Graphic Design Software - The Battle for King of the Mountain

Long gone are the days when a graphic designer's tools were pen, pencil, brush, exacto knife and illustration board.  Today's designer relies almost exclusively on graphic design software which is both expensive and constantly changing.  At some point or other, the designer has to decide to upgrade his or her present software or change to another brand.  And, then the designer must learn all the new functions of this version of software.  If the program interface changes then the learning curve for the design professional can be very steep and costly.  On top of that, there's different graphic design software for desktop publishing, web design, illustration, and photography.