I live in central Pa. and have a cedar deck on my house, which is three years old and has had two coats of Cuprinol deck finish applied to it. After a good scrubbing this spring it seems most all the Cuprinol color (an orange) is gone except where the wood did not weather so much.

Questions: do I need to apply a deck finish?  Why? What if I like the look of raw cedar? How can I get that with a deck finish.  Can I leave the deck unprotected? What other products are there that will protect, but not give me an orangeish finish color? How long will the finish last?  If the cedar is not finished will it split, warp, rot, or what ?