What are you trying to do? I use BC Calc. It's free from Boise Cascade. It's a bit of a pain for large projects, but if you are just trying to size some LVL's, columns etc, you can't beat free. Oh, and since they changed to the online model, it isn't as good as it used to be.
I use Weyerhaeuser's ForteWEB program. Probably similar to BC Calc. It lets you link components together and automatically transfer loads, which makes it nice when you have a design change. The problem - it's designed for use by "designers" working at lumber yards more than for engineers. It has enough information for an engineer to review and approve, but the slightest thing that might require a little attention in detailing and fails the design. For instance, if you have a multi-span beam and a particular load combination/pattern causes a little uplift at one end, it fails it. Never mind that you could strap it down and follow the tension load path if you needed to - uplift at a support is a no go. It also doesn't let you consider multiple wind load cases. You can either look at one at a time, so you have to run multiple designs for the same beam (which negates the benefits of linking reactions unless you do some elaborate book keeping). But for sizing a bunch of LVLs, joists, etc., it's hard to beat (especially for the price). Microllam LVLs also have some of the lowest design values on the market, so if I design based on them I can be sure the product delivered to the site will meet or exceed expectations. If I try to use some 3100Fb-2.1E stuff, there's a good chance it'll be missed and the purchased product won't be up to snuff.
For residential (which is most of my wood design), I use self-written spreadsheets and a calculator. I can size a relatively simple beam on a calculator faster than it takes to get thru the splash screen of BC Calc online. For more complicated situations, I'd rather use my 30 year old, 2D frame/beam software than either Forte or BC Calc for the reasons Pham stated and because it is faster.
Forte is pretty good for linking basic loading conditions. I prefer using WoodWorks for single elements and complex loading, if necessary.
The thing with wood design is most of it should be fairly straightforward, so you can cut a lot of time if you know the limits of the standard components. Where it gets tricky is when you're tracking down a load, that sits on a wall, that sits on a beam, that takes more load, etc... That's where I find Forte excels.
I personally use WoodWorks for gravity design, and my own spreadsheets / MathCad for lateral design. I haven't found a lateral design program that doesn't require significant time to set up a project/building. They may make sense once you get to a large / repetitious building, but for most of my projects, it just doesn't make sense to use any of the software that I've investigated.
