Hi Miss Poohs
I have both rootsmagic and Family Tree Maker. I have also tried evaluation versions of a few others.
Family Tree Maker is better for creating fancy wall charts, but how many people really use this I wonder. I found that even with only a couple of hundred names on my tree, it churned out a dozen or so pages for one wall chart

Now I have just under 500 on my tree so goodness knows how many pages it would take now.
Despite having FTM and trying other programmes I have always prefered Rootsmagic. I find it easy to use and the layout is easy on the eye. It also has a good selection of reports and charts. You can also make up your own reports, although I have found this quite tricky at times. But I think it would become easier the more reports you create.
This is only a persinal opinion, but I would recommend that you don't go for one of the versions that offer loads of free discs. I did this and found that I haven't used any of them.
Hope this has helped a wee bit? At the end of the day it's all down to preference. I'm sure other people like other software programmes for their own reasons, and there is no reason why they shouldn't.
Hope you enjoy Rootsmagic if you decide to go for it.
All the best
Bill
Researching MALCOLM from Fife, Kinross and Perth and LENNOX from Dunblane and St. Ninians. Cross, Stewart/Stuart from Perthshire.
http://billmalc.tribalpages.com/