Macromedia Studio MX. or Macromedia MX Upgrade
This is the killer web app of the 21st Century! Macromedia Studio MX (pictured, left) is the state-of-the-art web design/raster graphic/vector graphic/animation all wrapped into a single purchase. In addition to Flash and Dreamweaver (Flash animates vector graphics, Dreamweaver is the professional's choice for web design) Studio incorporates Freehand (a vector graphic creation program) and Fireworks (a web graphics program). These guys have a winner. And the best thing about it that they have finally offered them in a bundle, making it affordable for most web designers.
Adobe Photoshop for Windows 7.0 or Adobe Photoshop 7.0 Upgrade.
We have used Adobe Photoshop for eight years now and it remains our choice for raster graphic rendering. There is no competition when it comes to enhancing your photos for the web and for quickly creating shadows or tweaking the light on a picture. Now with ImageReady 2.0 (free with purchase), this bad boy will create rollovers, slice pictures (if you have to ask, you don't want to know) and optimize size for quick download on your web site.
CorelDraw (upgrade version) and CorelDraw gets our personal nod. While there are some new vector drawing programs out their we know and love CorelDraw, and have been using it for as long as we have been using Photoshop. Its not easy, but their is no better package to create crisp, clear text.