ive only used MAX because of total war exporters and importers, witch kinda forced me to learn it. Rigging is a pain though.....
Yes hot-keys are essential if you don´t wanna go click in tool boxes all the time, and the simple translate/rotate/scale commands do take a while to get in.
I'm not an expert, but i have to say i enjoy MAX and how powerful it can be even compared to blender.

Although i find it a lot easier to start and finish a model in wings and blender. As in these the interface is a lot simpler and easier to get accustomed to .

Hey Scifi, get back playing xta some day, ok?

You're right -- I'm kind of occupied with other things right now.

Nonwithstanding, have a shot of my File --> open last project! It's a little over a month old.