As far as I’ve been able to tell, Adobe’s Creative Suite is pretty much the holy grail for anyone interested in the numerous aspects of graphic and web design. Plus, the price certainly matches that desirability! Adobe has just announced the release of Creative Suite 4 (CS4) and it will be coming out in the next few months, right around the same time as Adobe Max in November. I’m certainly not a developer, but this software looks awesome.
There are going to be a number of different versions of the Suite available, with different programs coming in each. If you want the Master Collection, you’ll get newly updated versions of everything, from Photoshop to Dreamweaver, including support from Adobe. There will also be a design version available, as well as a web version and production premium version.
One of the exciting new features of CS4 is the tight integration between flash and other applications in the suite. A lot of the new additions of the programs have been made extremely user friendly, so even the noobs out there can produce some awesome stuff, without necessarily having to take lots of classes or spend a lot of time learning their way around.
You can watch a video detailing all the new features of CS4, but keep in mind it’s an hour long, so make sure you have the time to devote to it! (And maybe don't watch it at work...)