EMC is out there but without being derogatory it's written by geeks, for geeks, if you think windows and Mach is hard then Linux and EMC is ear of bat, tongue of newt as regards setting up.
John

Quite an interesting interpretation? Being an EMC2 user i would have to disagree, i actually found EMC easier to get to grips with than MACH3. What is interesting is that what you get because it is free is unconditional help and a shed load of people inputting to the code and improvements because they want to and not for a pay check. The big problem you face whether it be free or for money is that hardware dictates most of the software changes made by any developer (keeping it up to date). Fixes come before improvement and upgrades takes a lot more time to develop and deploy.

If you could have a proprietary software in a box solution, what they do is start a company like all the big boys and charge a lot more money for the fruits of your labour. Plug and play comes at a cost.