Joe Gregorio has written a short review of Vim as an alternative to Emacs. It’s interesting to read his thoughts on Vim (and the vi mode of operation in general), as they seem so natural to me now that I can hardly think philosophically about them. Even though I used Emacs for coding for quite awhile, for everyday editing I’ve depended on Vim for years. It launches quickly, has syntax highlighting for many more types of files than I would expect, and once you’ve mastered it, is absurdly powerful.