I use Mac OS 10.6.2
I just downloaded Houdini 10.0 the free version.

I am watching an online tutorial and in my houdini, I do not have any icons like in the tut video. All clickable things are just gray boxes, you have to click and hold on an arrow to see what will pop out and what your options are.

I knew learning this beast was going to be difficult but this is ridiculous.

Are you talking about the problem described here?
http://www.sidefx.com/index.php?option=com_forum&Itemid=172&page=viewtopic&t=17585 [sidefx.com]