I felt a disturbance, as if a million frustrated artists cried in frustration at having to learn new tools...
My guess is that 3D Studio Max will now become revised into 3D Studio Maya.
The best thing that could happen is that 3D Studio gets a better UI and better animation tools. This purchase definitely follows the model of "if you can't be better than their competition, buy 'em out".
Some people are concerned that Alias won't be good about incorporating industry concerns into Maya. And I hardly doubt they'll come out with three new versions in 2 years like they were doing. I see it more like the death of 3DSMax. That's a really confusing program.
All I can say is: Die Max die!
I dislike Max as a program, because it is clearly an engineer's tool, and not an artist's tool.
3 new versions in two years? That's a bad thing. You don't want such rapid product cycles because artists and programmers don't have the time to learn and take advantage of the new features/interface.
Max to me has always been more like a program that costs too much, and lacks features such that you have to go out and purchase additional programs to make it functional. Max + Character Studio + Plugins @ 300-1000 a pop = big headache in maintenance alone.