BLOGSPAM DAY!!!

Been using vim as my main text editor (on Windows, even -- well, gvim) for a while now, and I think I oughta write an article for somewhere entitled, "How the mouse destroyed productivity". Oh, I know, all the graphics designers and spatial data people will pitch a fit, but when it comes to programming for the web and just in general, the mouse is a productivity killer. Kinda like web logs.

Anyhow, I suppose now is when I mention Cream for Windows, which is self-styled as...

... a configuration [read: "incarnation" -R] of the famous Vim text editor to make it easier to use, like Apple or Windows software you already know.

At first it sounds like a neat enough idea, but it ain't. Here's a goal that shows as much, from the Things [the cream dude] hates about vim:

We've all heard this fabrication that GUIs are slower than text entry, but this simply isn't true for anyone other than a developer level expert.

Who else does text entry with a text editor? And if you want a text editor with groovy features that make it a cinch to learn, why are you using Vim? If you're stuck on a dial-up and simply must edit text, try the "PIne COmposer", or "pico" (ignore the bit about using emacs in that doc).

Admittedly, when I started using gVim I wished that I had more of the commands at my fingertips like I usually do when I have a drop-down menu -- often all through keyboard transversal (eg, alt-f-s to save). But after you finally get what the keys mean in your head, you're much better off and working much more quickly (with less carpal as well).

If you're thinking about using Cream, use a well-tested, well engineered project that's quite similar and already finsihed, UltraEdit. If you want vim, you don't want Cream.