My two cents worth:
Decide what you want the gun for, find a size that works for you, find a caliber in that size, find a gun in the caliber that fits your hand well and that you're comfortable with, get a quality holster and lots of practice ammo and go to the range.
I've got a Glock 21SF and I really don't like it- too big, too heavy, not easily concealable, wrong grip angle, etc. For general CCW I prefer a lightweight Commander sized 1911- lightweight 1911s use an alloy frame for weight reduction and traditionally a 4.25" barrel (Kimber and a couple of others use a 4" barrel). Standard Government model is 5". Springfield and a few others make them in a railed version too but they're harder to find (it's next on my list of guns to get). I grew up shooting them, they fit my hand well, they point naturally to me, and I'm comfortable with them. Being flat they conceal especially well; even more so if you carry inside the waist band. Even skinny people can often conceal them well with a proper holster.
I like .45s but they WILL NOT rip an arm off- they may take off a finger or something, but that's about it. They do put decent sized holes in things though (yes, I've seen more than one person with a hole punched in them and from various calibers- no, I'm by no means and expert nor do I claim to be). As they say, a 9mm may expand, but a .45 won't shrink- there's some truth to that but I still use quality hollow point bullets in whatever I'm carrying. I prefer Speer Gold Dots as they receive consistently good ratings and they are reliable in my guns, but there are some other good rounds out there including the Winchester Rangers. You'll need to figure out what your particular gun likes and shoots best.
For the house I use a Glock 19 with a Streamilight TLR1 mounted on it. I also carry the 19 sometimes- while I prefer a .45, I'm not adverse to the 9mm by any stretch, particularly with good ammo. It's about the perfect sized 9mm (other than that grip angle); Glock also makes .40s in that frame size. The .45 and 10mm Glocks use a larger frame. Glocks are a love/hate thing for me. I've learned to like them and I love them for their reliability and simplicity. I hate their grip angle and aesthetically they're all but offensive. They're blocky and I don't think they conceal as well as some other guns, but something like a Comptac Minotaur does a pretty good job. If my 1911 or one of my Sigs had a rail I'd use them instead but they don't.
I personally do not like the .40. I've tried to like it, but I just don't. No matter what type of gun, it seems to have more muzzle flip than the 9mm (makes sense since it's a hotter load) while the .45 is more of a "push" to me. Either way I find it harder to get fast follow up shots with the .40. I'm by no means recoil sensitive, I just don't like the way it shoots. If you're happy with the .40 then by all means it's not a bad cartridge, I just don't like it.
I like the Springfield Armory XD series. They feel much better in the hand than Glocks which makes sense when you realize they approximated the grip angle of the 1911. They also rounded them off better. There are fewer options for them though.
I don't like S&W automatics- again, personal preference. Let me rephrase that, I don't like most S&W autos. I have one of their 1911s (an ES model) and it's a very nice gun for the money. It's been dead nuts reliable and it's as accurate as most other 1911s I've shot; more so than many out the box. Their M&P series are good guns; I just like the simplicity of the Glock and the aftermarket support. I'm sure I'm biased against them based on their earlier autos too. I need to get over that I suppose but haven't really had a need to.
I like Sigs. The Sig 250 is supposedly a POS. I love the way they feel and they are generally very accurate. I like most of them I've ever shot and would love to have a P228 some day. I've shot IDPA with a stock P220 and a stock P226 before and done well. They are a bit bulky though. Sigs are expensive as are the magazines for them.
I like most Berettas but they are generally larger than I like. I have a 92 with a great trigger on it and it's very accurate but it's overly large for a 9mm in my opinion. It's way too large for CCW. I have no personal experience with the model you posted but it should be a good gun.
I'm not a fan of Walthers although supposed they make a good gun these days. I haven't shot most of their newer offerings but I do like the PPK/s if for no other reason than I can walk around saying “Bond, James Bond”. With their fixed barrels they tend to be very accurate, limited more by their small sights. .380 is considered marginal for self defense these days even though .25s, .32s and .380s were the standard semiautos in Europe and America for years.
I don't like most Ruger centerfire autos- overly big and heavy. I love the Ruger LCP- it's everything a .380 pocket gun should be although I'd have made the sights a tad larger. It's smaller and feels better in the hand to me than the S&W .380s. Not my first choice in a CCW, but they do carry well when you need something small and light. I carry one hiking a lot.
I don't like Taurus and their customer service has apparently gotten worse. They just don't feel right in my hands and they are hard to get a good trigger pull on.
HK is too damn expensive, their customer service sucks if you're not law enforcement, and basically they have an attitude that you suck if you're not law enforcement or military. They do make some sweet guns though. I love the old P7s (Hans used either a P7 or P13 in the original Die Hard; can't remember off the top of my head which)! Expensive, heavy and they heat up quickly when practicing though.
There are plenty of other manufacturers and most produce at least one serviceable model. Some I like some I don't.
Nothing wrong with a good revolver and S&W still makes a good one. That picture you posted is a very nice blue box gun! I like S&W's 442/642 series for CCW. .357 in a lightweight snub nose is pretty brutal. They aren't fun to practice with and they tend to impart a flinch to shooters who don't shoot a lot. In my opinion, with that short barrel you aren't gaining enough to justify the increased noise, muzzle flash and follow up shot times. I'll stick to Speer's Short Barreled loading in .38 +P.
Whatever you get, make sure you're comfortable with it. If you like the gun you'll be more inclined to shoot it more often and develop better habits. Practice, practice, practice.
