I used Visual C in the early 90s and it was a dream compared to vi and whatever C compiler the various unices I was using had.
That was already the case when comparing the Borland compilers for MS-DOS, and Windows 3.x. Hence why I eventually found refuge in XEmacs, and DDD, until IDEs like KDevelop and Sun Forte came to be.
I never used the Turbo stuff, but I know they were very good for the time by reading about people using them in Dr. Dobbs.
I started with C on the Amiga and then went to UNIX and only later starting doing Windows coding on Windows 3.1.