Have used MasterCam from V9 to the current X7...used Esprit for 3 years now. With out even hesitation I can tell you Esprit is better in all aspects of programming...lathe/wire/2D mill/3D mill/mill-turn/automation/etc etc. A program that would take you 2hrs in MasterCam would be 15 min in Esprit. The use of VBA to complete machining parameters for you and to auto recognize features is a massive time saver.
The only edge I would give to MasterCam is it is a little easier to draw (but thats what SW is for anyways) and MasterCam is still a little ahead with their options for highspeed machining (although I suspect that wont be the case anymore once Esprit 2014 is released). Oh 1 more notch for MasterCam, currently Esprit is a 32 bit program while MasterCam is 64. Again this is supposed to be addressed in the 2014 release.
So my advice to you...give Esprit 1 year of your time.
...Esprit has their own message board you can access through their website. Its just like emastercam.
...What is the 'better' machine you are trying to get on?
I realize this is an old post, but if you google search for esprit this comes up.
Esprit is leagues behind Mastercam in a lot of ways. Even from X7.
Esprit cannot do HEM (profitmilling in esprit vs dynamic milling in mastercam) for anything other than a pocketing operation. Fusion 360 does this for a tiny, tiny fraction of the cost. It wont even remotely touch it for rotary axis interpolation while doing HEM.
Esprit requires really finicky custom tools. And will not support anything fancy like Sandvik's prime turning. Nothing for 3D tools at all.
Esprit requires everything to be STL files, which are horrific to work with and really slow loading.
The simulation is horrible to set up if you have a B-axis. It is so finicky and not very accurate and supports solution to tools not ending up where they should be is just to fudge the numbers to get it "close".
Esprit v2021 still works like the original version from 1997ish. It is still 32 bit, it still lacks any kind of hardware acceleration. Simulating is very slow even with an extremely good computer.
Esprit TNG still does not support multi-channel machines as of April 2021. Some of the above may be fixed but I cannot touch it because I have a multi-channel machine.
I will say that the feature system is pretty handy, but it definitely seems to lack the control the wireframe gives. It is very finicky to get right until you're extremely comfortable with what it wants.
I have around 30 more days before I can ask for a refund and I'm learning towards it.