Sorry fellows, I just saw your posts,
Hi Mike, they will deffinitely want to sell you a new dongle but probably aren't supporting V8 anymore.
They have an evaluation/educational copy that does everything except post g-code, I think.
Jared, I started with V9 and used books from emastercam.com, I'm not sure they still make them for v9 and the shift to 10 had quite a change in the interface. If you can get ahold of V10 you will be alot better off in the long run and not invest too much time in an older version. I resisted using 10 for awhile but am glad I have made the change.
gbritnell, try playing with the mitred corners and propogate along tangencies options, If you want to send me your file I would be happy to take a look, here is an example similar to what you are referring to, (I think)
Hope this helps and sorry for the delay,
Kevin.