exactly : HABIT
I've been using max for 13 years... this thinguy has been added in the past 2 or 3 versions.
If you use a mouse, there the wheel + ALT = that rotates the view
I personally use a Wacom pen table, so I have a shortcut for the "orbit view" option. I don't even have to move my cursor to activate the view rotation tool (not even to the top right of the view, which is still too far away for me - I mean, how many view rotations do I do per day? 1000 at least?? no way I want to move my cursor anywhere that many times a day!)
Anyway, there are a thousand ways of working, but to be efficient, the keyboard shorcuts are your best friends! :-)
Good luck!
Matt