page template / theme / framework…(confused) Best way to develop theme,

After reading so many blogs about theme I am really confused.

1.what is proper way to develop a theme ??? which softwares/tools will i need ??? (i would like to use jQueryUI AJAX etc… later)
http://lifehacker.com/5890139/how-to-create-a-custom-theme-for-your-wordpress-blog-with-minimal-coding-required << what about this method ..

2.how to design page templates after designing the theme,
mine page template will be landing page, product page template, services page template, blog post template 1,2,3 etc.
I will also need to enable/disable commenting for template is it possible ? or will i need to do it separately for each page/post ??

3.what is framework exactly ??
installed pagelines its looking like another CMS over wp-cms.