If you really want to model then it is simple: Pick up a tool that you can afford and start learning it. Blender, Lightwave and XSI use some own ideas for the GUI and they all allow to work very fast and effectively.

If you ask me: I am happy to have a GUI without colored buttons. The Safari browser does not have colored buttons and Lightwave does not have. So they do not distract from your design.

But if you like tons of colored buttons and pure graphical interfaces then you can learn Truespace. It is the king of symbol-buttons and yes: if you learn them you can model very fast with it. I used to model much in Gamespace.

Buttons like in Max, Milkshape or MED are often too complicated, take too much time to go through menus and dialogues and are a break, not a short cut. They take time. Pressing buttons for simple tasks is not a good workflow.
But yes: those buttons are the reason why a beginner can learn and remember such a tool very fast. I understand that.

But if you want to become a pro then this is not important. Then you can work more efficiently with well-thought professional but still affordable tools like Silo, Modo, Blender, XSI and Lightwave.