Code is not based on atom, it's based on Electron, which is the runtime (node+webkit without the UI chrome).

VSCode has lower typing latency and a more considered system for building / debugging / code completion. Atom has a richer plugin api and has been around longer so it has more plugins. I've done basic plugins for both and plan on using/developing for VSCode but I've been too lazy to write Vim bindings and not willing to use the editor without them.

You may want to try my vim extension for VSCode - amVim. It works best on VSCode's insiders build now. I'm planning a big update as soon as VSCode releases 1.0(which is said to be 4/14)

Thanks for making amVim. It's the only usable vim extension right now. It's a shame you aren't being featured on the marketplace

Glad you like it. I'm using it everyday at work. I implemented all commands I use regularly and make sure they work well.

Nitpick, Electron is Node + Chromium (not webkit).

Visual Studio Code is NOT based on Atom, it is based on Electron[1], a wrapper around V8/Node for the creation of desktop apps. Atom is also based on Electron (and the Electron project is run largely by the Atom people), but other than that the projects use entirely separate code bases, and have vastly different feature sets and performance profiles as a result.

[1]http://electron.atom.io/

Code is noticeably faster than Atom on both my Linux and Windows machines.

While that's my personal experience, it matters the most to me. Makes the decision easy... for the moment.

Code seems nice but the plugin ecosystem seems much richer. I depend a lot on the linters available for Ruby and JS in Atom and they seem much less mature in Code.

I like both. VS Code does indeed feel significantly snappier, but I really love the tabbed view on Atom, and Atom's plugin ecosystem is more developed as of now.