Running programs

In the days before Windows I used a program that would open and run other programs without first having to key in the command line, making it quick and easy to use the computer. The program, QuikMenu, used a graphical interface similar to windows but being dos based could only run one program at a time, the only problem was that you had to type in the command line and create a menu item. Then came windows where I didn't even have to type in the command line to access the program. Also installing the program became far easier an intuitive, i.e., you no longer needed to be a programmer to use the computer. Linux is slowly (very slowly) going this way so when are we going to see something comparable in Linux. At present I'm using Freespire, the peasants version of Linspire which I find does a reasonable job but I haven't been able to add any programs to the those that came with the package. The installer CNR doesn't seem to work or is not intuitive enough as yet.