I found it a doddle to use, and the extra flexibility, options and quality is money well spent IMHO. If anyone remembers the old Objective Wealth you'll see it's a significant difference in look and tone. 

With that said, I recently decided to start another blog and I went with what I know, Thesis. When I bought the first time, I paid the price for unlimited downloads for other sites. But, when I did so, I found Thesis 2.0. I had no idea what was going on. I ended up uninstalling it and downloading Thesis 1.x.

But just looking at the Genesis tutorials and searching around, and talking to some Top Tier bloggers, it's definitely the way to go.

Genesis isn't terribly hard to understand – the SEO options are just like All in One SEO (title, description, keywords) but if you're going to keep using your plugin, those options won't display. If you ever decide to get rid of Yoast, there is a plugin called SEO Data Transporter that will convert all your data from Yoast to Genesis and it's super easy to use.

As far as making changes, you can usually find a child theme that works with what you're looking for because there are a LOT of them out there. If you need help with any changes (font color, font size, etc.), you can ask in the Studiopress forums, or you can always email me if you want.

The best thing about Genesis is that you can google just about anything and find a step by step tutorial on how to do it. It's pretty straightforward and the documentation is extensive. There are also a ton of Genesis-specific plugins that make certain things easier to do.

Andrea - you rock! Thank you for all of the advice. I'm going to try and do this thing myself. If I can't get it the way I want, I'm definitely hiring you for help. Do you fix $5 haircuts as well?

I use Thesis on all my sites (for now) and I loved it before 2.0 came out. Even though I paid for the developer version, I may still end up going with another theme on my sites.

2.0 is extremely difficult to use or understand, and I feel that there are way too many options. It has gone from being easy for someone with no coding skills, to just plain overwhelming!

I have had the same experience. I have tried a Thesis 2.0 test on some sites and wasn't able to easily get to what I need. I have been thinking about Genesis for a little bit now. If you decide to go Thesis, here is my affiliate link if you want to share the love.

When I made the switch, it made a huge impact on my site and how I treated the blog business. New changes have led me to look elsewhere.

As far as making changes, you can usually find a child theme that works with what you're looking for because there are a LOT of them out there. If you need help with any changes (font color, font size, etc.), you can ask in the Studiopress forums, or you can always email me if you want.

The best thing about Genesis is that you can google just about anything and find a step by step tutorial on how to do it. It's pretty straightforward and the documentation is extensive. There are also a ton of Genesis-specific plugins that make certain things easier to do.

I had Thesis 1.x for years and was pretty happy with it but I'm very disappointed in 2.0.  It's not as friendly to play with as I'd like (OK, I really couldn't figure it out at all) and as yet I don't think there are any instructions either.  I've also seen that 1.x doesn't play well with Yoast SEO (Yoast dislikes Thesis).

I actually went live with a Genesis theme last night. (Take a look and tell me what you think).  

There are some things that were easier to do with Thesis like changing the way fonts looked and such, but overall they are pretty similar with code (as least 1.x).  The ability to get a child theme with Genesis makes it a bit easier to find a framework that fits what you are looking for (Thesis has child themes as well but I never used them).

I love the way it looks, Glen! Personally I'd decrease the size of your titles though (but that's just me). I think they take up too much room and it kind of hurts my eyes to see something that big.

I actually went live with a Genesis theme last night. (Take a look and tell me what you think).  

There are some things that were easier to do with Thesis like changing the way fonts looked and such, but overall they are pretty similar with code (as least 1.x).  The ability to get a child theme with Genesis makes it a bit easier to find a framework that fits what you are looking for (Thesis has child themes as well but I never used them).

basically it is very difficult for a programmer to get in there and work on the backend because thesis has so many hooks for those who are not good at coding to do...there are way too many options for a novice blogger...and it is heavy on the system...my site speed has improved dramatically moving away from thesis...

one thing might be to contact a designer that you are planning on using ...if you go that route and see what their experience is in..that might help you decide as well.

I use Thesis on all my sites (for now) and I loved it before 2.0 came out. Even though I paid for the developer version, I may still end up going with another theme on my sites.

2.0 is extremely difficult to use or understand, and I feel that there are way too many options. It has gone from being easy for someone with no coding skills, to just plain overwhelming!

Awesome Khaleef. That is exactly what I needed to hear. I appreciate your input!