I'm still going for Carrara having the easiest learning curve...and something about it is very comfortable to me. Maybe it's that I've been a Mac person for years, so the Windows GUI always looks like the cartoon version; fatter lines, clumbsier shading, tacky colors. Working with Wings makes me think I'm back at the LHS playing Trek on the line printers. Working with Carrara makes me think of handmade paper and sumi-e brushes. Which probably says some very negative things about my priorities! Something about that wireframe box makes it really easy for me to navigate and manipulate, though. I had a little trouble figuring out the shader tree and there's still some problems in the cross-section numbering and access in the spline modeller, (and the metaball modelling window downright stinks), but these are basically windows I can be very comfortable in and can concentrate on modelling. That said...is worth noting that Cinema4D 6XL is on a special offer for $99 right now. Much steeper learning curve but oh, the modelling options! I'm looking at making THAT the companion to my Carrara (if I can ever figure it out).