Well, there are three approaches for quick viewing and processing that I can think of. They've each been mentioned, I'll just try to put them together in a nutshell!
One thing to deal with is that when you shoot an image, the camera will apply some processing to produce a jpeg that will have a "pleasing" look, What processing is applied depends on your in-camera settings: Picture Styles influence Contrast, Saturation and Sharpening, some Color considerations, and then an "under the hood curve", and then there are things like White Balance and Noise Reduction and then things like Auto Light Optimizer and other features, none of which are encoded in the Raw data. In most Raw processors all of that is ignored except for the Wite Balance, which can be fairly easily "interpreted".
As a result, the initial "preview" of a Raw file in Raw processors will be different from an out-of-camera jpeg, and that throws a lot of people off -- they want the "pop" of a jpeg, and they want it now!
So, if you want the pop of a jpeg right away, then your options:
If you shoot Raw+jpeg, you can store the jpegs in a "quick view" folder and you can then check them out in any image viewer. Make sure you have your in-camera Picture Style set appropriately for the scene, and that you have fine-tuned your Contrast, Saturation, Sharpness, and White Balance/Color Tones if needed, and then you will have jpegs that will have a decent "pop".
The problem with this is having to deal with jpeg "copies", and you will likely want to put your Raw files into a different folder so that they won't "get in the way" of your jpeg viewing, but at least you will have good, quick access to those jpegs.
Another approach is also quick, but requires the use of the Canon software, either ZoomBrowser for just viewing the Raw shots, or Digital Photo Professional (DPP) for both viewing and processing the Raw files. DPP is, in my opinion, the best for this because you can use it to quickly convert a Raw into a jpeg. But, there is an advantage to ZoomBrowser in that it only "sees" the "embedded" jpeg in the Raw file, meaning that it can give you a quick view. DPP on the other hand starts out by processing the Raw data to give you a "true" rendering of the Raw (with your in-camera settings applied to that preview).
Now, if you consider that last bit, you will see the very nice feature about DPP -- even though it is working with the Raw data, it applies those in-camera settings, so that what you see in the DPP preview is a "jpeg-like" image, very nice for a quick view, and then with DPP you could also offer a quick jpeg that will have the "stuff", the pop! Very nifty for that, although it does require the step of using Convert and Save or Batch processing, and also it involves the "rendering" process to view the preview, which can take time when you are dealing with a folder with a "bunch" of Raw photos. That is a consideration when you are trying to show friends/family a batch of Raw shots, and so makes ZoomBrowser or Raw+jpeg a real consideration.
Now, if you are going to stick with Photoshop CS5 (or Lightrooom or Aperture), then you have to realize that when it comes to showing previews, these are "Raw only" in that they won't show the embedded jpeg like ZoomBrowser, and they won't apply the in-camera Picture Style and the other settings. As a result, you won't get the "jpeg pop" look, but rather the built-in processing of the chosen software that will likely tend to look a bit "muted".
Like I said, that tends to throw people off when they are getting started!
And, the other Raw processors, like DPP, use the Raw data to develop a preview, so a "quick viewing" will be slower than a batch of jpegs...
But, in the same way that DPP gives you the ability to work with and process the Raw files, so do the other Raw processors. And, with the other processors, even though you start with a "muted" look, you can quickly determing "what works" with one file, and apply that to a batch of files. With Adobe Camera Raw, you can choose a Calibration "profile", and then whatever adjustments work to give it some "pop", and then apply those settings to a batch of files that have similar requirements, then if you wish do whatever cropping or tweaks on individual image, and from there you can use Bridge and either Export or Image Processing to dump out finished jpegs, and there you go!
So, is there a "best" way? Well, that's really up to you! I would personally prefer to come back each evening and dump my Raw shots into a laptop, and then run them through my Raw processor -- I use Lightroom, but occasionally for the "quick" stuff I use DPP. Then, each evening I'd have only the jpegs that I want to "show", and they would be typically at a "Web viewing" size. From there I'd use my camera to format my card, and I'm ready for tomorrow!
Backup would be another consideration. What if the laptop dies? Well, that is certainly a consideration! Three approaches would be 1) having enough high-capacity memory card that you could set one aside without formatting once it's full, 2) having a portable external drive or other device that can store all your shots (while having your "working library" on the laptop, or 3) burning each day's shooting on DVDs. Then you can choose whether to keep the DVDs in say, a motel room. Or, some folks go the step of mailing/shipping their disks "home", to someone who can receive them and then, well, whatever.
Well, 'nough said from me
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