Since the thread was about "STM uC Vs Microchip uC" let me give you my experience on the topic:
Up until recently i was using only Microchip 8-bit PIC mcu's to get some job done, either for hobby or for work. That's because they are cheap, i know them pretty well and are available where i come from. Even today they are my first choice for some "simple" custom automation project at work/home. A year ago i decided to try the 32-bit version of the PIC mcu, i.e PIC32 which packs a MIPS 4K core. I bought a development board with the strongest 32-bit chip microchip had to offer at that time: PIC32MX795F512H. The chip is quite fast, 1.56 DMIPS/Mhz, 80MHz, most instructions are single cycle, faster than Cortex M3 for DSP applications (293us vs. 360us for 256 point FFT) and easy learning curve coming from an 8-bit PIC background.
BUT.....................soon after that i discovered the STM32F303 with ARM Cortex M4F core and a set of peripherals much, much, much richer and better than the PIC32. In fact, i think that to this day Microchip doesn't have to offer anything near the STM32F3 series, let alone the F4 series. As far as i know PIC32MZ with the new M14K core(microAptiv core) and 330DMIPS still has a bigger errata than a datasheet, and on the Microchip site is still listed as a "future product". And it doesn't even pack FPU. Recently, i finished a project done with the STM 32, which used 7-8 timers, UART and few other peripherals. Everything was done using the STM's libraries and i didn't had a single problem. IMO, the libraries are so self explanatory, that in most cases even comment's are obsolete. And using them you can easily port projects between STM32F families. Right now, my choice for ARM is exclusively STM32. I tried the NXP's LPC1769 with LPCXpresso, but the absence of proper libraries made the experience much more unpleasant.
Oh...I almost forgot the best part: You can pick up an STM32F3/F4 dev. board with MEMS sensors and ST Link included for under 20$!!!!