Adobe Suite... Explain what each does?

very basically:

indesign - page layout
illustrator - vector artwork
flash - vector based motion graphics (web)
after effects - raster based motion graphics (broadcast)
bridge - file management/cataloging
dreamweaver - web design
acrobat - PDF authoring
contribute - client web template editing
fireworks - web graphics
soundbooth - audio editing
encore - video rendering tool
version cue - file iteration
on location - video capture tool (not sure on this one)

granted, all these answers on on the adobe website.

 

I Bought The Entire CS3 Master Collection Because They All Do Different Things

My handle explains why. The education price for MC - $999 - is less than any two of the breakout packages all of which are missing something I need. And Adobe's education license includes letting you use what you buy that way for commercial purposes.

InDesign is for paper page layout work.
Illustrator is vector graphics that can help with
Flash work which is vector animation.
Fireworks is used to reduce file sizes and to comp
Dreamweaver layouts saving you days of what would otherwise be tedious HTML work in Dreamweaver without it.
After Effects can still work with FCP 6 and
Soundbooth has audio production features Soundtrack Pro does not.
Encore may also be a better way to author DVDs than DVDSP 4 although I don't know that for a fact yet.

 

Vector = math Raster = pixels

Vector Graphics are done with math instead of pixels. So they are ultra fast on the web. Photoshop is raster graphics done with pixels. Illustrator is Vector done with math. Perhaps you want to take a class in both at your local community college. You will definitely need both. Buying only photoshop is not a good deal. What do you want to do with your CS3 software?

Your new MBP is a perfect platform for the whole Master Collection. And you can take it to classes at your community college and probably be faster than the computers they have there.

 

http://www.adobe.com/products/illustrator/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vector_Graphics

 

Vector graphics are also smaller since they don't save data for each pixel. It is a large mathematical equation that creates an image when it is calculated.

 

In Photography you'll only use Photoshop most likely, though if you're going to do pro work you might want a copy of Aperture or Lightroom for cataloging your images.

Bottom line is if you don't know what the app does (like you don't know what vector art is in Illustrator), then you probably don't need that app. I think you'll be fine with just Photoshop and either Aperture/Lightroom.