DAZ3D is the only 3D software I've used so far. A mix of being so complex that its simple in its design, fairly user friendly and cheap.

Maya is my favorite if I had to pick one package, but I work best with this workflow:

Model in Maya Maya -> Unwrap in 3dx max and/or Unwrap 3d - > Sculpt/paint textures and normal map in Zbrush and Photoshop - > Apply textures, then back to Maya for rigging, animating, and everything else.

3DS max is good for modeling out basic stuff, then there is zbrush which is really good for more detailed modeling.

I don't think I'd ever use anything other than Blender. It's free, has everything one needs to create 3D renders, has a sculpting option (Especially useful for making avatars on Second Life) I don't think I'd ever be comfortable with another program. The only program I'd use other than blender is that insanely expensive mesh program I forgot the name of.. But its supposedly what movie people use for their computer generated stuff.

I gotto say I like Blender best, it's a complete package that doesn't require me to continuously export things between programs. I also worked with 3ds, which was good, and probably easier too.

But if I really put my mind to it, I would prefer Blender

Maya, then 3ds. Ive had formal training on maya, and ive played around with 3ds. Oh and autodesk mudbox is pretty awesome too!

Final note, if you are a student with a legit .edu e-mail address, you can get EVERY autodesk product free for 3 years... (At least in the US)

I would say Maya is my favorite to use and 3ds Max would be my second.

Of those listed, I've only used Blender and Maya (and I'll probably be using a lot of 3ds MAX in the next few years as well), but so far, Maya by far. Blender was just... ugh... "OMG WTF IS WITH THIS INTERFACE "

I think I also have Unity installed, but I haven't gotten around to trying it yet...