[vidarh]

Next to nothing of what VS code does depends on it running in a browser other than to the extent VS Code has made it so.

It's not special. If anything it's one of the most clunky editor I've used because it tries to shoehorn everything into a convoluted UI. It's because my time matters to me I avoid VS Code as much as possible.

The problem with VS Code is not that it's too slow, or too memory hungry. It could use far less, sure. And it could do so without losing any of the things about it that makes me dislike it.

[jillesvangurp]

Markdown and html, image, and other previews, documentation, connectivity, it's a lot more than you think.

If you don't like it, use something else of course. But there are valid reasons for it being browser based and a lot of people choose to use it at this point.

[vidarh]

None of which requires VS code itself to be browser based, and of which do not benefit much from using a browser.

A lot of people choosing to use it is besides the point being made, which is not that people won't use it, but that it could be a lot leaner without sacrificing functionality.

[nox101]

there are other advantages to running in the browser. The fact that the editor is written in JavaScript/Typescript html/css means it runs in any browser. It's why there's been an explosion of online IDEs like codesandbox.io, stackblitz, github codespaces, google code cloud, repl.it and 100s of others.