Blender is awful.
humph, tis not :P
Ive tried loads of modellers and like blender's actual modelling interface more than any i've ever used including game/truespace, max, hexagon and others.
-that is.. once i learned how to use it, it is very different to the others as there is a lot of hotkeys and learning needed.
To be honest i hated it at first, but now after learning the quirks would happily pay up to $100 mabe more for it.
I just started testing out AC3d and may use that too if i find any WOWs that blender cannot do (or are worth the extra money). Havent found one yet tho :/
EDIT: Yes, they can, because Blender can export to .3DS
Dont forget .X It can export to B3d now (with new 3rd party script.. floating around this forum i believe).