> I think that's why VSCode has gained so much traction. For coding it's got easily 90% of the same features as both vim and Emacs
Is that a joke? How can you possibly know this if you haven't used emacs for a start. Do you really think it has 90% of the features of a 35 year old project?
If emacs is difficult to set up on Windows you should stop using it. The awesome stuff you hear about is mostly the result of using emacs on an OS that is decent for development. But if you insist on staying in your prison then you'll have to put up with what Microsoft lets you have.
I have used vim for god knows who long, and I've tried Emacs several times for a few months at a time before giving up. So I do think that for coding VSCode absolutely has 90% of the features that both vim and emacs offer. Note how I said "for coding"? That's not an accidental or trivial part of my comment. For writing and managing code the feature-sets are on par in all three for sure and if you disagree then I am going to suggest to you that you actually give all three a try and focus only on coding and you'll see what I mean.
I should stop using Windows because a single application is difficult to set up? Throw out my entire OS with the plethora of other applications I use because a single application that has had 35 years to get its shit together simply won't work well? That's a reasonable position for sure!
Developing on Windows works absolutely fine, and if you wan't to talk about prisons and what "Microsoft lets me have" how about we talk about the WSL? They have no reason to include it in Windows but they do. A whole bunch of Linux software became available over night in a native Windows environment because of something Microsoft did. The ones who are digging their heels in at this point are all the *nix developers who refuse to support Windows as a first-class platform, so talk about being in a prison! Your software only works well on a subset of all operating systems.
> a single application that has had 35 years to get its shit together simply won't work well?
It's because the people that like emacs don't like Windows. You would see why if you would try something else. If you want emacs to work well on Windows, do it yourself. Nobody owes you anything.
Nobody owes me, and I'm not asking for anything. I'm just lamenting the fact that things are the way they are.
I use both Windows and Linux, which is precisely why I want to use an editor that's properly cross-platform instead of using separate editors or use one that's configured differently based on platform.
Maybe you should try Windows? It sounds like you could benefit from broadening your horizons a little bit.
I used Windows full time until ten years ago. Like many it was my first introduction to computers. I switched to Linux and never looked back even once. I've had to use Windows at work for the last 9 months and it's been an awful experience the whole time. Nothing has changed.
If there was no option for a free operating system I would stop using computers in an instant. I won't go back. Ever.
I've used emacs on windows in the past for quite a bit. I don't remember it being particularly hard to install, either the cygwin ir the native Windows emacs buid.
Is that a joke? How can you possibly know this if you haven't used emacs for a start. Do you really think it has 90% of the features of a 35 year old project?
If emacs is difficult to set up on Windows you should stop using it. The awesome stuff you hear about is mostly the result of using emacs on an OS that is decent for development. But if you insist on staying in your prison then you'll have to put up with what Microsoft lets you have.