3dsmax 8:
[url]http://usa.autodesk.com/adsk/servlet/index?id=5659302&siteID=123112 [/url]
some long overdue features such as "Export UV Template Image" and "true Euler rotation and Bezier positioning curves to edit Biped motions", but over all not much of an upgrade in my oppinion.
Maya 7:
[url]http://downloads.alias.com/mkt/gmk_maya7_overview.pdf[/url]
Lots of details:
[url]http://www.cgorama.com/filez/maya7.doc[/url]
loads of cool stuf in this one. i wont bother listing all of my favorites here, just check it out!
XSI 5:
[url]http://www.softimage.com/Products/Xsi/v5/features/default.asp[/url]
never used XSI so i didn't look to much into this, but at only $495 US it's a bargin!
ussmc: Maya PLE is free for non-comercial use and is the full version of maya complete, Softimage is dun dirt cheap, and 3dsmax has cheep student versions - otherwise you could get Gmax, which is free but is really only useful as a tool to learn 3d modeling and the max interface.
Ironhide: i don't know exact numbers, but i've heared of a lot that use maya. in brisbane Krome and Pandemic use it, and i think THQ. When i was looking for work i noticed that a lot of Melbourne and Canbera based companies also mentioned maya experience when advertising jobs.
[url="http://www.sumea.com.au/snews.asp?news=1218"]Krome's made the switch to Maya[/url]. Atari Melbourne House use XSI.
Maya 7 is going to be the bomb.. can't wait..