Am I stuck in the dark ages ???

You don't need any new software to create drop down menus.

You better stick with your proven setup. There's not much difference in software (unless you planning to start using 3D manipulation) regarding the needs you've been using it to fulfill before. More unused day-by-day tools cramming your toolset just means more distractions will get on your way.

Drop down menus can be done with CSS or javascript. You don't need Dreamweaver for this. I would say you don't need Dreamweaver at all, if you want to be in charge of your website's code.

I agree. Stick with the setup that you feel most comfortable with. You don't need new software. You can search for some great examples of CSS-driven drop down menus and borrow the code. Or if you want to save time, you can purchase snippets of code from CodeCanyon.net.

if you are not a php fan, you can try asp.net and for that visual studio would be best..

I'd say upgrade...
(even if you can do the same with older tools)

Because:

It's your craft, you want to get better at your game so you can make more money in the future, right?
Besides DW5.5 has some nice html5 tools and many many other goodies you'll want to use, specially making sites for other people.

Well, to be honest, it's not always about what tools you use, but how you use them as well.

And as we all know, the most powerful tool is not the most updated version, but your mind itself.

I personally use MS notepad, Firebug plugin for Firefox and Photoshop CS3 when I design.

I would recommend taking your time with tutorials so you'd be able to create more and more projects (for example, I recommend PSDgraphics.com - they too have tutorials and resources for creating menus, I think. Please do Google it yourself to confirm your curiosity. )

Also, try investing more time on getting to know the basics of CSS and html, so you can also know how they work without depending much on softwares (it's very d-a-n-g-e-r-o-u-s depending too much on 'em!)

I hope this helps and I do hope all goes well with you.

Cheers,
tyroneoda

Well I'm sat here with a 11 year old mac running Studio 8 and CS2, and 6 month mac running CS5.5. Obviously later version has many more interesting and useful tools, esp Photoshop. Difference between versions of Dreamweaver is more nuanced. 8 works with css very well (ignore the tables comment above, obviously DW8 is css driven out of the box). It copes OK with .js libraries, and in DW8 the page might be a mess where content is in say tabs or an accordion, but you preview in a modern browser to see the results anyway. However, dynamic sites are easier to build in new version, and it comes with SPRY for quick and efficient AJAX elements, plus Adobe seem to be using jQuery more and more.

There is one other thing to consider. You could keep your current set up and still produce quality work for your clients. But you might need to work with others, either in a studio environment or perhaps others will send you files to work on. Not having the skills might hold you back, and believe me its very very annoying receiving that document from new whizzy version and having to phone the client to ask them to downsave it.

Final quick thought. I started programming in '81 on a machine that filled a small room. I'm still a code monkey. But I don't go along with the 'all you need is notepad and to know what cascading actually means' attitude. We're building graphical, interactive content. Graphical, interactive tools make that easier and much quicker.