I'm really impressed with the new Carrara. I cut my teeth on RDS 4.1, and really liked 5, which I've used on both my old P133 and my Mac G4/500. Carrara 1 was a major bust. However, the new Carrara has been debugged and works great. Multiple views are great. Esp. with vertex and metaball modeler. Handy preview window in texture room. Terrain modeler has very Bryce-ian feel to it, and easy to use. UI like Bryce/Poser - no more squinting at toolbars with teenyweeny icons that keep changing all the time! And free Amapi5. (If you're curious, go download the free trial version at the Eovia site.) Carrara, IMHO, is worth it.