I am building a CNC machine using plans for 17X20 overhead leadscrew CNC machine from Solsylva. I will be using stepper motor and driver kit from PROBOTIX. I have never used a computer-controlled machine before. I have 2D/3D CAD program that exports to DWG and DXF files. Which CNC software and operating system is best for beginners. I think that I need software that converts DWG and DXF files to files compatible with the CNC software. I'm not sure about Windows XP because of multitasking feature that may interfer with the CNC software controlling the machine. The link to the thread about building my CNC machine is: http://www.cnczone.com/forums/showthread.php?t=52854
Any suggestions?