Add Meshes like in 3ds Max How can I create objects like in 3ds Max?  Like creating a cube, the first click and drag defining the start of the cube, the release of the drag giving the size of the base and the third click giving the height.  I prefur this over just being given a default size cube.
You cannot.
Blender is different software, it does not work identically to other 3d packages. It might not be very reasonable to expect it to.
What you could do is set the pivot point to cursor and use the scale cage tool:

Or you could set the transform pivot to 3d cursor and scale after setting the cursor to cube's sides with s operator that might be more convenient for using numeric keyboard input in operation because you don't need to hold the mouse down: