Since the original question in the thread asked whether Carrara might be considered a replacement for Poser, I presented an example of something in Carrara which might make it less user-friendly.   Default settings in Poser:  TY2 is fine.   Default settings in Carrara:  TY2 is arthritic.   Yes, it's easy to fix, if you know what you're looking for, but the fix is somewhere south of "intuitive" for a newcomer to 3D., which suggests that Carrara really isn't entry-level (not yet, anyway).  

Otherwise, Deecey, I agree with a lot of your points, although with rather more of  PapaBlueMarlin's.   Happy New Year, anyway, to all.