I see that people talk a lot about ANSYS over here and that is the software that I use during my works at university. However, when I read some papers or attend some conferences I hear about other finite element programs such as ABACUS and NASTRAN. Besides that I've also seen other open-source codes such as SALOME, Code-Aster, etc...

What do you think is the best software to make finite element analisys, or if it's difficult to say wich one is best, what are the weak and strong points of each software?