Usualy we do not like to talk about products that have a commercial destination but Mach3 is widely used to manage cnc machine that it is not possible omit it. At first, given the number of requests we have received about this matter, we have to say that it is not possible the use of an emulated parallel port using this software. 

It is absolutely necessary a motherboard with a traditional parallel port or a pci parport. The reason lies in the fact that Windows it is not a real time operative system and a particular driver, simulating a real time os, writes directly on the parallel port the bites to be sent to the controller of the cnc machine so ....

Honestly speaking we prefer EMC2: it is free and is based on a real rtai o.s. It is interesting and self explanatory comparing the 'sounds' of the motors using Mach3 and Emc2. Totally different: the linearity of Emc2 is incomparable.

Software quality is unquestionable. It is possible to configure every single detail of any cnc machine regarding the configuration of the axes and of the accessories, protections, limits etc. without forgetting the motors (including the initial acceleration and minimum duration of steps and direction pulses), adapting itself perfectly to the machine.

It is a commercial product perfect in an hobby semi/pro environment.

Mach4 is coming. After several years of gestation Mach4 is ready for deployment, though, for admission of the same manufacturer, are still in development some plug-ins.

The new version will include different prices according to the destination of the product sold. Cheaper for hobbistic environments and more expensive for professional fields. We suggest to wait for a while before purchase it, to give time to stabilize the new version and tests by the producer. Demos are available, for both products, up to 500lines of code.