Re:Ask HN: Little hacks that make your life easier?
by mjdwitt on Saturday July 19, 2014 @01:49AM
(#8056815)
Moreover, pressing alt while in insert mode causes the next key to run as if pressed in normal mode. I usually use this instead of escape for those times when I don't want to go into command mode.
One caveat, however. I recently switch to OS X and have yet to figure out how to get alt/option to behave this way. Really my only major gripe about OS X vs. linux.
I have Caps Lock mapped to Alt instead, which pairs nicely with various app hotkeys (Alt+T for iTerm2, Alt+E for Sublime, Alt+S for Skype, Alt+Space to pop Alfred, etc), plus the Cmd+Alt+whatever bindings for various things.