Not necessarily, however most here prefer the "standard" PICs. We all use compliers with high-level structure, so it is a very simple thing in our code. Since Microchip wanted to market the pixaxe to be a "beginner friendly" unit, they gambled on the easy interface with not all the flexibility.
I would recommend using a 12F683 and you can do what you want for cheap. There are many free compilers for such, a programmer is cheap, click on Bill's(blueroomelectronics) sites link above for a starting point. Matter of fact ask him how much for a complete setup to get started. His support is stellar, just look around the forums, and we all are here to help as well
-BaC
PS. good luck in your journey.