In addition to the major improvements are many minor improvements that make working with objects, materials, and other facets of Max easier. Minor improvements found in version 9 include the following:
Influences: Within the Select Objects dialog box, you can select objects based on influences.
Track View menus: The Track View menu has been reorganized. You can now access commands by right-clicking on the Hierarchy pane.
Communication Center button: A new button at the bottom of the main interface lets you define how often Max looks for updates.
AutoCAD Import: The ability to import AutoCAD files has been improved.
Viewport Statistics: You can view a range of scene statistics in the upper-left corner of the viewports including Frame Rate, Polygon, Edge, and Vertices totals.
Hidden Line display method: Scene objects in the viewport can be viewed using the Hidden Line display method. This method displays the objects in wireframe but hides all edges pointing away from the camera.
Support for all DirectX Shaders: Max now allows you to load cgfx files. This shader can also be viewed within the viewports.
Quick Planar Map: The Unwrap UVW window includes a new mapping method that quickly planar maps the selected object.
Relative Paths: The Configure User Paths dialog box can now work with absolute or relative paths based on the Project Folder.
Set Project Folder: The Set Project Folder command creates a project folder with all the necessary sub-folders and allows quick saving of scene files into the specified location.