Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. :) Yeah Blender definately has its downside as well as it's upside. If it keeps improving at the rate it has been we should have plenty to look forward to though.

I usually skip a few upgrades until there's something I really can't do without.  I do that with almost every app I own.  I upgraded to 3dsmax 2015, only because #1: I had the money at the time, and #2: I figured this may be the last upgrade I make for the product.  After seeing Autodesk axe XSI early last year, I had a bad feeling they may do the same eventually to 3dsmax, even though they CLAIM they are dedicated to it.  If you look at the 2015 release of Maya, and all the TONS of new features they gave it, and then look at the very weak upgrade they gave to 3dsmax, it really makes you wonder which application Autodesk are dedicated to after all.  So here I am learing Blender.  One thing I will say, is that after I learn this package, my wallet will surely weigh a lot more than it has over the past years. Plus, at least I still have the 3dsmax knowledge for my resume, if and when I ever come across any job opportunities again.  Are there any studios in the US which have Blender in their piplines?  Would be nice to know, especially after spending all this time and effort in learning it.

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Tools :  3dsmax 2015, Daz Studio 4.6, PoserPro 2012, Blender v2.74

System: Pentium QuadCore i7, under Win 8, GeForce GTX 780 / 2GB GPU.