yeah i agree u need to have some knolage of what you doing other wise u will get very anoyed there loads help on the internet to start off and u get loads help and advice from the guys/girls on here.
Really, to fully understand web design, you don't need any of that software except for a text editor and a graphics app. There are tons of HTML intros on the web, my favorite is at webmonkey.com: http://webmonkey.wired.com/webmonkey...g/html_basics/
I recommend learning HTML and CSS, then JS, and a server side language like ASP(VisualBasic or Javascript) or PHP. Also read up on good web design, not just the technical stuff, think about the user and how they are going to see the site, the psychology about it really.