Symphony.

Are there any more feature-rich utility editor options? Without tab-indentation or syntax highlighting, I find the default one hard to use.

Alternatively, I'm comfortable using emacs as an external editor, but file permissions keep getting in my way. I know that I can chmod permissions, but don't want to do that every time I create a new page in the front-end.

I realize this has probably already been covered, but I did multiple searches ("utility editor" in Forums, etc.) and didn't find anything that explains this.

Have you tried using Enable TabKey, Zen Coding or Edit Area?

Excellent list, thank you! I had seem Zen Coding, but Enable TabKey really brings it home.

I hardly ever use the builtin editors to be honest. I only use the pages editor to layout the URL structure and append the datasources, all XSLT is done using my favorite texteditor.

Yeah, I still have to do a sudo chmod every once in a while but experience has shown that I don't have to add new pages or change their URLs that often that it has become a hassle.

Building the XSLT on the other hand is a much more complex and time-consuming task so I wouldn't want to miss the comfort of a proper editor/IDE. Besides, you're using your texteditor to create the CSS and JS anyways, doing the XSLT there too is a logical step.

Besides, you're using your texteditor to create the CSS and JS anyways

You can also use the FileManager extension editor to work on CSS / JS. It is not pleasant, but in some situations very handy.

I hardly ever use the builtin editors to be honest

I didn't even know Symphony still had these!