Here is the breakdown of what works, what doesn't, and who should buy it. E4 is the "Photoshop" of embroidery. It is overkill for a hobbyist but non-negotiable for a commercial shop. The upgrade from older versions (ES 2006/E2/E3) is significant due to speed and 3D visualization, but the subscription model is a bitter pill to swallow.
This is a solid, technical review of (commonly referred to as Wilcom E4), written from the perspective of a professional digitizer or production manager. wilcom e4
There is no native Mac version . You must run it via Parallels or Bootcamp. On Apple Silicon (M1/M2/M3), it runs okay in emulation, but the dongle drivers often fail on OS updates. Here is the breakdown of what works, what