Using vscode wasn't a red flag, using a different IDE was just a green flag. Everyone uses vscode, I wouldn't hold it against anyone for doing so, especially not a junior. But picking a different tool exhibits a unique level of interest in the job and our tools, and a different mindset. Those are pluses for me.

Nobody was rejected because they used windows. It just so happens that none of the windows folks got past problem 1 of 3 (as in, they ran out of time without solving).

Edit: I'm remembering now, one of the windows folks did get to the end of the interview, and they were the first person I recommended actually, so it's not like it was a deciding factor, just something that I'd see and go "hm" about.

Understood, thanks for clarifying.

For 20-ish years I used vim with a custom configuration made of piles of plugins painstakingly tailored over many hours to my exact taste.

Now I use VSCode because it's there, and it works. (With vim bindings, though. I'm not going back on that.)