#3dsr4 modeler
I'll second at least some of those sentiments. I'll chant this until I die:
if you want to minimize risk, don't lay out cash to be on the "bleeding edge."
Pre-paying for software that hasn't shipped is risky. Second, if you get too
wrapped up in one little feature and its absence or presence in package X,
you're wasting your time and frustrating yourself. And of course don't start
accepting jobs and saying "yes, we can do that" to clients based on someone's
spec sheet for one of those non-shipping products.