out of date? alias and maya didn't have a REAL point constraint while Soft 3D had it 7+ years ago an indespensible tool for rigging for me anyway. the one in XSI now called point constraint is not the same but its now object to cluster, just make a rig frame for hips or shoulders and select a root or effector and then click object to cluster and select a point on the frame and select from the list the only single point and and an autocluster is created. Sure maya has expression etc workarounds but soem don't update and its not as straight forward.
I find the rigging far superior to maya and weighting, sure the painting is better in Maya but changing the operator order or turning them on/off compared to XSIs powerful and ease of use operators is so often an explosive nightmare of errors requiring the patience of a surgeon to navigate the noodles of nodes and put it all back together.
Make a character in both and perhaps do a walk cycle or something as well as some other actions then mix them in XSI mixer and compare that to MayaTrax, you may never look back except in longing for shaderballs, paintfx some dynamics and some nurbs tools.