You're gonna find that problem with almost any device you buy. I made the mistake of buying a Needhams EMP-20 a while back partly because they kept releasing updates. Discovered much to my dismay that while they did support the available PIC processors at the time, I had to buy several of those SIMM personality sticks at $25 each if I wanted to do it. Good thing I didn't, cause they stopped supporting the programmer. They make a very similar USB one. Guess they thought it better to obsolete all the old ones so they could sell some new ones.
If you're making money off it, you should just bite the bullet and keep paying for new programmers. I'd insist on a software reconfigurable one. Those proprietary modules add up fast and you can't use 'em on your next programmer.
I'm finding that for hobby use, the homebrew programmers have better/cheaper (free) support than the commercial ones.
mike