Downloaded C5 beta for Mac with pre-order. It seems promising but it is def beta. Much crashing, new vertex modeler yields no results for gordon, coons etc, objects as particle, does not work yet, freznel water shader applied crashes. Overall, it's kinda useless at this point and so far I would say the improvements in the vertex room are nice (when they work) but they are no replacement of Hexagon. This is just my first impression though. It appears that at this point After Effects export is only supported on Windows.

If you are an early adopter (I only know about mac) from my experiences I would consider this a sneak peak. It's def cool to see what it will be when it's done, but it is almost too buggy to actually use. I think it will be a really great upgrade when it's final.

If you are looking for high-end particles, more in-depth realistic soft and hard body dynamics and physics, really versatile modeling, fully animated shockwave exports, broadcast/pro implementation of all the great things you get at a bargain price with C5, you still won't be there yet -- keep looking at C4D, Maya, etc. If you want a fantastic all-in-one, affordable 3D ap that is incredibly robust for mid range work with features that encroach on the domain of aps that cost 4 or 5 times as much, C5 is king. Personally, I think the interface is beautiful. C5 actually does a few things better than the big boys. For what it costs, Maya certainly is an ugly beast to look at compared to the C5 interface for one.

From what I can tell at first look, I think most will be very pleased with this upgrade when the final version of C5 ships.