[Ilnyckyj]

on the pc, when you enter vi and you want to change modes, you press insert. there is no insert key on my powerbook. what am i to do?

I always hit <esc> then the command mode and i to go into insert mode.

[Ilnyckyj]

Originally Posted by Kokopelli

I always hit <esc> then the command mode and i to go into insert mode.

what command do you type to go into insert mode?

I am a newbie to Macs but I am familiar with Unix/Linux and vi so here you go.

esc is used to come out of insert mode.
If you don't hit it you will keep typing .
i is used to insert text.

Here is a list of vi commands for UNIX

http://www.cs.rit.edu/~cslab/vi.html

Among the most useful are

:w
:q
u- very useful indeed, Undo last action.

I am a unix guy as well. Taking a peek through the man file (never heard of using <insert> to enter/exit insert mode) I ran across vimtutor. Type vimtutor at the command line. I did not bother going through it but it seems to take you through the different commands in an easy to understand manner.