Hi,

The biggest trouble I see is everything is so customizable it can be overwhelming for a newer person.

That is true, it is customizable and it can be overwhelming.....but you don't NEED to customize it.
The only custom code in my machine is to do with handling servo alarms and the wired pendant. Twenty lines of code or less,
hardly rocket science.

I do have  macros (written in Lua) that automate certain procedures that I use when making circuit boards. One has about
300 lines of code...so yes a newcomer might struggle with it. I've been using that macro unaltered for 71/2 years,. It took probably
twenty or so hours to write back then, and a steep learning curve it was, but I've used it tens of thousands of times since.

Craig

Take it from a guy that has and STILL IS trying to upgrade from 3-4. It will make you very angry and there is a huge learning curve and anyone suggesting there isn't is full of it. Mach4 is a good software for programmers and not DIYers. There are a lot of mods that need to be done not to mention the setup of the pins, spindle, etc. I work on mine a little and then walk away so I don't drop kick the computer. Here is a small example, my WORK ZERO does NOTHING so I have to go in and modify the script to tell it to work. You would think that would be a "from the factory" thing but evidently it isn't. Just several little things like that that can make you say WHY DID I JUST SPEND $200 ON THIS!! I am still hoping I can overcome, and it works good in the end but I am still using Mach3 after almost 8 months of switching over.

No disrespect meant here at all.  I'm just trying to point somethings out that may not be obvious.  There is a certain amount of setup that has to be done with Mach 3 or Mach 4.  Buying an OEM machine that is preconfigured relieves you from becoming the "machine integrator".   However, the OP has not used Mach 3 before so he doesn't have Mach 3 habits to break.  Like it or not, that is what it is.  We all get used to doing thing a certain way and resist change even if change will make something better.  But make no mistake, if you built a machine and installed Mach 3 from scratch, you would spend about the same amount of time configuring Mach 3 as you would Mach 4.  It is just different, not harder.  Just different.

BTW, the "Goto Work Zero" button used to move X, Y, then Z.  But people who had just 2 axis machines complained about trying to move the unconfigured Z axis.  Then we made it just move X and Y without touching Z and people complained that they crashed their Z because it didn't move the Z to a safe level.  So then we just made it where you have to make it do exactly what you want it to do.  And people still complain. 

When I install Mach 4, the only thing I will touch after setting up the motion controller is the "Goto Work Zero" button and the keyboard bindings if I'm not using a panel and the machine doesn't have a tool changer.  It runs machines quite well "out of the box".  Now, it may not be how you want it to be, especially if you are used to Mach 3.  And then you are going to have to learn a bit to customize Mach 4 to your liking.  I see a lot of Mach 3 users wanting to change Mach 4 to be more like Mach 3.  It is like upgrading from XP to Windows 10.  Sure XP was good, but so is Windows 10.  But they are different and most of us don't go trying to change Windows 10 to look or act like Windows XP.  And I think the reason is there just isn't much way of doing that.  Maybe we shouldn't have made Mach 4 as configurable as it is.  But that is what people told us they wanted when they couldn't "do" some task or functionality in Mach 3.  So we have figured out (very painfully I might add) that we can't make everyone happy. 

Also, I say this over and over.  Mach 4 is not Mach 3.  Just like XP isn't Windows 10.  Which Mach is better?  Well...  one (Mach 3) hasn't any development on it in nearly a decade.  In fact, it REQUIRES an XP machine and a very old compiler to compile it.  The other (Mach 4) is compiled daily and actively developed.  I'd go with Mach 4 for that reason alone.  How long will Mach 3 continue to run on modern versions of Windows?  They (Microsoft) basically made it where the parallel port plugin won't work anymore already.  And the very compiler that Mach 3 used (written by Microsoft!) will not run on anything newer than Windows XP.  So that would be a very real concern for me.  But that's my opinion.  I'm rather like Craig and would start slashing if I had to go back to Mach 3.   

