I REALLY do like Platformio with VSC. I tip my hat to the people who wrote it. It’s fast, modular, has this sleek modern-looking interface, etc. And the best thing is, it’s totally bucks/pounds/roubles/pesos/shekels free. Just my two cents.
On a different topic, I think I am not alone with this slowness. There is another user here:
Just my two cents.