[joshmanders]

In the context of Node.js, where op said, yes it is easier. But it's a new thing and most people don't realize timers in Node are awaitable yet, so the other way is less about "works everywhere" and more "this is just what I know"

[wereHamster]

I guess most Node.js developers also don't realize that there's "node:fs/promises" so you don't have to use callbacks or manually wrap functions from "node:fs" with util.promisify(). Doesn't mean need to stick with old patterns forever.

When I said 'in the context of Node.js' I meant if you are in a JS module where you already import other node: modules, ie. when it's clear that code runs in a Node.js runtime and not in a browser. Of course when you are writing code that's supposed to be portable, don't use it. Or don't use setTimeout at all because it's not guaranteed to be available in all runtimes - it's not part of the ECMA-262 language specification after all.