A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion,
butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance
accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders,
give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new
problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight
efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects.
LAZARUS LONG (Robert A. Heinlein)

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I've changed the subject line so I can rant and everyone else can click on delete.

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SoapboxBode := TRUE;

I've had a P: drive pointing to C:/Projects on my workstation for more than 20 years. ?I also use Schematic and PCB layout software Protel 99SE which was superseded by Altium.? I've paid for support and upgrades up to Altium Designer 18 (2018).? The best of the Altium series was Summer 09 which won't run on WIN-10. ?Protel 99SE, which does run on my ?WIN-10 HP ZBook laptop but has screen/touchpad issues for selecting connections, can also see the P: drive on the networked laptop.

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The Rev 18 Altium running on the HP ZBook with WIN-10 cannot see the P: drive.?? AlibreCAD/CAM on WIN-10 can see the P-Drive.?

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Even my licenced copy of MACH3 which I've put on the WIN-10 system to check out G-Code before I head down to the shop with a USB drive can see for example:

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P:\CNC\Drawings\tensionerAssembly2_Setup 1.tap

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My Borland CodeWright 7.5 editor from 1991 which still runs on WIN-10 can access the P: Drive.?

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The ZBook was purchased last fall to replace a failing WIN-7 laptop that running Altium 18 could access the P: drive.? Haven't updated support for Altium for a few years.? Don't even like Altium 18 and how they've changed it so I wouldn't buy it now anyway since the stand alone license I have is now $5790.? I think the upgrade price they quoted me to go up to the latest version for one year support was $2790.

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WIN-10 was around in 2018.? There's no reason they shouldn't be able to see the P: drive.

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Almost enough for me to consider Fusion-360 were it not that the cost for 4^th axis CAM which doubles what I'm paying now for AlibreCAD and soon Mecsoft VisualCAM to replace the discontinued AlibreCAM.

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Microchip's MPLAB-8 which I use for my ELS project runs on WIN-10 and can see the P drive.

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The latest version of Embarcadero RAD Studio 10.4 (Delphi and C++) also no longer runs on WIN-10.? Rev 10.3 does.? Support for that runs out in June.? Don't see any advantage to renewing support which is from the looks of their web page only $599 but wait there's more.? It would require a copy of WIN-10 Pro on my workstation which is 11 years old so likely would need replacing.? Although Office 2010 runs on WIN-10 it will probably break at some point so then there's a new copy of that.? So the real cost isn't $599 but closer to $5K by the time I upgrade everything like I had to with WinZip for $39 to run on WIN-10.?

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For what?? I know!? So I can have an "enhanced user experience" with my computers.

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And all those $ don't include the hours and hours required to upgrade stuff and remove the Microsoft viruses.

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Given the success I've had with LinuxCNC for the mill and both BeagleBone Black and Raspberry Pi projects Ubuntu is looking better and better.? The down side is the lack of a good CAD package.?

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SoapboxBode := FALSE;

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John Dammeyer

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