Originally Posted by BurrMan
That may be true with some CAM systems. However, HSMWorks is truly multi-Threaded. You can continue to work on your file or other files while toolpaths are being calculated.
As far as drip feeding, if you are referring to DNC that is handled by a separate application (HSMWorks edit) so again, no loss of the interface here either.
To see this in action check out the following video:
SolidWorks addins like HSMWorks will run 3 versions back in SolidWorks. That said, why would you not stay up-to-date with your software? The improvements pay for themselves.
SolidWorks 2013 supports backwards compatibility.
Training
When in comes to learning software... The world has changed. Youtube is filled with free videos. You can also find dozens of sources for on demand training for SolidWorks. (When you pick a CAD solution used by 2 million other people you will have a lot more learning resources available)
In short, all the CAM vendors will supply you with a 30-day eval. Try out each of the products. Run code on your machine... see what works best for you!
I hope this helps,
AL
(Full disclosure, I rep HSMWorks
NexGenCAM, Inc. | HSMWorks Reseller - Home)