Solved! Go to Solution.
The little programming i have done, I do like pyScripter.
Pythonwin under Python27\ArcGIS10.1\Lib\site-packages\pythonwin folder. I believe you need the same pywin version as the python version.
IDLE comes with 10.1. You can get pywin here: http://sourceforge.net/projects/pywin32/files/pywin32/. I believe the recommendation is to use the same version (2.7) as your python install.
The documentation for 10.1 states that PythonWin is included in the ArcGIS installation media. It appears that PythonWin is NOT included in the installation media that I have.
So it's not just me! I find it freezes a lot for me too. I need to use Pyscripter for training, but am considering finding another for myself, maybe PyCharm.
I like Wing Python IDE for Python Developers - Wingware Python IDE The "Wing ID 101" is free but I use the Pro (commercial Use since I work for a state agency) but there are other levels. The developer/support team is very responsive, which is always nice.
I also have used Brackets Brackets - The Free, Open Source Code Editor for the Web since I am using that for my JS and HTML, and it also has python as an option. but typically that is just for quick fixes.
There are many nice IDEs so it's worth looking at a few (free ones) to see what works best.