Im not sure if its been mentioned... But Rise Of Nations...
Is a pretty good one...
Its similar to Age of Empires...
Company of Heroes if your into WWII type RTS...
Codename Panzers also...
But if you enjoyed Age Of Empires... Go With Rise Of Nations... :)

A bit of a late response but try the Company of Heroes series. They are fairly good. Also, the Empire Earth series was good. My favorite by far though, like you, is the Age of Empires series.

Ohh, (sorry for the double post) but Populous: The Beginning was great. But it's very old. The graphics are... not great. But the game play is great.

Might be a bit to Warcraft'ish for you.
Populous: The Beginning - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Decide for you're self. It's hard to find though.

Never too late to suggest a good game. I've done the company of hero's title, I liked it but I'dliketo play with more than just 2 or 3 factions. If only they'd make another AOE:(

Trust me when I say Starcraft is worth a try. I know you're hesitant because of not liking Warcraft, but their not very alike, Warcrafts all about heroes and Starcraft is big battles. Honestly, I can't think of any game of any genre I enjoy more than Starcraft. The Battlechest is only $20, at least give it a shot.

$20 sounds about right:)

Thanks for the info. Isn't a new updated version suppose to come out soon?

Starcraft is in my opinion the best rts ever made. Starcraft 2 is comeing out mid 2010, but you should get starcraft for now.
I promise you you won't regret it.