It’s been 2+ years since the introduction of the modern GnuPG 2.1 branch. Unfortunately, there is still no Windows UI for this product.
Tech users are rapidly evolving to utilize only point and click interfaces on their computers and mobile devices. Having a valuable encryption tool stuck in CLI mode is unfortunate.
Outside of a small % of my business correspondence, resistance to GnuPG email encryption is very high. Personal acquaintances have long ago decided that this form of file and email encryption is too “geeky” and unfriendly to use.
Not being critical of the development team, which is tiny. I get it. I am just expressing concern for the future.
As a solitary private tool, the CLI is just fine for those who have the inclination to learn. For those who lack patience, or seek encryption for social networking purposes, this project has lost its appeal.
GnuPG itself is the engine to build user friendly crypto tools. GnuPG 2.0 offers a very solid basis which is fully maintained. For a crypto engine it is very important to be conservative in its assumptions, this is why 2.0 is still the recommended production version.
Nevertheless I agree with you that we need better tools with usability. The GnuPG and Gpg4win teams have been working on this more intensively for the last 18 months. This has been possible because more users have (voluntarily) paid for GnuPG and Gpg4win and because of contract from the German Federal Agency for IT-Security, see https://wiki.gnupg.org/Gpg4win
Especially the goal of the EasyGPG contract is to develop an improved trust-model and pubkey distribution concept that is the basis for a better crypto user, experience, see https://wiki.gnupg.org/WKD . This webkey directory and webkey service is now being implemented by first clients and email providers. It can help end-to-end crypto to a better user experience.
(Note that GnuPG was always geared towards possible offline communication for things like email and files. Online communication like TLS has a different profile.)