While these tips are good per se, in retrospect I don't think it's that a good idea to tie your muscle memory that much to a single piece of software. I'd say enjoy the cursor keys. Moving around in insert mode is ok too.
I sort of agree, but still ended up in the opposite corner. I use a keyboard which has no arrow keys and instead use <fn>-hjkl in every app with no (non-keyboard) configuration needed.
Also, combined with some other changes (the space bar is fn if depressed with another key, space bar otherwise; caps-lock is mapped to control; a couple somewhat more complicated macros), it is pretty effective at keeping others off my machine.
Alternatively, you could just run :set mouse=a and then use your mouse to do things like scrolling, moving the cursor and selecting text. It's definitely a bit faster than using the arrow keys, but not as fast as knowing the most common vim normal mode keybindings.
But in reality you'd constrain yourself to using Vim just because it is the lowest common denominator (i.e. it is available - vi - in Sun OS 5.2 & co).
Otherwise, if it's a really modern OS, there's a plethora of modern, fast, cross-platform editors that follow CUA conventions.
Right, but a common characteristic of modern editors and IDEs is that they attempt to be uncontroversial and follow the 'intuitive' keybindings because they're what people are used to from word processors.
These editors have sparked a holy war and a cult following not just because they're powerful, but because they're opinionated. They prefer efficiency and customization over familiarity.
I will freely admit that there's only only so many of those programs that I can handle in my life, but my text editor is one so frequently used that it's worth the investment.
