Enough of the pros and cons stuff. If your happy with Max stay with it. U know it and u know how to use it.

Look for other solutions to the issues, changing app is the last step you should take. I moved from XSI to Maya and now I am relearning XSI 6 so I have both. My move was peer pressure .

Anyway, Max allows you to export to the following formats:

3DS & FBX

Both can be imported by Maya succesfully, so go with that. If the ma or mb format is a must then save it in Maya. Simple.