Hey look, Lightwave users are welcome to continue using it. This is an OPINION question, and I gave an opinion. Like it, hate it whatever.

It's possible the new 9.0 version of LW will bring it up to date - but even Newtek themselves knwo that 8.5 is weak and showing it's age...

From Newtek: "Now, we get to a personal favorite of mine: rendering. Tremendous gains have been made in rendering since version 8.5. We have completely replaced the old ray-tracing engine, and have added a new, state-of-the-art ray-tracer."

The page goes on to list as "new features" for LW9 things have have b een in XSI and Max (maybe Maya too, don;t know) for a while now.

I like Newtek, I've been a fan since the first version of Lightwave and other products for the Amiga - but 8.5 has been showing it's age and Newtek knows it. Hopefully LW9 bridges that gap. Being sarcastic at me isn't going to change the problem though :)