Goodbye

[richard]

Why did I change? Because I like the idea of writing code and downloading to a development board that will also be the controller board. With PBP and PICS, I could do the development but didn't have a board to run: I had to MAKE that board. I did this a number of times and all boards eventually worked but all this took time to do. With Arduino for example, I can blink an LED 2 minutes after hooking up a board, then take the board and put it into service somewhere.

in 10 years you never heard of icsp or bootloaders or even curiosity boards ? all of which do exactly that .

[mpgmike]

Since you had to learn the new C-based language anyways, you could have learned XC8 and taken advantage of all the features MPLABX offers, which probably blows Arduino away (from what I know about both). Plus, like Richard said, Microchip (and 3rd party suppliers) offer demo boards, development boards, and other cool tools to help. I like PIC because I CAN put it on any PCB board I develop. I'm not tied to integrating an entire module, just the processor. Good luck with your new endeavors, I hope Arduino serves you well.

[pedja089]

You mention that you make your board.
So just make ones that are compatible with arduino. It should be really easy, I think eagle have library with board layout and connectors.
So just put your favorite pic in middle, fanout pins, add 7805 or what ever vreg you want.
And you can get best from both world...
Anyway, good luck.