Maybe she’s not that fancy dressed, maybe she doesn’t have that modern look, but underneath that dull, 70’s look, lies a power that hard to control. I have known her for a decade, and flirted with her from time to time, but she never caught my interest long enough for me to get hooked.

It was so much easier to fall for TextMates nice and slim look, and for the power that lies ind CMD+t and the project drawer, but when you have lived with her for some time, you find that’s she’s a slow starter, never really reinvents herself, and can’t keep too many balls in the air at once. You try to indulge her by turning on the Cutting-Edge flag in the software update settings, but that only makes her cover up her weak spots with more makeup.

So a couple of days ago, I left Textmate at home and set out to take MacVim for ride. It was akward at first, but then again, so was my first dates with another mistress of mine, Puppet. You got to hang in and be brave, ‘cause she tricks you. Be careful with the keystrokes when she is in command (mode) and learn the undo key (u) early on (and the fact that she actually has three moods (modes)). If you grasp her moodyness, she will slowly loosen up, and hand over the full control of her hidden power. And then you can molden her into the editor you really want.

I’m still struggling with her moodyness. I find myself fingering for the arrow keys everytime I have to move around in a file. I find myself reaching for the safety belt I have in my mouse. But I’m also patient, because I know that in the end it will pay off. Just as with Puppet. And Linux. And all the other mistresses I keep.