Looking for tips and advice on properly imaging Macs

I've been reading for the past few months about InstaDMG. I think the idea behind it is absolutely great. It's very much like the way Windows allows one to sysprep PCs. I recently started working in IT at a university and without getting into too much detail let me just say that Macs get limited support (there's no imaging of Macs, there's no way to manage them the way PCs are, etc). I plan on changing that. My first goal is to create a proper image using InstaDMG and I've been looking at threads, posts, articles and even videos that I've found on this site. A lot of informative stuff. I am unfortunately unable to test anything out until I get a Mac to work with (which should hopefully be soon enough). But I have a few questions which maybe you folks can help me with. 1. I keep hearing that I should use the latest OS X disc to create my image. One video (Karl Kheun from Uni of Utah on iTunes U) mentioned that I should be using a "retail" or "reference" disc. What exactly is the "reference" disc? Would I be able to use those gray OS X 2-disc set (the recovery disks) that come with new iMacs in the keyboard box? I understand those discs are particular to that Mac model it came with, but I don't know if they can be used for the InstaDMG process of creating an image. 2. There are a few programs for Macs that we offer staff: Office 2008 (can't wait until the new version comes out), SPSS 18 (or PASW 18). And a few departments have licenses for Final Cut Pro and Adobe CS4/5. I might want to throw in a few other free applications like (FireFox, etc). How complicated is the process of creating packages that contain these applications in the image (especially those already licensed)? I've heard of a few programs that I should use: Package Maker (where can I download this?), Packages (made by same guy who makes Iceberg), Composer (http://www.jamfsoftware.com/products/composer), any others that you may recommend? What's your experience with this? Can you provide links (I can't seem to find Package Maker online, it refers to some really old software which I don't think is compatible with OS 10.6). 3. I've yet to deal with Apple directly, but I know companies like Dell or HP will send computers pre-imaged (assuming you supply them the image you want them to use). Does Apple do this? Do I simply need to contact their corporate office to get this worked out? If not, how do you guys handle the setup of new Macs? At what point do they get imaged with the customized image you've created? 4. To deploy images, what software is recommended? I've heard a lot about Apple's System Image Utility and DeployStudio. Any others? 5. Lastly, I don't know much about scripting on either PC or Macs, will this severely limit my ability to create images for Macs using InstaDMG? Any advice or trips are greatly appreciated.