I have gone over to using free Kicad, they have a very good parts selection and other schematic components and footprints are easy to design, either from scratch or modify the existing.
There is also FreePCB that looks quite good.
Kicad has quite a few tutorials also.
Max.
From someone who has worked with both ORCAD and Kicad I would have to say it is essentially a very similar process in steps and time to "compose a schematic with component footprints in a rapid a fashion as possible."
Orcad does have an extra tool to create pad shapes that Kicad integrates into the footprint portion, but the same steps are needed in either.
So if you are already somewhat familiar with Orcad then just read the manual to learn how to create symbols and footprints. If you jump to Kicad you are tossing whatever you have already learned about Orcad.
I never cared much for Kicad, but that was just a personal preference. I've tried a wide variety of schematic/PCB capture programs (both free and not). My favorite free one is Eagle, which I used for all of my projects until I got Altium. Altium is FAR more powerful, yet it also costs quite a bit.
You should try a bunch yourself and see which you prefer. Here's a list of a few of them: