Configuring Built-in Vim on Mac OS X 10.8
While Mac OS X 10.8 ships with vim, it doesn't ship with any vim infrastructure--like a .vimrc file! Here is how to setup the built-in vim to be more useful. Note that these tips are not tested on MacVim which is a standard Mac App that makes vim a GUI app. I have run the equivalent in Windows XP and 7. I so far have not needed this on my Mac. Vim Infrastructure Enter these commands to create a vim infrastructure: touch ~/.vimrc mkdir ~/.vim cd ~/.vim;mkdir backups;mkdir colors;mkdir swaps;mkdir undo; Go to vimninjas.com and pick a color theme. I like Disgruntled . Download the color theme file, like disgruntled.vim and save it in ~./vim/colors . If you get errors about "^M", you'll have to edit the file later and remove these with: :%s/Ctrl+v,<Enter>//g Note: In case you don't recognize the above vim command, you don't type what I show. Instead, you have to hold down the ctrl key, press "v", release both and press ...