3ds Max and Maya: What is the difference?

Before this module I had dabbled in Maya, through my own studies and 'teaching' (I used to assist on a media production course).  At a glance both programs look rather similar, but after getting used to 3ds Max, it's a bit more intuitive.

Things are easier to find on 3ds Max, where as on Maya they seem hidden behind drop down menus, and depends which tab you're on, changed the entire tool bar, that is one thing that I found quite confusing when starting out.

(Autodesk Maya 2011 n.d.)

In the green circle there are the different choices that when changed, change the icons in the red circle, so if one is new to the program and accidentally changes the drop down menu then they will be very confused as to why their tools have changed and moved.  I did this myself more than once when starting out.

The red circle contains all the tools available for the chosen workspace, found in the green circle.

The blue circle holds all of the generic tools, such as move, rotate, resize etc that the user will need. On 3ds Max these tools are where the red circle sits.  That would be one of things that when you are used to one program it may seem a little strange to move, as the programs do similar things.

(Autodesk 3ds Max 2016 Interface (My own screenshot))

The red circle holds all of the generic tools such as move, rotate, resize etc, which unlike Maya are on the top, rather than down the left-hand side.  The left hand side in 3ds Max holds all the display properties, such as not showing any objects in the hierarchy that h ave been hidden.

The blue circle holds the various editing tabs, which when cycled through affect the tools in the green circle

Maya seems to be the preferred software used in the film industry when creating locales for green screen, or adding in building collapsing; Maya has very realistic rendering capabilities, where as 3ds Max is preferred in the games industry as it allows the user to rig a model quite quickly.  As well as the games industry, 3ds Max is also used architects and engineers due to it's integration with AutoCAD

It is worth noting that when I used Maya, it was on an Apple Mac, and that is another difference.  3ds Max is only available on Windows, where as Maya is available on Windows, Mac, and Linux.  So depending on your OS, you might be pigeon holed into using one program.

A lot of it will come down to preference and whichever software that one uses first.  The same can be said for Unreal and Unity, personal preference and familiarity.

Edit 16/12/15 - I feel it is worth noting that since I have made this entry, I feel that since reading about both programs they control in incredibly similar manners, Maya has the controls behind a drop down menu at the top, where as 3ds Max has them in tabs on the right.  But the essentially do the same thing.  I had not noticed that before discussing them.


References:

Difference between Maya and 3DS Max. [online] Available at: <http://www.differencebetween.net/technology/software-technology/difference-between-maya-and-3ds-max/> [Accessed 11 December 2015]

Tay. T, 2014. 3DS Max vs Maya: A Friendly Comparison. Udemy.com [blog] 8 January, Available at: <https://blog.udemy.com/3ds-max-vs-maya/> [Accessed 11 December 2015]

Autodesk, N.D. Maya 2011/features. [online] Available at: <http://area.autodesk.com/img/products/maya/nondestructive_live_retargeting.png> [Accessed 15 December 2015]