Quote -  Regarding the list above, would it not be easier to switch to a program that already has those features? 

Poser is a great "gateway" program with some powerful features. What you have described above is pretty common among "the big three".

Well yeah, sure, and that's what pretty much everyone argues when this comes up.
Good thing they at SM don't see it that way though, or else why bother developing it further at all? I mean, they did add the background 64 bit render capability, improved the output, added gamma controls, not to mention Poser has been slowly adding and improving features through its history, so it seems to me there must be a demand for continued development and improvements.

Maybe Poser isn't quite up to studio production levels, but with these improvements one could get a much better render, quicker and not have to leave Poser. Would be good for promos or to show to a client or something, then take it into one of the "big three" for finalizing.