In my experience, all PHP-IDEs written in Java are slow. You simply cannot compare performance with Visual Studio. I use Aptana and also used NetBeans. In most cases, your Intelli-Sense will open when you go to the input syntax.
Is there any PHP environment that matches Visual Studio performance?
Delphi for PHP . It is written in Delphi and, thus, a native, fast application; -)
KDevelop .
ShishKabab PHP IDE .
You can try Nusphere PHPEd. This is not a Java application.
If you just want to autocomplete rather than a complete IDE:
ActiveState Komodo Edit
In my experience, I found VisualStudio slower than NetBeans. However, for PHP, I still use vim.
Try JEdit , it is Java, but it is pretty efficient. There are plugins for enabling and completing code, etc.
Take a look at these articles:
Seven Great PHP IDE Compared
Great PHP IDE test: why use one and which one to choose