And to the OP, I hate it that you got one of those Chinese controllers.  I know the price was appealing vs. others but it is usually just wasted money in the end.  I wish there was a way to put up a huge warning anytime someone searched on hobby CNC machines that says "Noooooooooo!".  Those guys will probably bundle their machines with Mach 3 for 20 more years.  Why?  Because they can't bundle it with Mach 4!  And I don't think they can bundle with LinuxCNC either. 

Steve

When having just bought a Mach3 compatible CNC system from China, and asking the question 'Should I upgrade to Mach4?'. It isn't about whether or not to do it, but when if ever.
Yes Mach3 is obsolete and it has been left behind. And yes, Mach 4 is the obvious choice for software that is current. However, that is really only the tip of the problem.
The software upgrade isn't trivial but is really simple compared to the hardware upgrade that must accompany it.
The new CNC owner is going to want to see his new investment work now, not in 3 or more months.
Once he has it running and discovers that he really likes operating a CNC, then and only then should he consider the upgrade to Mach4.
The hardware upgrade will be a daunting task. The user will have to decide on the correct upgrade path for his situation, and then purchase the hardware to do it. Once he has the hardware, he will have to perform a fairly major modification to the his controller box. This will include ripping out the old controller and installing the new controller. This will not be a plug and play event. He will have to decipher and implement the electrical wiring changes that must be made. This will require mechanical and electrical skills that, I believe, most beginning users do not have.
So, in my mind and in this situation, starting with Mach3 and then researching and planning the process to upgrade to Mach4 is the way to go.
Because the BSMCEO-4U-PP USB controller card is being used in many of these Chinese systems, the real deal maker would be a Mach4 compatible driver for it. It is a cheap card, but it does work. It would minimize the hardware upgrade issue for most of these users, and many would gladly upgrade to Mach4 if it was only about installing software.

Because the BSMCEO-4U-PP USB controller card is being used in many of these Chinese systems, the real deal maker would be a Mach4 compatible driver for it. It is a cheap card, but it does work. It would minimize the hardware upgrade issue for most of these users, and many would gladly upgrade to Mach4 if it was only about installing software.

Unfortunately, none of these companies want to sign the legal paperwork to make that happen.  That should say a lot about them.  I'm not talking about the vendors.  But the actual machine builders who put it all together as a "turnkey" system.  They would rather NOT do what it takes to write a Mach 4 plugin and keep shipping the Mach 3 stuff.  Because their goal is to only take your money.  That is all there is to it.

Steve

Our company just got one of the cncest machines. It is running mach 3. I have found it impossible to set up homing on x and y no z axis limits. I will need to add those. any help is appreciated. We are thinking about changing out the controller.

I did a Mach3 machine years ago and recently a Mach4.. the Mach4 install was much easier initially.. I needed to adjust some items in Mach4 and most were relatively straightforward.. a bit of a learning curve before you will get a grip on how to manage some scripting etc... often information is available but not necessarily easy to find. Overall I found Mach4 much easier to work with. 

Sending a CNC to the home position, may be dangerous to do without getting the tool (Z axis) out of harm's way. 
However, in MACH3, the HOME command is merely a macro that can be easily edited to do anything you desire.
You can modify or eliminate the Z action, change the order of operations, and/or add some other fancy step.

the actual HOMING is now offloaded to the motion controller not Mach4 itself.. in my case the Mach3 application had no actual home, and in my Mach4 application, the servo's I'm using have their own Homing procedure.. I also have a plc which sequences the three axis' so my z-axis homes first, then Y, then X. I've modified and added some scripting which signals the plc that a Home sequence is requested.. and the plc signals Mach4 when all 3 axis' are homed at which time Mach4 references the axis' and allows the program to start.   

Thank you, you have confirmed my suspicions.  Its never as easy as it looks.
Time to learn more stuff. My 66 year old learner is a bit slower these days.