For somebody just starting out, QT Creator is the ONLY choice. There's no point in spending days on end trying to figure out the shitpile that is scratchbox development.

If you're already a linux guru then chances are you'll prefer the scratchbox environment. Not that its better, its just that you'll already be used to dealing with all of linux's pains in the *** to the point that you probably don't think something is worth using unless its a pain in the ***.