UltraEdit, UltraCompare, UEStudio forums

I'm a brand new user of UE but a long time SPFPC user (career mainframe IBM'er). Does anyone have any experience with the two and can you give me your un-biased (realizing this is a UE forum) pro's and con's. I'm just wondering if it is worth the learning curve, or should I buy my own copy of SPFPC ...