Well, I've done some more research online & have confirmed my suspisions. Most camera companies (especially Nikon) do not share their RAW data file conversion. This means that when opening RAW in Photoshop, Aperture, Lightroom, etc., the program will open the RAW file as best it can, but doesn't know how to apply the additional 'in-camera' adjustments... such as added saturation, added sharpness, manually controlled white balance, etc.
I've ended up shooting RAW+jpg... this way, if I need to edit a RAW further, I can use the cumbersome Nikon Capture NX program.
Chad - I've tried Photochop CS3, but the same thing... doesn't interpret the data correctly.
Here are 2 samples of what I mean, the dull images are the RAW file opened in photoshop, the vibrant image is a jpg direct from the camera with no editing done.
(there's gotta be a better way to set up a workflow)