They're both excellent programs and I use them both in my daily workflow. To get around the slow Vue renders, I use the Render Ranch. You can't argue with 160 dual core machine rendering your project. If you plan to stick to rendering premade objects and beautiful landscapes, then you can stick to Vue 6 and be very happy about it. Vue does have the edge in creating beautiful landscapes. If you'd like to make your own content, pose characters directly in the program you're rendering with and be able to customize objects directly in one app., then Carrara is a good choice. Carrara does have a very fast renderer. But, like with any software, you can slow it to a crawl by over-setting the requirements for a scene. You can create awesome landscapes in Carrara. The reason I say Vue has the edge in landscapes is because it has better atmospheric controls and presets. However, Carrara has better clouds that render in all capacities whereas the Vue volumetric clouds only render in the spectral mode. Poser 7 - With Vue you don't have an option. With Carrara 6, you don't really need P7 since you can work directly with the characters and it's a little more streamlined work flow. Carrara doesn't have dynamic cloth though. So, it all comes down to the kinds of renderings you see yourself doing in the future.