Whoa!! and I thought that was a simple question...

I'll take it that the answer is no, there is no officially preferred option

many thanks to all who responded, I shall look into the nominated alternatives


with respect to emergence, I have no particular allegiance here, I just started using it.  I will say that so far, so good.  The documentation is reasonable for a beginner, though it could be better.  I have yet to venture into the forums (you need to register first, and they screen your application) 

Thanks for the various heads up, but I tend to lurk more than anything as most forums seem to have a number highly active and responsive members who are far more skilled/experienced than I (and I tend to avoid rabid or elitist groups like the plague - I just can't be bothered with that sort of nonsense)

FWIW, I'm also working with FBSL, and it's driving me crazy!! 

I'm a braille programmer (no, I'm not vision impaired, and apologies to any who might be offended by that) - that is to say, I code by bumping into things (often repeatedly).  I usually have the editor and the help file open side by side and switch between the 2 as I go (I seem to spend a lot more time in the help files...).   

The FBSL documentation is probably fine for someone who already has another language under their belt, but I'm really struggling with it.

of course this has nothing to do with the original thread, but I really needed to vent <end rant...>