@Omikron,
You make a good point. There has been no substantial update in well over a year. If they had come out with V5 a while ago, there could have been tons more use behind it and many substantial updates. Some fool at S3D apparently still believes in the "Waterfall Model" of software development, while CURA is clearly following Agile methodologies. Sorry, geeking out there.
Anyway. I too usually use CURA for anything that is elaborate because of Tree Supports, which are a godsend to those of us with complex typologies to print (think prosthetic hand digits) and tabletop gaming miniatures
. Trees can bite you on occasion, but usually get really good results with easy to remove support structures. I use S3D when I am making structural parts that need supports, like 3D printer pieces. S3D allows me to orient the part in the manner that makes it strongest and know that my supports will allow the print to come out well. And lets face it, the multi-process model concept is just plain awesome to get special parts done right.
I like printing two-color items using E3D Cyclops and Chimera heads. CURA sucks at multi-color prints because their scripting capabilities and their two-color slicing act so bizarre. (I do not know if 4.7 has improved this yet.) Two-color prints are stupid easy with S3D, and when using custom scripting for tool-changing, S3D creates really good two-color prints.
I tend to perfect settings using S3D because it is an order of magnitude faster in slicing and customizing than CURA. When I find the sweet spot, I then craft a CURA profile. I have tried Mattercontrol and a couple of other slicers and found them very lacking in features, usability and sometimes, network-ability. Simplify3D and CURA are my "go to" slicers. Hey, it is better to have more than one tool in the toolbox right?
So, while I do agree with you and am disappointed as well in S3D's lack of progress and transparency in development, I am still going to recommend it to the newcomer with change in their pocket. It will get you out of the gate and experienced enough to be able to drive CURA in a few months. And S3D does things that no one else does, well.
IMO,
DLC
D. Clark
Robotics and sensors engineer
And lots of other stuff for fun.