Vi Vs Vim. The differences between vi and vim aren t terribly significant. Vi stands for visual since it is a visual editor.
Vim is simply an improved version of vi. Vim s author bram moolenaar based it on the source code for a port of the stevie editor to the amiga and released a version to the public in 1991. Vim is short for vi improved.
In vi and vim the ex mode is similar to a command line mode which allows you to enter ex commands.
Vim commands and their syntax are fully compatible with vi. Type vi a space and then the filename. Vi stands for visual since it is a visual editor. A contraction of vi improved is a clone with additions of bill joy s vi text editor program for unix.
