What exactly is Camera Raw?

[TMR Design]

I keep seeing the term Camera Raw and the phrase 'shooting in Camera Raw'.
What is Camera Raw, how do you shoot in it and why is it desirable? Is this something that is available in P & S cameras? I notice that the Photoshop guys from Photoshop TV refer to Camera Raw as well. Sounds like I am missing out on something. Am I?

[nwyman]

again, just a casual understanding of this on my part.
RAW is a shooting format - other formats are .tif, jpeg, .gif, etc. RAW files are larger than the others, and so is not often used on the P&S, or compact cameras.
Because it is so large, there is the opportunity for there to be lots of detail that is compressed in the smaller files. Therefore, the pros prefer to shoot in RAW and then edit on their own.

The original Photoshop did not deal much with RAW files, but the new edition CS2 is designed mostly for them.

Again, this is based on reading rather than personal experience, so I might not be one hundred percent on this.

[crn3371]

Raw is basically the raw, unprocessed, info coming from your camera's sensor. On most point and shoots, jpeg is your only option, and it comes with considerable in-camera processing (sharpening, white balance, contrast, saturation, etc.) An out of the camera jpeg might initially look better than a raw image, but the raw image will have much more latitude when it comes to post processing.