I think photoshop is very popular but also time consuming. As a longstanding photographer who was dragged kicking and screaming into the digital age, I limit my editing to Picasa. It's relatively simple (like me!) and doesn't take as much time as Photoshop. As far as cutting corners goes.... learn from the film photographers and "make every shot count and fill the frame". I used to have this mantra posted inside my gadget bag! Too many digital photographers take WAY too many shots IMHO on the basis I guess "that if you throw enough sh*t at the wall - some of it will stiick". Trouble is... it's still sh*t! In short: think before you press the button! You'll be a better photographer for it - promise!

I found a recipe for Macbeth neutral grey used in building a homemade photo viewing box. I had the paint store mix the paint and painted the entire room in neutral grey. I put in color balanced lights and essentially made a darkroom that is neutral and color balanced. I use one of the moniter calibration monkeys and my monitor is recalibrated every month. And there's more.......AND STILL.......the fact that what you see on your monitor is transmitted light and what you see on a print is reflected light will make you NUTS!!!
And just like the old days when it seemed every client had a llight table that was way off and you were trying to make transparencies that looked perfect to everyone...well...nothing changes...now everyone has a different computer moniter and no matter what you do your image most likely won't look the same elsewhere...seems that way to me....

I've seen pro shops where the equipment is calibrated every day. And, as Mudshark says, the rooms are enclosed, and the lighting is kept the same every day. What you see is influenced strongly by the available light, and viewing in daylight vs. tungsten light vs. fluorescent light can make quite a difference when you pull a print. For that matter, adjacent colors or frames in what you're working on can also cause perceptual changes.

As for available software, there's a ton of it. Start with a free package like Picasa (I said LIKE Picasa, so don't jump down my throat with your favorite other package) that is compatible with both Mac OS X and Windows. That way, you have only one set of tools to have to learn.