Quote Originally Posted by A_Camera View Post
...like what??? An example would be very useful otherwise you sound like somebody who don't have a clue... As far as I know, parallel port is a dinosaur, has zero advantages over the more modern Ethernet based interfaces.

The guy bought a Mach4 license and you want him to degrade to Windows XP just to be able to run parallel port? You must be joking.
I normally would not reply to a post like this because of the belligerent attitude, but In this case I'll expand in case someone else is interested.

For someone doing a first conversion (like the OP), the Parallel port interface has a few advantages:
- the hardware is cheap. You can often do a complete conversion on an older small CNC machine for $100
- You get up to 25 discrete pins. You can trace signals with a cheap VOM.
- You get simultaneous output on each pins (parallel) rather than queued signals on a serial (USB) interface. No latency.

Is it technically superior to ethernet or USB? Of course not, but if you are getting your feet wet with your first CNC conversion, working with "this pin is X direction, this pin is X clock" helps a great deal understanding the process. For a non-EE hobbyist, this is very useful. "Benchtop machines" and "Mach3/4" seems to indicate most of the people here are not making a living with their CNC project.

Once you get the axes moving and the spindle spinning, and make some chips, it's easy to see where a dedicated motion controller might improve your setup. Right now I'm working with 2 lathes and a mill, all using Mach 3 but with different choices for BOB, drives and motors. If I run into limitations on any of them I'll be looking for something better. So far it hasn't happened.

Sure, you can skip all this and buy a Haas VMC and pay a guy to train you on it. That's an exaggerated extreme, but there will always be something technically superior to whatever we are using. Sometimes good enough is good enough.

Having said all that, if the OP is building his mill to make parts to sell, then by all means he should invest in the most current technology with the right cost/benefit ratio, and the fastest, most reliable path to making parts.