Pretty much anything made (or claimed to be made) by Microsoft is going to be pants. Frontpage is awful for creating efficient, well coded web sites, which is what you want if you want your site to load correctly across different systems and browsers (don't use frames!).
If you want a simple to use, intuitive package that still goves you the ability to create pretty much anything you can think up, Dreamweaver is the best option. You can get trials free from Macromedias site.
A basic understanding of HTML is definitely worth learning as it can save a lot of time and stress when you're trying to get something to look right through GUIs when all it needs is a TAG altering or moving.
Just my opinion though....