Editing Software: Adobe Premiere Pro and Apple Final Cut Pro
I use Adobe Premiere Pro 2.0 [LINK] to edit all my projects. And believe it or not, I rarely use something like Adobe After Effects [LINK]. Premiere is packed with fully customizable effects built-in.
After Effects, however, has it's place. If you need heavy, advanced effects (i.e. Lightsabers, fire, etc.), After Effects is worth looking at. Together, they work very well.
There has been a significant amount of debate about whether or not to go with Apple's Final Cut Pro or Adobe Premiere, and rightfully so; Final Cut is a very good editing software as well. But there is an interesting rarely known secret about this: Final Cut and Premiere were created by the same person. The workflows through them are almost identical. Here's two of the reasons why I stay with Premiere on Windows: There are thousands of little useful applications out there on the internet for free. If you want to get the equivalent for Mac, you're going to have to pay something, if you can find it at all. Another reason is the virtually seamless workflow between all of the Adobe products.
If you are based already off of the Windows platform, and are interested in professional-level editing software, I recommend that you stick with Windows. To switch completely to Mac will cost you an arm and a leg.
More detailed tutorials on how to do things in Premiere and After Effects coming soon!