). Apparently I have gone from 24 to 25 to 27 to 31 now and only made 2 different parts so far due to my lack of time!

I am going to go ahead and continue with BobCAM now and move forward with actually making a part instead of wasting more time researching other CAM options. I will sell my version 27 licenses which have a ton of options (lathe 2X, Mill 4X Standard, nesting, NC editor, bobart) to offset the cost so that the out of pocket is not too bad. However, you can no longer sell the new versions, so this won't be an option next time.

It's a shame you didn't have V28, I'd be interested in a license for that version.

Jevs,
you probably have more software than you will ever learn/need,,the rest of your life,,unless u go 4 or 5 axis
Enjoy the journey and learn to use it,,,many hours