I have been an unhappy user of Esprit, Esprit TNG and now Esprit Edge (if you can't fix it, just change the name) for a solidturn lathe for three years! Esprit is the worst software I have ever seen and the company, their sales staff and their Customer (non)-Support are abysmal. Lets go through a few of the many problems:
1. The installation uses an archaic CD Rom based install. It requires you to separately install multiple pieces of the software. Their security is onerous and requires running a separate security App to get the product running.
2. The reinstall/upgrade ("hotfixes" are frequent ) requires manually uninstalling the products using Windows Uninstall, downloading a CD image, downloading Accessories separately, downloading and installing the Machine Tool Builder separately, downloading posts separately (if you can find the correct one) unloading the CD image, copying the files and then again reinstalling the many components individually.
3. The user interface is awful. For example, several critical functions require magically knowing where to click and then clicking on the correct area of the screen to get the function to appear. Processing messages appear at random places. Standard Windows protocols are not followed: for example to change the name of something sometimes you can hover or click on it and change the name - sometimes you need to right click on it, then click on a "change name" option and then you can change the name - maybe, because if you are altering something at the end of a name, it wipes out your change and reverts to the original value.
4. There is NO documentation. They advertise context sensitive Help, but all you get is generic screens that apply to mill processing, Solid Turn, EDM and Mill Turn processing, etc.
5 There is no error message manual, nor on-line lookup. Even Google searches do not provide help in diagnosing error messages. All error messages are so cryptic they are useless.
6. There is NO template feature for redefine programs or for using existing programs to program new, but similar parts. .
7. Their CAD is not usable so you need to import part models from other systems. If one of my customer makes a change to the design, I need to import a new model and redefine all of the operations individually, since there is not template feature. When you delete the old part from the program, it deletes all the operations. For a long program this is prohibitive. So, you have to print out the program and then redefine the program step by step.
8. Major functions such as Tail Stock processing, threading with a pull out, safe tool change positions, saving defaults for new installs, and many more. .
9. When you call Customer (non-)Support for functions that do not work, they request you send them a sample program of it not working, document all the items that do not work with in-code annotation and then maybe they will fix it. They clearly do not test their software on live machines and many of their Customer (non)- Support people wouldn't know how to even turn a machine on. If it is a Post problem, they give you a fix you have to install and then when you get a new Post file they step on the fix. You cannot trust their post files and every time a get one I need to test and debug it.
10. The software is extensively bug ridden and crashes frequently. There is no way to capture or debug these crashes. You just need to save your work frequently - every 10 minutes or less, and pray that it does not crash before you save your work.
11. Customer (non)-Support randomly closes incidents if they think they are duplicate, they are not going to be fixed or if they think they are not a problem. I incidents that are months old with NO update.
12. There Sales Staff is non-responsive once they have closed the deal.
This is but the tip of the iceberg with this product. As I said earlier, it is the worst product I have ever purchased and I strongly recommend against anyone purchasing it or having anything to do with this company. Not only is the product a mess, but it is expensive - a clear rip off!