As the subject says, please bring back the ability to use an external editor with NetBeans.  Of all the IDE's I have 
used, Netbeans is really quite good.  In general, I have always been an Emacs fan (groupie?), prefering it to IDE's.  
Although I can see how Netbeans is a much better choice for the tightly integrated and frameworks based applications 
of today, I still hate giving up all the power of emacs that I know and love.

I have my Netbeans configured for the emacs keybindings, but it is just not the same.  I find myself opening up emacs 
to do some "power-editing", and then cutting/pasting it back into the files in my Netbeans projects.  I understand 
some features may be restricted or missing in an external editor, but I know that I would much rather have the 
powerful editting features rather than the bells and whistles.

If there were a Twain-mode in emacs, I am sure it would fill a buffer with
   The reports of my my death are greatly exagerated.

I would heartily concur.  Until other editors that I am forced to use can provide me with the same level of pwoer and 
flexibility that I have enjoyed for more than twenty years, I will do my best to avoid them and rely on emacs for 
serious editing.