> Compared to these packages - blender is a horrible mess
Which version of blender you are referring to? pre 2.5?
I get the feeling that most people got a bad impression in 2.49 and below and never came back. The UI improved a lot since then (there was actually a full rewrite of the UI code, all in Python).
The UI discussion is always controversial in the blender community, though.
That's right, Blender has made a lot of strides in recent years. I was a Blender sceptic, having tried it many years ago. But recently I tried it again and had my socks blown off! I've since started using Blender exclusively for all my modeling/rendering needs (I don't do animation, so I can't vouch for it), whereas before I had to rely on several packages (e.g. Softimage for hard surface/ZBrush for organic) and never looked back.
If you only know Blender through its older versions, I highly recommend taking another look and even doing some tutorials - it's become an amazing piece of software!
I know that Blender is great, but does it really replace ZBrush? I've used it only for the tasks you would normally use 3dMax for or something like that, but ZBrush is quite specific. Is it actually possible to efficiently emulate ZBrush workflow in Blender?
Which version of blender you are referring to? pre 2.5? I get the feeling that most people got a bad impression in 2.49 and below and never came back. The UI improved a lot since then (there was actually a full rewrite of the UI code, all in Python). The UI discussion is always controversial in the blender community, though.