Hi Sara and the community.  I have switched to Arduino 2.0 and am amazed at how bad it is … the purpose of this question is to correct my impressions!  So here are things I find incredibly backwards …
 
1) it takes 2x time longer to just come up
2) the serial monitor window is below the code which limits how much can be seen (the version 1 permitted a 2nd window to come up so one could expand that serial monitor window fully, and see the code window fully).
 
3) it takes at least 2x longer to just compile/link programs than version 1.
 
4) a simple bug fix, like forgetting a “;” at the end of a statement causes a complete re-compile, re-read of libraries, re-link … again 2x longer than previous versions
 
5) the editor is still poor – e.g. selecting a variable in the code doesn’t highlight all the other instances of this variable.  dumb IDE, still
 
6) during compile/link/download, there is a little window that appears to tell you it is compiling, which is nice, but it is blocking the current statement of what’s happening!  When there is an error, you can’t see it because of this dumb little window. 
 
So, am I just a novice in using this, or has Arduino taken a step backwards in making a good IDE?
 
Thank you for any comments.  — JoeM

Hi.
I’m still using the Arduino 1.8.x legacy version because I like it better than the new Arduino 2.0.
In my opinion, it’s not better than the 1.8 version for the ESP32.
I believe that for the actual Arduino board, it might be better, but not for the ESP32.
I recommend using the legacy version, at least for now.
Regards,
Sara

Thanks Sara … You confirm my conclusion.  Maybe someday they will hire good seasoned software people (instead of high schoolers?) to produce the next product 😉