Me I started off using just Poser, wasn't happy with what it could do for outdoor scenes, discovered Vue 5 Esprit, tried it and hated it because it kept crashing, right bag of spanners!
Made a deal with e-on to get Vue 5 Infinite, that was better, not as crash prone. Then moved to Vue 6 Infinite which is when I really started using it properly, eventually moving over completely to it from Poser for rendering.
I have Vue 7 Infinite now, not that happy with it although in general it's a step up from six.
My art still sucks though so I guess I'm not learning much, but then it's not about that for me, I'm not interested in being top of the tree, I just want to get my ideas and thoughts onto a picture.

Injustice will be avenged.
Cofiwch Dryweryn.