I used vim for a long time, i3wm fanboy, but 8 years ago I switch to MacOS and PyCharm.
I know why I switched, but now, with the entire AI race, new tools popping in and out, I want just to relax and go back to my initial love.
So, can neovim still compete with any IDE out there?
However, I got lost. Every IDE is different. I felt very restricted. This is not the problem of Zed (or any IDE) but this is how they are compared to hand-crafted Neovim installation. They just can't compare.
Neovim is simple but extensible. I have designed it over years to match my workflow and tools precisely. The specific combinations and the key mappings are hand-crafted for me. This didn't happen overnight, it took me years to build up my Vim usage workflow.
Another thing that makes Neovim irreplaceable for me is, it is terminal native. I'm always on the terminal, usually with multiple tabs and multiple window panes. It gives me so much flexibility. For example I use Kitty terminal emulator, I have 4 tabs open. Neovim, OpenCode, LazyGit, and another window that I just do general tasks...
Also Vim has incredible and active community. I don't know if IDE extensions can be as good as "Obsidian.nvim" plugin for integrating Notes for example.
One winning aspect of IDEs for me is debugging. I never set up a debugging setup with my Neovim installation.
Even, without any plugins, I just like the raw vim experience. I'm used to it -- but each to their own...