10.5.8 to 10.7 upgrade considerations?

Question

As background, I own an iMac that was purchased April 2007. When 10.6 released I purchased the disk for the OS upgraded, called Apple to inquire about the upgrade and first level support basic response was "we all need to backup our data". I waited for information regarding the 10.6 upgrade to begin posting regarding incompatibility. At such time, I realized my PDA with software being used for my business would be deactivated in the upgrade to 10.6.  along with a couple of cross over games would also be lost. So despite having an upgrade disk to 10.6 I did not install it. (Had I simply rushed into installing 10.6, I would have lost the pda which would have really been a major unwanted surprise.)
Now with Lion becoming available next month, I am considering upgrading (the iMac) to 10.6 and than securing 10.7. However while I am aware of the loss of a couple of games and my ability to sync my PDA, I am also concerned regarding other items; drivers for my Canon Pro 9000 printer, my Brothers laser printer, and my Canon flat bed scanner.  My drivers for these peripherals all work in 10.5.8.  My first question with these drivers working in 10.5.8 continue to work in 10.6? I also have installed Photoshop CS3 and CS4.
My next question is I use Aperture 2.1, will it remain available since having been upgraded to 3.0, not only in 10.6 but also in 10.7? Also 10k plus photographs that are copied to a 2nd external drive.
I also own an iPod Touch 2nd generation, all my music is on the iMac and iTunes has not been upgraded to v. 10 because I simply didn't like the social concept of Ping. Are there any considerations here beyond upgrading to iTunes 10 which I am reasonably confidant would be a necessity if upgrading to 10.7
Being proactive, if I am to install 10.7 I would like to know what else I might consider and also any further impacts to drivers, apps I might consider. Input and suggestions would be appreciated. 
Thank you!

Answer 1

Jeff,
Thanks for sharing you were/are concerned as well.
I can certainly appreciate what your saying within the scope of the investment 1 1/2 years ago. More than likely Adobe will be happy to pump out another Creative Suites at 64 bits once Lion is out and about.
I spent a great deal of my evening going through my list of applications and hardware and when I checked out Aperture's Community (2.1.4) my hesitance renewed itself with additional vigor. I was feeling hopeful after establishing a couple of drivers would run and couple of others would need to be installed. Also got a chuckle at the website for the laser printer when realizing their step by step process regarding updating using a USB connection. The unplug series (power, usb) and than replugging process. One critical step was forgotten, the step that said "install the pckg"
Anyway, reading issues people have had with 10.6 upgrade in relationship to Apple's Aperture raised my level of concern while I do restoration work and some minor tweaks with photographs via Photoshop, Aperture is my primary app for my photography.
I'm continue to mull and will continue research through my other apps, perhaps I will come to a decision. My external drives (2) are pretty much occupied with TM on one and my photography and business on the other. So while running 10.6 from an external drive is a possibility, repartitioning either of my drives is an option I will pass on while buying another external drive is out of the question.
Best of luck with the exploration of 10.7!