I've been using Embird since I bought my first embroidery machine a couple of years ago - and when I bought my D1, it was a life saver (I didn't get software either.) At the time I bought it, I thought it was the best value for my $$ - and I still feel the same. There are some great tutorials and Yahoo groups for users to help as well.
The basic package will allow you to transfer designs to a floppy or USB for the Designer 1 (shv format), change design colors, take designs apart and re-arrange them, combine designs - all the good stuff :D For lettering you would need to use a pre-digitized alphabet; making lettering designs from true type fonts requires the purchase of Font Engine for Embird. Definitely look at the Iconizer plug in; it only costs $20 but it is worth its weight in gold (it lets you open any folder on your computer and see previews of the actual designs instead of just a format icon.)
I had my Mom using it to transfer designs for her machine, and she got the hang of it pretty quickly. Download the demo version and give it a try!
(If you want to order it, you can get a bit of a price break and some free designs from
http://www.secretsof.com)