It makes a lot of difference to newbies that there's a complete package that they can snag from the www and give the architecture a try.

As compared with other (perhaps not so prolific) architectures, the 805x has few "complete" packages of the sort that newbies are probably accustomed to seeing. I've seen a lot of 805x "crippleware", i.e. demo packages limited to a small amount of memory space, or something on that order, while PIC users and AVR fans don't seem to run into that as often.

I'm not dependent on an IDE myself, as I don't use 'C' with MCU's. However, it is "handy" to have an IDE, just so you "know" you're within the otherwise unfamiliar environment. It gives that feeling of "comfort," though it may not be warranted.

RE