PBASIC support was just some code wrapping the binary library parallax provided. In other words, it sucked. (well, more specifically, they didn't update the library when they were releasing their ide betas)
PICs on the other hand, are a bit more standard, so even with less support from the people who make things, there's a chance we'll get decent support. (that is, if you ignore the serial port programming issue, which I'm not sure about.) For assembly anyway. Getting a C compiler maybe pushing it.
I hope I'm wrong about the C compiler though.