Thanks for the recommendations, lol. This is somewhat answered by "VSC wasn't saving my files properly over a long period, and it pissed me off so badly that I just stopped caring about its features," but I will present it as a much longer thought exercise that kind of encompasses my feelings over technology development in the past four years. 

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The IDE editor you've used for the past however many years has exhibited bizarre behaviors, resulting in code you've worked on for hours not being saved randomly. You struggle to figure out if its happening or not. You ask other VSC users about this behavior. You get variations of "It works on my machine."

You haven't been able to figure this out, but you install Notepad++ on a whim for basic code editing because VSC is frustrating you so badly. You try another whim and open a directory in VSC and Notepad++. You see the bug happen in VSC code in real time by having your directories open in the two programs side by side.

You ask your friends what IDEs they use, and you keep hearing Visual Studio Code. You look up recommended general-purpose IDEs, and the top recommendation is Visual Studio Code, along with others you've never heard of. "This one's FOSS. This one's not FOSS but superior. This is too lightweight. It's incomparable to VSC but nice!"

You kind of stop caring. You just want your code to be saved. It’s all very frustrating. You try VSC again. You've reinstalled it from scratch, removed every extension, etc. You ask for advice. Once again, "It works on my machine. I use VSC, but these are IDEs I've heard of but don't use myself."

You open Notepad++ again and do more work in it. It works which is really all you desire. You'll probably switch to a new code editor one of these days, but why bother right now?

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TLDR: It boils down to the fact that I’ve become so irritated that I am now in an IDGAF mode. I  don't really care about Microsoft. To see my irritation with Microsoft as a result of me not "wanting to deal with Microsoft" is a failure to understand the depth/source of my irritation especially since I use things like Github. I still like philosophies around Microsoft/Xbox development/promotion in some respects. I think they make cool shit, but I hate things that break and Microsoft does not care if their stuff breaks. This isn't really just Microsoft though, but I just get really mad at them because they are a big corporation who can afford to keep their software tight.

To add on, Notepad++ being a "scythe," as you call it, is a breath of fresh air. I have been irritated with software for the past 4 years really. From constantly switching search engines because they start to immolate themselves (I don't know how people use Google still), to game engines/tools I use introducing errors, etc. I don't really need a lawn mower to cut a tiny section of grass. I kind of embraced this more as I have friends who are really fantastic programmers who work in things that are even simpler than Notepad++ (terminal-based editors).

Of course, I'll eventually be forced to use another general-purpose IDE, but I don't really need one right now and often make quick edits to my code on the fly. I also do a lot of my programming work in fully fledged game engines like Godot (and RPG Maker). They have their own environments, and I just use Notepad++ as a basic code editor for them.

EDIT: Also I do hate Microsoft but it must be understood that I think all of Silicon Valley should be boiled under a magnifying glass. I also am saying I would not totally stop using a Microsoft product because it's Microsoft lol though I am slowly Becoming That way as a result of Microsoft's failures.