easyDNC (from UK based Axis Controls Limited http://www.axis-controls.com) has been available in various forms for around 10 years and one might now assume that our latest product, easyDncXP is simply another update to the existing product. It's true that easyDncXP makes better use of the Windows Graphic User Interface (GUI) making it easier to use and giving it a more modern look and feel but it is by no means intended (not yet anyway) as a direct replacement for the older easyDNC.

Having said that, it's likely that many current users of the older easyDNC might well be better served by switching to the newer 'XP' product. (Don't let that 'XP' suffix fool you. easyDncXP works just fine on older Windows95, 98, ME and W2000 PCs too)

To decide which product would serve your requirements allow us to explain in a little detail the difference between the two different products.

easyDNC

easyDNC was produced primarily with the large machine shop in mind. The kind of environment where a number of CNC machines, possibly installed over a large area, would be permanently connected to a single PC.

In such an installation it would be too much to expect a machine operator to run or shout between his CNC device and the distant PC. With this in mind, easyDNC has a number of features which allow CNC files to be transferred in either direction, to and from the CNC, with the CNC machine operator rarely, if ever, requiring access to the PC. In most cases the machine operator can accomplish pretty much everything without leaving his CNC console.

This page is too short to explain exactly how this is done or what capabilities exist (see other documentation such as the downloadable user guide) but suffice to say that easyDNC is capable of supporting as many machines as you can physically connect to a PC and it'll communicate with all of them simultaneously with almost no degradation in system performance. (The number of actual machines is limited only by the operating system which is 128 on W98 or 256 on NT4/W2000)

Because of this 'server' capability the actual Windows GUI of easyDNC is quite small, almost primitive, requiring almost no system resources to talk about and is usually minimized or placed away in the corner of the screen and only viewed occasionally to get status info or access to the log files.

easyDncXP

The reduction in costs of PCs has meant that many users, including those in smaller machine shops, use a single PC attached to a single CNC machine or a portable computer which they carry from one machine to another as and when required. In this configuration the user operates the PC and the CNC at the same time. Although easyDNC works OK in this kind of environment it's not very user friendly especially in a portable computer carried between machines where there's a requirement to switch quickly from one set of CNC communications parameters to another on a single Com port.

We've noticed an increasing umber of easyDNC users running with this kind of setup and although more recent versions of easyDNC have improved capability in this area it was with such portability in mind that easyDncXP was produced.

easyDncXP has no server features. After all, if the PC is within arm's reach of the CNC why struggle with convoluted CNC/DNC Server capabilities when there's a rich GUI capable of doing pretty much everything with just a few mouse clicks.

To summarize then, if you wish to permanently connect a number of CNCs over a wider area where CNC operator require little or no access to the PC then you should take a look at easyDNC.

If on the other hand you're running around with a portable computer or you have your PC within a comfortable distance of your CNC(s) and like the idea of dragging and dropping files via the Windows GUI then you ought to be considering easyDncXP.

The good news though is that you can install them both on the same PC if you want. Maybe you've got a tight group of machines with a PC where the users might do a lot of work on the PC such as editing file and, at the same time, there's more machines a fair distance away who don't need, or can't get, access to the PC. Simply install both products and you're set. One license, two products. (or, to put it another way, two products for the price of one.)
Download a free 60 day demo of easyDncXP at