I was Max user a year ago and some things became clear to me when I switched to Maya...since then I can say that in some avarage relations Maya is better package.

Jay, about UV editor and mapping I think Maya is way simplier then Max.

Cloth,Fur and fludis are not the reasons why Maya is better then Max, the nodes are!

What I really hated in Max is the way they put all the animation deformers and modeling tools in one stack!

So as I was new it took a while to figure the relation between UV projectors and Unwarp UV and the order how they should be put.

Once I switched to Maya UV editor became a child's play!

And yes, Maya's software renderer should and can be faster!

I love the way Maya allways offers more than one solution to your request or problem.