I never had HTML editor on my computer until today when purchased by mistake. I've always had the VSD green icon with the graphing tools. At the top of the menu there was a simple prompt and you put the URL in. I notice in HTML Editor you have a screen that takes up half the page and there proxies, options, and other hula. The other format in VSD was simpler, you input the URL, and watched it all load visually in VSD. You could also then DRAG and DROP this person's website, play with the graphics, make icons bigger or smaller from the visual side. This from what I have seen in HTML editor is not possible (correct me if wrong) unless you go into the code and tweak with it. You can't drag or drop their webpage in any form. I liked my old VSD because if I needed rounded corners I could take a sample website, play with sizes, change the colors and add to my website. So, I'm currently trying to find older versions since maybe that's what I had.
VSD has NEVER had that ability. It is actually impossible to open an existing website in the software. The feature you are describing is called Open From Web and that came with our HTML Editor. Visual Site Designer does not nor ever did have that feature. Trust me, I know.
Our HTML Editor does come with a visual editing component. You maybe getting that confused with Visual Site Designer.