i think people are more amped about futures than options but i will give a few reasons why futures are awesome:
volume is up huge year over year
no up-tick rule for shorting, if you want to sell you can just sell (unlike stocks)
less margin is required than for stocks (i believe)
the bid/ask spread is tight as can be with good size on each (fo ES, NQ, GE, DAX, FESX...)