Vim

Don't be fooled by Vim's notepad-like appearance. It's not a simple or basic program at all. Quite the opposite. This small application is basically an improved version of the Vi app included with all Unix systems.

The trick here is that it includes Vi commands, plus a suite of new and more advanced ones. It's an application that was created with developers and programmers in mind. By all means, it is not a word processor. It's a tool for individuals working with text as codes or strings.

If you've dealt with Vi or with Notepad, for that matter, this program will seem very familiar. Don't be fooled by that feeling, because the bottom line is it's neither. Tools included with this program relate to text wrapping, line counting, indenting styles, and so on. Each of these particular actions has a command attached to it.

This ultimately means that you can control this app just by using your keyboard. It, of course, implies you know these codes by heart. Regardless, the command aspect is a useful feature for developers and programmers because it speeds things up. A command looks like "set: nu!" where the first half is the general command and the second half is the more specific action.

No matter how you look at this app, you can't just use it for simple text writing. It's not that good of a word editor mainly because it wasn't supposed to be that. The way you have lines arranged, the absence of features that deal with page adjustment and text improvement come to support this idea once again.

On the other hand, the highlighting features, the commands, and this semi-automation side to the program, all leading one to the idea that Vim was indeed created to serve individuals with advanced computer knowledge. There's no doubt that Vim has successfully managed to step in the shoes of its Unix predecessor, Vi.

Vim is part of these download collections: Text Editors