[Sparks333]

MCC18 is, however, available for download at Microchip's site. According to the site, "The Student Edition has all the features of the full compiler and libraries. After 60 days, the optimizations related to procedural abstraction and to the extended instruction set of the newer PIC18XXXX devices will be disabled. Code compiled after the expiration date will function, but may occupy more memory space." The way I read that, after 60 days, everything will still work, but perhaps will a drop in optimization. Free and a little underoptimized vs. $500 and optimized? I'd call that a good tradeoff, but that's just me. I have 30 days left on my trial, so I'll get back to you on what it really does after the trial period is up.
By the by, I have used the Atmels, and I consider them to be a little more hardcore, because you have to build the board around them. The PICs (at least, the ones I have used) are pretty user-friendly about electrical requirements. I have had great results with both, so I won't slam either.

Sparks