I have scoured the internet - including this forum - to find which platform I should use.. and I must say it is pretty confusing with the plethora of offers in the market. What really helped me - and this is pretty obvious actually - is to put first what I require from the software(s) and accept that in all likelihood I will not find one piece of software that does all I need. I think this article about how to decide on a back-testing and live trading platform is very useful as it identifies all the areas of functionality that might be required for automated trading strategies as well as lists the major platforms and what they can offer (ie TradeStation vs. NinjaTrader vs. ZenFire vs. eSignal, etc.). All I do now when I come across a new software/platform is comapre it against the list of functionalities in that article and see how it fits in the big system diagram. Then I try and see what extra features it can bring compared to the ones use or know of... Keen to hear what you guys use/recommend as well