I think JosterD is right on! For years I just exported Previews. I use Poser for the purpose it was originated... as a quick way to establish a painting to be done IRW or in digital painting. I still use Poser without lights frequently: just plugging textures into the ambient sometimes with an edge blender for shading. "Hand painting-in the shadows" in Photoshop is trivial... select the object, float a copy, fill, deform, blur. I would love a version of Poser that optimized the preview and did not bother with any other rendering. I would love a Preview-Only version of Poser even if it had restrictions such as only three lights, limited shader support, etc.

Working preview-only can result in serious productivity gain. It can also make a qualitative difference when people focus on subject matter and composition rather than get bogged down with simulated lighting effects. I think a "Poser 9" that was more like a game rendering engine then a faux Max or Maya would totally rock. There are games such as Spore and All Points Bulletin that allow wonderful dynamic figure design with rigging on the fly etc. A Poser universe that was plug-and-play would be so awesome. Be great for animators, be great for graphic novelists, be great for old-style painters like me.

Some artists use Poser for the same reason artists have used cameras and projectors for the last 150 years and Camera Obscura and Lucida long prior that... fast way to lay out compositions and fix proportions and forshortening before getting down to the business of painting. As for pure CGI I think a lot of people focused more on subject matter and content with Poser 4 while now people spend a lot of time fine tuning "render-realistic" renders that could be done easier with a high end render engine but don't say a lot as images. Poser 4 had a distinctive toonish look that set it apart from both other CGI and traditional RW media. Now it often looks like failed photorealism with a creepy uncanny quality.

Just IMHO