What is the best web page design software for beginners? The local vo-tech pushes FrontPage. What is best to learn on and what is most user friendly?

Learn HTML/XML/Javascript/PHP/.NET/ASP/C# and just use a text editor. [:)]

Opinions vary, of course, but FrontPage is likely to be as good as any you will find. If you can run a word processor, you can probably make it work for the basics, and then build your skills as you need them. I used it for my site and that contains something like 10,000 pages and 800 megabytes.

I like Macromedia Dreamweaver, you can download a free trial from their site and they even include a tutorial.
[url=http://www.macromedia.com/cfusion/tdrc/index.cfm?product=dreamweaver]Dreamweaver download site[/url]

I use notepad, but vi is probably as good.

I did a few sites with Frontpage, and it was real easy to learn. There were a few things to clean up after, but it works well for beginners.  How complex do you want to make your site?

I use the Composer in the older version of Netscape for basic type stuff.

I agree with slickbt, Dreamweaver is definitely the way to go.  There is almost no reason to hand code anymore(except for tweaking stuff).  It takes way too long and the new Dreamweaver MX is pretty good at using IE and Netscape compatible code.  Also, Frontpage is based on using Frontpage extensions or a Windows based server.  I don't think those Windows guys understand that Unix is just plain better.  Dreamweaver is very versatile depending on your needs.  You can use it to edit just one page or you can update a whole site.  Dreamweaver is also intertwined with Fireworks, for editing graphics.  I would recommend checking it out.