I worked at pirating a copy of Ableton Live 5. Wicked software I highly recommend it. I have them all: Guitar Tracks Pro, Reason, etc. but I prefer Live.
Just practise and challenge yourself. I can't stress that enough. Most people play for years and never develop because they never practise and they play the same music, the same types of songs. One of my fellow teachers has been playing for thirteen years and plays the way I did in my first six months.
Pick the hardest and coolest songs to learn, something that will make you want to spend hours trying to perfect it. When I started I chose the 10 greatest guitar solos of all time, and worked at them one by one.
i just picked up a couple new books today.
the johnny cash is all pretty easy and should give me some good strumming practice. the nirvana is mostly easy with some nice difficult parts thrown in for a challenge.