Not having any shows to watch is probably good for me. There are no sewing programs on in my area anymore. :) I see several ladies using Vikings in my sewing group and they like their machines as well. I've never sewn on one but I have used the Viking software for my embroidery unit. It is much more user friendly than the Pfaff version I had been using. Pfaff has since upgraded a LOT of their embroidery software so I can't speak to how well those work.