Ken,
My 2¢
Let me give you a slightly different explaination on what RAW converters do.
To do that you should understand the array of jpeg adjustments in your camera. Not the primary exposure settings but the stuff down in the menus that let you adjust how the jpeg looks. = Color, contrast, stauration, white balance, etc.
What using RAW does for you is to separate those tweeks from the time of capture to post processing time. And, as everyone has been telling you, tweeking a RAW file gives you so much more data to play with. Raw lets you make those tweeky decisions with plenty of time to think about them.
At some base level that's all a RAW converter does for you. That's why others have said you may or may not need to pass the file along to Photoshop or some other editor.
The next thing that was commented on is creating standard processing to be applied to all RAW files coming from your camera. We are telling you that that approach won't be much better, or at all better, than the camera jpeg processing can do. What the import preset does is to give you a starting point for images you wish to put more effort into. Or something about the same as your cameras jpeg if it's just a snapshot. It also gives you a learning project = Shoot RAW and jpeg, use the comparison to create your import preset and learn how each control changes the image.
After you gain experience you will begin to see differences between the RAW processing programs. But right out of the box, you will find one program easier to use than the others. Try them, start with the one that feels good to you.
And, of course, I have simplified the process, as well as other things that some RAW processors can do.
