I am in love with Ableton live 4!

This program does everything I need and sounds great, works seamlessly with all of the vst plugins I have.

Very intuitive and I loved the step by step visual tutorial.

Fruity Loops also rocks as well as Cubase but for me I found Abelton works with my intuitive visual style of creating so I use it the most.

Fruity Loops also works as a vst plugin and can be used quite effectively in Ableton that will leave you more options in the long run.

Yes lots of ram and a good soundcard make all the difference.