CompuServe Messages

I am considering buying 3DStudio and would like some information about it. I "grew up" on POV and recently moved to Playmation. While Playmation has a great interface, I'm not totally satisified with the Rendering results. Playmation is spline based and it is very easy to create objects, but it falls down when trying to create objects based on real world dimensions. I would appreciate any comments on the following questions: 1. I understand that 3DS is polygon based. Does it have features to create curved surfaces easily? 2. Can you extrude 2d objects into the 3rd dimension? 3. Can you rotate an object about a point to create a new object? 4. What is the "Lofter"? 5. What is the Yost Group and what is their relationship with Autodesk? 6. How is the interface in 3DS. Easy to use? 7. Are animation capabilities built into 3DS? 8. I would like to try to get ahold of a used copy R1 or R2 (I think my wife would kill me if I bought the full package) which I could upgrade to R3. Any suggestions where I could look for such a package? Thanks for your help.