Homebrew PCBs

I've used Protel for years, but have never upgraded since 1995. Certain software bugs which used to seem minor are getting really irritating as the complexity of my boards go up. I don't really want to spend $9000 to upgrade

I see that a lot of people are using Eagle, and the pro edition seems pretty reasonable.

Has any one used both, as I'd like to know how they compare, without spending 2-3 weeks learning Eagle to find it has a whole other set of problems.

Also Protel does not have the ability to print white on black, so I have to generate gerber,and then use a gerber tool to create neagitve transparencies. Does Eagle have that built in?

Thanks
Ron

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