jremington:
Microstepping also dramatically reduces the torque increment per step, so unless your mechanism is very carefully constructed, the drive may skip steps.
No, this is a complete myth. Microstepping reduces the chance of skipping due to midband resonances,
at low speeds there is no issue at all.
There is no "torque increment per step". At low speed there is holding torque and microstepping
keeps a pretty constant holding torque during slow speed motion, whereas full stepping will risk
jumps at the step points as the motor is 90 degrees away from its optimum torque point immediately
after the step.
Yes, there may be parts of the cycle with microstepping where the holding torque is a little less
than at a full step point, but this matters not at all as steps are skipped due to dynamic torque
or resonance issues long before holding torque is exceeed - go play with a motor and try it.