[OlfCNC]

I read up a lot on Acorn vs mach3 vs UCCNC etc. Feedback with Acorn was that it just worked...period. No caveats, not excuses, no extra drivers, no special circumstances, no ... "why is it doing that" type of thing I see with mach3 and other boards. Also, I just did not want to mess with older parallel port BS computer interfaces. I was not going to install windows 7.

I then bought the Avid pro mill machine kit and hooked it up with Acorn. **** just worked and has never missed a beat. Support has been good as well. I enjoy a modern computer as well.

Those what you read mostly were written by Centroid employees and contractors.
You have never used mach3 and uccnc is clear from your writing. Both softwares have much more features than the Acorn and does not need any special things like you think.
For example I have an AXBB-E which is a similar board as the Acorn, it has the motion controller and also the breakout board functionality. The software side is also simple to set up and if you are an advanced user then you have much more customisation possiblities with mach3 and the uccnc.