Well since I'm just starting out (literally) I haven't really had a chance to try all the features but I did look at a lot of programs including: Pro-Q Designer, EQ7 and Pre-Design StudioIII. Every program had it's strengths and weaknesses and the reason I ended up with Art & Stitch was it is the most complete design software package among the group (for me) and it handled virtually every file format I needed, including the ability to import a substantial variety of formats and import DXF files (very important). Since this software is my front-end to the computer driven Innova Long Arm I wanted an end to end solution. I'll have a better feel for all the features in a few months. Here's a link to a youtube video of our automated Innova
take a look
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RWmdZi4BODM
Is your Long Arm computer controlled?