[font color=\'#000000\']Your camera has a number of attributes it sets when you take the picture: including such things as exposure, white balance, sharpness. When you take a JPEG, these attributes are locked into the image. When you take a raw image, these attributes are still directly editable (through your raw processing software). This gives you more control over these attributes, which sometimes is a big deal.
If your style of photography works well with JPEG, then don't worry about shooting raw. JPEG has the advantage of compression, which is why it is often used by sports photographers. But if you find yourself manipulating your files a lot, you should try , since it lets you edit those basic attributes without degrading the image data.
Dan[/font]