Beginners' question: jpeg vs raw. Should I shoot raw?

I use a D700 to shoot family photos, of my 2 and 6 year old daughters.

Recently, I wonder, would raw be much better?

I have read some comments on the internet that seem to suggest
that both jpeg and raw are good.

But some of the comments here says, "D700 excels in raw.
jpeg is no comparison."

As an exercise, I tried to shoot raw and jpeg,
open them with picassa, and view in my sony notebook computer
(1920x1080)

The raw file is less bright.
The colours seem a bit different (the white balance, probably)
To be honest, the jpeg file is more pleasing to the NEF(raw)

Would you recommend continue in jpeg, as I always did,
or raw?

Or is picassa not good enough to open the files?