I've had Carrara too and couldn't stand it either, horrible application. After that I did get gameSpace (TrueSpace's little brother) and I just loved it. I didn't have any problems with it at. Now I've upgraded to TS 6.6 and I'm loving it. workd fine with Vue 4 too. I use it to model my stuff and import those models into Vue 4 together with Poser 5 characters. These 3 applications do for sure suit me. You can of course download the TS 6.6 demo and try it to see if you like it or not. You perhaps need some time to get used to the UI, but once I did, I just found it's great.

Artwork and 3DToons items, create the perfect place for you toon and other figures!

http://www.renderosity.com/mod/bcs/index.php?vendor=23722

Due to the childish TOS changes, I'm not allowed to link to my other products outside of Rendo anymore :(

Food for thought.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYZw0dfLmLk