Adobe Illustrator, although the "industry standard" for years and years, especially for professional graphics work - is a program I have, have used, and don't use anymore. IMHO - Illustrator sucks.

Don't get me wrong its feature rich - but if you're familiar with say creating bevels in Photoshop, its not too hard, but its a multi-step process. With Serif or Xara its a one-two step process.

Don't knock Serif or Xara because of the extremely low prices.

Adobe products are priced way out of reality.

Don't think you need to graduate to Illustrator - in fact, it more like getting a demotion than a graduation. Just my honest opinion.