Slow and bloated, it is very much the current state. They're convenient, particularly because they're bloated and work OOTB, but go and try a decent sized project on 16gb RAM.
Hm I agree completely. Even as someone who appreciates SLIME and emacs. IntelliJ and even VS Code are excellent, even if heavy. Just use it on a beefy laptop and it won’t feel slow and bloated at all. If you find it distracting, it’s because you don’t know which settings to use to make them just right for your taste. Both can behave as Notepad if you want.
This is an experience that is 15 years out of date.