The filters should do what you describe here. Right-click on the filter button, to bring up the filter options dialog. Un-check the left-topmost button (hidden objects). Enable the filter by left-clicking the filter button in the main UI.
Well, same goes for Blender! Buttons are seperated in tabs too however, the "basic action" buttons are on your keyboard. Who needs to click a button to move anymore? That's part of the beauty that is Blender, not needing to access the GUI so much when building a mesh.