Thanks everyone for all the advice. I will look into Startools to see what the advantages of that program are. I should probably also focus on upgrading my imaging equipment before I start using tools like PI (I don't even have a guide scope!). It's good to get all this basic knowledge down though. I would not want to buy something I will never use!
My basic question has been answered so if anyone "hijacks" this post from here on out I don't mind (not that I minded in the first place) as it is an interesting topic to talk about. I have achieved some very nice results out of DSS and Lightroom so far so I might stick with those. I do own Photoshop CS6 but I really have no idea how to use it to process Deep Sky Images. If anyone knows of any good tutorials that would be great. Also, is Photoshop better than Lightroom for processing these DSO's. Does anyone have any experience using these two programs?
Thanks
Nick