Ehm... a noobish quastion
 

Well this is kind of a noobish quastion but, except the prise what exactley is the difference between 3Ds Max and Maya? I mean like major differences, not like "well, it loads 2 sec faster" :P

They are very different when it comes to how they function. Max uses a modifier stack, where you are stacking a modifier on top of another, on top of another, and so on to apply changes and manipulation. Max also has the implicit differences between Mesh and Poly, which I still find confusing and I've been working with it for a while now. haha

Maya's implementation is all node based and you are able to manipulate the deformation order to your liking. I also find it a lot easier to grasp and more user friendly. That's just my opinion, though.

Both programs are very viable applications, with pros and cons, strengths and weaknesses. There are lots of things about Max I like and lots of things about Max I hate. Same with Maya really. I personally just prefer Maya's workflow.

I still don't really understand why does 1 company produce 2 different 3D programs? :P

Can you please maybe mind explaining what are the pros and cons of each? I wanna try to learn a good 3D software and I would just like to know which one would be better to learn.
Thx ;)

well, they didn't originally. They're pretty much a monopoly right now until one of the other up and coming apps somehow make a foothold, like modo or something. The pros and cons are, for the most part, based on preferences. In my opinion, for example, Max's UV editor sucks. Maya's is much better. I like Max's target weld and soft selection functionality over Maya. And so on.

I agree with Mike. I have used Max, Maya and Softimage XSI. I found XSI the easiest to use out of all 3 and was quick to pick up. Maya has (as Mike stated) one of the best workflows and UIs. Max however I found very hard to learn and I have a real anti to its UI. Its a great app, but its harder to learn than Maya.

Each apps Pros and Cons are endless. max has far more free support and tutorials available online. Maya is nearly there, but is still lacking in free bits and pieces. Maya has currently one of the best "out of the box" dynamics systems and with the new nucleus system and its latest and first addition nCloth.

For me Maya wins hands down, but I am bi-est :P.

Autodesk did not originally create Maya or Max. Max used to belong to a company called Discreet and Maya belonged to a company called Alias (previously Alias|Wavefront). Discreet was taken over first (about 3 or 4 yrs if memory serves) and Maya has only been part of Autodesk for the last year, about 8 months or so.

Whatever app you choose good luck. Why not grab the trials and have a go at each :)

Wel, thx guys for explonation, just 1 last thing, as you seem to know about 3ds Max AND maya...as maya and 3ds max are on the same company now...is there ANY way I can open .3DS models in Maya?
Thx ;)

Yes,

the Maya 8.5 Bonus Tools Install (free) has the import/export tool as part of it and just needs to be loaded within Maya

Where can I find these 'Bonus Tools' ? :)

Cool man thx! :attn:
But... I think it is only import, is there a way to xport as .3DS as well?

The 8.5 bonus tools allow import and export of 3DS files

So am I?