I use Xsitepro and Wordpress. They are both excellent software. Wordpress is traditionally a blogging software but you can create a static website with it as well. Xsitepro is completely designed for the beginner so anyone using it can have a great site up in no time. Self-hosted Wordpress can be a little more complicated to install and get completely setup (with plugins) but it's also a great option.
What kind of site do you want to build? What Operating system are you using? What hosting platform are you going to be using? Do you want to use a cms or have a static site? We really need more information than what you provided. I am under the assumption that younare completely new to this. So the first thing you should do is learn some HTML, CSS and hack away.
I build all my websites in Dreamweaver. And i don´t miss those days when i made everything in Notebook
I agree with Xsitepro/Wordpress, but as mentioned, some more information about what type of site you are trying to build would be really helpful
Websitex5 is a solution for newbs that want to build horrible things . Use Dreamweaver to it's full potential and you'll see what it can do .
This article discuss the software and other things that you need to create a website from scratch http://monstertut.com/web-design-software-domain-name-and-hosting-account/