This post set me thinking about why I prefer acme to vi. They're both derived from ed, and nowadays they both know about the mouse. So how do they differ?

Vi splits insert and edit modes by time: you hit keys to toggle between them, letting you move the mouse less. Acme does it by space: blue bits of the screen hold commands, beige ones hold text, letting you remember less. To repeat a command in vi, you have to remember what you did. In acme, you look for it and click it again.

Acme lacks an exact equivalent to vi's w, t and other motion commands. However, double-click does "select what I mean", commands operate on the selection by default, and mouse chords do copy and paste. I find that's enough.

Some people will always prefer vi, but acme could be a gateway drug for many others. You can use it like Notepad, but there's a lot of magic hidden a mouse click away.