hi- thanks, robertzavala, for responding. by weak, i mean even the simplest tools won't function, ie: the bevel;the knife: it can freeze or crash when calling up the numeric pad; the numeric pad has no effect on the move tool and must be done manually; object files become locked and unchangable- even copies of the files; sometimes the interface draws in such a way as to make it unusable. in other words, i haven't been able to compomplete a single model, let alone place it in a scene. also, it doesn't have a chamfer tool, which i can't live without. the particles, physics, and vertex maps all sound great, and are the reasons i bought it, but i doubt i'll ever use them. the 6.5b upgrade is even worse and i've had to deinstall it. it installed some ati extensions that screwed up my system's screen drawing, and i'm still trouble shooting that. tho they say it works on some macs (SOME macs???)they're not yet forthcoming about the necessary system configuration. but they promise to exchange my mac dongle for a pc dongle for free, now i just have to find out the best pc configuration to run it. i hear dual athelons are the best. it's the rendering i was attracted to. i hear it's up to 70% faster on a pc than mac, tho. just proves you need to do your research... i prefer amapi's modeler interface, btw- closer to using real world tools, which is my background. thanx, and keep those opinions coming, folks!