I'd have said it depends on what you're trying to build.
Over the years I've previously used Dreamweaver, Frontpage and GoLive (all machine apps), but then moved to Joomla and now Wordpress Mu (both online CMS).
I found Joomla to be a bit too heavy duty & over complex for a straightforward site, but WPMu has been amazingly powerful / flexible for what I'm trying to achieve - and sites can be edited from any browser. I still use Frontpage to edit scripts, but not to publish.
Basically, I'd advise anyone to fit their creative environment to the type of site they are trying to build, rather than to start out by choosing the software / platform & then learning what you can do with it.
Maybe it'd be a good idea to get together a shortlist of sites you like and then investigate how they were built?