Maya vs Max

Maya vs. 3ds Max

What is the difference between Maya and 3DS Max?
I have heard many aspiring 3D artists ask for help in deciding whether to learn 3ds Max or Maya, yet it seems like a lot of the pros tend to dismiss or scoff at the question. I have explored the high and low for both to find a definitive message. After some research and hands-on experience, I find Maya to be more comprehensive than 3ds Max, while 3ds tends to be more intuitive and has a slightly less steep learning curve. But it goes much deeper than this. You may still wonder “Why and how.” To simplify, I am happy to share my views!
Before I start with the details, it is important for you to know that Maya and 3ds are under the Autodesk umbrella. 3ds Max has belonged to the Autodesk brand for many years. Autodesk acquired Maya recently. Both are considered industry standard for modeling, animation and rendering. Autodesk chose not to merge the two competing products primarily because an entire generation of professionals had become extremely skilled at using one or the other program.
In many ways, Maya and 3ds Max are very similar. We use the Transform gizmo in Max to move, rotate, and scale an object. Maya uses a similar tool. Max still does have some features that are more fun and intuitive to use. On the other hand, I find Maya to be a refreshing improvement to much of the functionality that 3ds Max has to offer.  Both Maya and Max use Mental Ray as the secondary rendering engine, giving the artist the power to achieve a photorealistic look.
Max has always focused on game designers. Contrary to this, Maya has its focus on CG film animation. Broadly, they perform the same tasks; they can model, render, and animate. However, speaking of differences…What is the ‘big’ difference if they are so similar? Well…the difference lies in their strengths and weaknesses.
(source: http://machinimart.com/maya-vs-3ds-max/)