README.txt for version 7.3 of Vim: Vi IMproved.
WHAT IS VIM Vim is an almost compatible version of the UNIX editor Vi. Many new features
have been added: multi-level undo, syntax highlighting, command line history,
on-line help, spell checking, filename completion, block operations, etc.
There is also a Graphical User Interface (GUI) available. See
"runtime/doc/vi_diff.txt" for differences with Vi. This editor is very useful for editing programs and other plain text files.
All commands are given with normal keyboard characters, so those who can type
with ten fingers can work very fast. Additionally, function keys can be
defined by the user, and the mouse can be used. Vim runs under Amiga DOS, MS-DOS, MS-Windows (95, 98, Me, NT, 2000, XP, Vista,
7), Atari MiNT, Macintosh, BeOS, VMS, RISC OS, OS/2 and almost all flavours of
UNIX. Porting to other systems should not be very difficult.
DISTRIBUTION There are separate distributions for Unix, PC, Amiga and some other systems.
This README.txt file comes with the runtime archive. It includes the
documentation, syntax files and other files that are used at runtime. To run
Vim you must get either one of the binary archives or a source archive.
Which one you need depends on the system you want to run it on and whether you
want or must compile it yourself. Check "http://www.vim.org/download.php" for
an overview of currently available distributions.
DOCUMENTATION The vim tutor is a one hour training course for beginners. Mostly it can be
started as "vimtutor". See ":help tutor" for more information. The best is to use ":help" in Vim. If you don't have an executable yet, read
"runtime/doc/help.txt". It contains pointers to the other documentation
files. The User Manual reads like a book and is recommended to learn to use
Vim. See ":help user-manual".