Good equipment is def. a help but (assuming you have good tracks) in the end it's comes down to...
EQ
Reverb
Panning
Compression
IMO they go in that order from most important down. Master these things and you can accomplish anything.
I've been using 3.0 for a little bit now and have to say it is pretty good. There are many new features that I really love like the new mix window w/ master fader and VST's.
I still am using Audition 1.5 for tracking. To me it is the best designed DAW for tracking that I have EVER found or...
Mindset is the exception. And just so you know women don't give two shits about what you do. Only how $much$ it means to them. So if you're making music because you love it and aren't bringing in the green good luck. I just lost one for that.
+1 for the 4050... If you want two of them save up some more money. You will NOT regret it. Can't say the same about any other mics you'll get two of for that price (You might not realize the difference @ first but you will later).
One thing I found out the hard way is that for dual core laptops you should have a "TI" chipset for the firewire. If you don't you can run into compatability issuses. The information is varied but it seems like you should make sure the laptop and interface will work together for sure before you...