I'm very pleased with Lightwave. It's modeling tools and animation features seem endless and it's as stable as notepad for me. Intially though what attracted me to it was the way it's toolset is organized and that there isn't an icon to be found. Every tool has a clearly marked text identifier so you know what to expect when you apply it. It cut down the learning curve tremendously for me and has never made me feel like I was in a game of poker against my software. The hundreds of free plugins for it at Flay have left me wanting for very little in terms of things that I "need". If I was told that I could no longer use it I think I'd give my computers to my kids and find a new hobby.