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CreamSomething good to put in your Vim!
Cream is a free and easy-to-use configuration of the powerful and famous Vim text editor for both Microsoft Windows and GNU/Linux. You can see it in action in screenshots or try it at the installation page. Cream includes all the features of Vim plus many custom utilities. A short list of features includes syntax highlighting, spell check, multi-file find/replace, bookmarking, function prototype popups, macros, auto-wrapping, reformatting, justification, time/date stamps, file explorer, completion, sorting, calendar, tag navigation, block commenting, Microsoft, Unix and Apple format text editing, virtually unlimited file sizes, 38 varieties of 8-bit, 2-byte, and Unicode support, single/multiple document modes, unlimited undo/redo, show invisible characters, word count, and more. Why Cream?Vim is one of the most powerful, lightweight and full-featured text editors ever created. It is the popular and famous descendant of the Vi text editor written in 1976. Vim is also free, and it works on many operating systems including Microsoft Windows, GNU/Linux, Unix, BSD, Apple, Amiga, OS/2...even on some PDAs. So why wouldn't everyone want use Vim if it's free and so terrific?
Vim has a steep learning curve. It was not primarily designed to be easy to use, favoring performance and technical flexibility instead. So if you're used to text editors like many found for Apple or Microsoft platforms, learning to use Vim takes time. Cream simply adjusts Vim's interface so that it behaves more like a text editor you might be used to already while leaving the powerful features still beneath the surface. For example, Vim uses a default modal operation, meaning that keyboard shortcuts do different things depending on the current mode. Long time Vim users enjoy having this many options but many new users find it overwhelming. So Cream, in this particular example, makes all its functionality available from a single editing mode (technically called insertmode), accessible with familiar keyboard shortcuts and pull-down menus. But the real Vim is always just a keystroke away (Ctrl+L).
For those unfamiliar to Vim, we hope that you find Cream to be what what you would expect in a text editor. It's long list of features describe a number of default extensions available from common pull-down menus that include a large and growing list of both powerful and subtle improvements over Vim. For those already familiar with Vim, Cream significantly changes its behavior. Considerable effort has gone into insert mode usability, settings retention, menu and toolbar customization, and the addition of terrific custom Vim extensions by some notable authors included and configured by default. Cream also has an extendable add-on architecture to map custom functions beyond those provided. For users already familiar with Cream, why not help us continue to develop it? Please read about the project's goals for a bird's eye view, the background to read the more philosophical aims of the project, and how to contribute if you're interested in helping out!
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