Sublime Text is as snappy as ever. I paid for it, too.

I really don’t understand the love for VSC. I give it a good go from time to time, because I figure I must be missing something. But I end up back with ST.

No. It is their actions which have shown that they are a different entity now, and are much more friendly towards the open source community, which has left a good impression. They are still a large entity, they still perform evil or brain-dead actions. None of that is marketing, it is simply strategic shifts that happen in large companies. It isn't there ms of old that people like to keep dredging up, and it is unhelpful that a vociferous anti ms crowd on HN considers this "defending", all this does is create polarisation. It is observing. Many of us have observed their changes. That is all.

A marketing campaign example of the type you refer to would be apple's "privacy" campaigns which convince people that privacy means giving up their privacy to their ecosystem. They are actively promoted and defended on HN. No mention of past misdeeds are entertained.

I just want the best tool for the job. Sometimes the best tools come from the worst companies, as I'm reminded of every month when Adobe take money from me.