It has to work. PICKIT 3 is their new beloved toy. I still like my PICKIT 2, but they've stopped the support. However, it seems that some third party/clone site provide some extended support. It is not that hard to add new device to PICKIT 2, but hey, PICKIT 3 is so cheap (when you compare to other 3rd party one).

Not sure how good/complete their standalone application is VS PICKIT 2 though. Would be nice if they would open their source... but I guess it will never happen since they've lost a load of sale with PICKIT 2 with the tons of clones...