Yes. CNC equipment can be used. I recommend that you go to http://www.linuxcnc.org. Linuxcnc is a release of a specialized of Ubuntu LTS. It runs with a real time Linux kernel. It is the best place to go for information on using CNC and Linux. I do not know much about a Windows solution, but I believe that Linuxcnc is the best bet. I don't think that Windows software works in realtime. However there are many people using Windows software. Real time OS is somewhat important in order to successfully run CNC software. I have also installed a Linuxcnc simulator that I run on my work PC. I had to compile it for Ubuntu 12.10, but there are good instructions on the web site to do this. The real time Linuxcnc is available as a system ISO file. Burn it to a CD or a USB flash drive and install it like any other Ubuntu system.