I use a mac, exclusively, and VirtualBox runs PSoC Creator flawlessly, both with WinXP and Win7.
I actually find developing on the mac quite useful, since when I'm making a USB device with PSoC, I can use libusb (cross-platform USB library) without having to install any device drivers. It works great with PyUSB and makes developing USB projects a snap.
The IDE isn't open source, but it is free.
I would argue that this is indeed the best microcontroller for hobbyists and students.
It's like having an FPGA, a 32 bit micro, and a handful of analog parts, that you can connect however you like in software using a graphical interface.
If you want to dig deeper, you can program any of the PLD-based digital blocks in verilog, hand tune your analog design routing, and more.
You could even implement an additional 8-bit CPU on the block diagram using drag and drop components if you're really feeling frisky.
I actually find developing on the mac quite useful, since when I'm making a USB device with PSoC, I can use libusb (cross-platform USB library) without having to install any device drivers. It works great with PyUSB and makes developing USB projects a snap.
The IDE isn't open source, but it is free.
I would argue that this is indeed the best microcontroller for hobbyists and students.
It's like having an FPGA, a 32 bit micro, and a handful of analog parts, that you can connect however you like in software using a graphical interface.
If you want to dig deeper, you can program any of the PLD-based digital blocks in verilog, hand tune your analog design routing, and more.
You could even implement an additional 8-bit CPU on the block diagram using drag and drop components if you're really feeling frisky.