The $200 version is for hobby use only, no profit making.
I'm a bit gobsmacked too at their business "plan". Manufacturers are already abandoning Mach and moving to Linux. Artsoft is announcing they will at some point make Mach3 unavailable, and the only replacement is a half working Mach4 at up to $2k per PC. I really don't understand such a marketing attack, it's a great way to scare customers away, and have them looking for safe alternatives for the future. Am I correct in saying there is not even a Mach4 specific scripting manual available for Lua, like we have with Mach3 and Cypress Enable.
Based on what I've heard about Mach4 I haven't looked at the forum much. From what I have read, Mach4 seems like a completely different beast to Mach3, so it's not even like moving to an upgraded version of Mach3. Where's the incentive ?
I don't relish the thought of having to migrate to Linuxcnc. I've heard it's MUCH harder to customise but at least it works and costs $2k less than $2k.