Many years ago I was a Sublime Text user and looked at new text editors given Sublime had not been receiving updates. The most popular editor these days is Visual Studio Code. When I tried it in 2021 I could not use it because it would flicker on my 4K monitor when I scrolled. I suppose I should not have been shocked when it was still buggy in 2024.

Why It Matters

The most popular product is not always the best one. Managers, coders, and others often have an instinct to go with the technology that everyone else is using. There are some advantages to this: usually it is well supported, easier to find documentation, and lots of folks can help you when you have issues. However, there is no promise popular software packages are good quality.

My Visual Studio Code Issue List

• Liveshare terminal does not accurately display. It both splits text and declines to fully fill my window.
• CodeSpaces will fail to connect or fully integrate with VSCode
• The UI for git is generally confusing.
• Sometimes the files sidebar fails to populate.

Panic Nova is my Editor of Choice

Microsoft eventually fixed the 4K monitor flickering issue but I ended up going with VSCode. A “Mac assed Mac app” this editor from Panic software follows many of the familiar MacOS interface conventions I am used to, and is quite performant. It may not have quite the extension library of VSCode, and does not have the collaboration features, but it does everything else I need it to well. Although it is a paid product, I have learned that customer support is much more responsive when you pay for a product.