Will a SSD make game installation smoother?

I just bought the parts for a new PC and know I'm going to be installing a lot of games. My current computer slows to an absolute crawl during game installation, so I've been thinking ahead.

I was wondering if I bought a SSD for the OS alone (32GB) and actually installed the games on the HDD if it would make the installation process easier. Would my computer be more usable while installing games?

Or does my computer only slow down because of the processor usage? (even though task manager only shows 30% or so)

ALSO:

Can I store programs on the HDD and still run them in Windows? I'm not exactly sure how the Program Files folders would be set up. I use some pretty monster programs like AutoCad and Revit, so I'm obviously not going to be able to store them on the 32GB SSD with the OS. So will they still run? Will they show up in the Control Panel as installed?

bump for the afternoon pros.