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For comparison, I just opened up an org-mode file in Aquamacs (Emacs with macOS native GUI) and it weighs in at 105MB, which is actually lower than I would have guessed.

I am running Emacs on macOS, and it only takes 43 MB barebones, and my regular setup takes about 81 MB. Both opening the same org-mode file. Point being that it really depends on what you choose to run on Emacs, and it does not have to be about 100 MB.

Just to add to that, I don't think anyone should be concerned about their text editor taking 200 MB anymore. I doubt it is worth worrying about.

If the electron apps that I ran were the main programs I'm using and weigh in at 200 MiB, I wouldn't worry. But they're mostly background apps - chat, music - that should be using limited resources since I want them on all the time without inhibiting me. Genuine background tasks. And they're using a lot more than 200 MiB.

(I use PhpStorm and Visual Studio Pro and Rider as my main foreground apps. If Jetbrains products used a mere 200 MiB, I would be worried that something had broken and reset them or reinstall them. But they're not text editors.)

It can do A LOT more than editing text.

I’m under the impression it’s striving to be an IDE.