Editing Vim (text editor) (section)

== History ==
Vim's forerunner, [[Stevie (text editor)|Stevie (ST Editor for VI Enthusiasts)]], was created by Tim Thompson for the [[Atari ST]] in 1987<ref name=stevie>{{cite web |first=Tim |last=Thompson |date=2000-03-26 |url=http://nosuch.com/tjt/stevie/ |title=Stevie |access-date=2010-12-27 |archive-date=4 January 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160104222833/http://nosuch.com/tjt/stevie/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="stevie-usenet">{{cite newsgroup |title=A mini-vi for the ST |author=Tim Thompson |date=1987-06-28 |newsgroup=comp.sys.atari.st |message-id=129@glimmer.UUCP |url=http://groups.google.com/group/comp.sys.atari.st/msg/8db96f888d778a32?dmode=source |access-date=2010-12-27 |archive-date=9 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109202954/http://groups.google.com/group/comp.sys.atari.st/msg/8db96f888d778a32?dmode=source |url-status=live }}</ref> and further developed by Tony Andrews<ref name=stevie/><ref name="v15i026">{{cite newsgroup |title=v15i037: Stevie, an "aspiring" VI clone for Unix, OS/2, Amiga |author=Tony Andrews |date=1988-06-06 |newsgroup=comp.sources.unix |message-id=893@fig.bbn.com |url=http://groups.google.com/group/comp.sources.unix/msg/1fccf6a82259beed?dmode=source |access-date=2010-12-27 |archive-date=9 November 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121109202944/http://groups.google.com/group/comp.sources.unix/msg/1fccf6a82259beed?dmode=source |url-status=live }}</ref> and G.R. (Fred) Walter.<ref>{{cite web|author1=Vim|title=intro.txt|url=https://vimhelp.appspot.com/intro.txt.html|website=Vim Help|publisher=Vim|access-date=9 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160709041643/https://vimhelp.appspot.com/intro.txt.html |language=en|date=20 January 2015|archive-date=9 July 2016}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=vim(1)|url=http://linux.die.net/man/1/vim|website=die.net|publisher=Vim|access-date=9 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160709133642/http://linux.die.net/man/1/vim |archive-date=9 July 2016|date=11 April 2006|quote=Vim is based on Stevie, worked on by: Tim Thompson, Tony Andrews and G.R. (Fred) Walter. Although hardly any of the original code remains.}}</ref> It was one of the first popularized clones of [[Vi (text editor)|Vi]], and did not use Vi's source code. The source code for Vi used the [[Ed (text editor)|Ed]] text editor developed under AT&T, and therefore Vi could only be used by those with an AT&T source license.{{Citation needed|date=July 2023}} Basing Vim on the source code for Stevie meant the program could be distributed without requiring the AT&T source license.

Basing his work on Stevie, [[Bram Moolenaar]] began working on Vim for the [[Amiga]] computer in 1988, with the first public release (Vim v1.14) in 1991.<ref>{{cite web |last=Moolenaar |first=Bram |date=10 October 2000 |title=The continuing story of Vim |url=http://moolenaar.net/vimstory.pdf |url-status=live |website=moolenaar.net |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120418061526/http://moolenaar.net/vimstory.pdf |archive-date=18 April 2012 |access-date=19 September 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://jovicailic.org/2014/06/the-history-of-vim/|title=The history of Vim – Jovica Ilic|date=5 June 2014|access-date=25 January 2020|archive-date=25 January 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200125113304/https://jovicailic.org/2014/06/the-history-of-vim/|url-status=live}}</ref>{{better source needed|date=January 2020}}

At the time of its first release, the name "Vim" was an acronym for "Vi IMitation", but this changed to "'Vi IMproved" late in 1993.<ref name="vile-FAQ">{{cite web |url=https://invisible-island.net/vile/vile.faq.html#clone_began |title=VILE (Vi Like Emacs) – Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) |access-date=7 September 2019 |archive-date=31 August 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190831142828/https://invisible-island.net/vile/vile.faq.html#clone_began |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Release history ===
{| class="wikitable mw-collapsible mw-collapsed" style="width:60%;"
! style="width:13%;" | Date
! style="width:6%;" | Version
! style="width:81%;" | Changes and additions
|-
| June, 1987
| N/A
| Tim Thompson releases Stevie (ST editor for VI enthusiasts), a limited vi clone for the [[Atari ST]], posting the source on [[Usenet]].<ref name=stevie /><ref name="stevie-usenet" />
|-
| June, 1988
| N/A
| Tony Andrews improves Stevie, and ports it to Unix and [[OS/2]], releasing version 3.10 on [[Usenet]].<ref name=stevie/><ref name="v15i026"/>

|-
| 1988
| 1.0
| Bram Moolenaar creates '''Vi IMitation''' for the Amiga, based on Stevie, never publicly released
|-
| 2 November 1991
| 1.14<ref name="history">{{cite web |first=Bram |last=Moolenaar |date=2002-01-15 |url=http://www.free-soft.org/FSM/english/issue01/vim.html |title=Vim, an open-source text editor |access-date=2005-10-24 |archive-date=7 August 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110807042854/http://www.free-soft.org/FSM/english/issue01/vim.html |url-status=live }}</ref>|| First public release for the [[Amiga]] on [[Fred Fish]] disk #591<ref>{{cite web|url=http://cd.textfiles.com/fredfish/v1.6/FF_Disks/571-600/FF_591/Contents|title=Textfiles.com|access-date=2 October 2009|archive-date=16 July 2011|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110716093932/http://cd.textfiles.com/fredfish/v1.6/FF_Disks/571-600/FF_591/Contents|url-status=live}}</ref>
|-
| 1992
| 1.22<ref name="history"/>
| Port to Unix, never publicly released.<ref name="vile-FAQ"/> Vim now competes with ''[[Vi (text editor)|vi]]''.
|-
| 14 December 1993
| 2.0<ref name="filewatcher">{{cite web |title=Filewatcher |url=http://www.filewatcher.com/b/ftp/ftp.twaren.net/pub/Unix/Editors/Vim/old.0.0.html |access-date=26 February 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110711001335/http://www.filewatcher.com/b/ftp/ftp.twaren.net/pub/Unix/Editors/Vim/old.0.0.html |archive-date=11 July 2011 |url-status=dead |df=mdy-all }}</ref>
| This is the first release using the name '''Vi IMproved'''.<ref name="vile-FAQ"/>
|-
| 12 August 1994
| 3.0<ref name="history"/>
| Support for multiple windows
|-
| 29 May 1996
| 4.0<ref name="history"/><ref>{{cite web |date=2004-03-12 |url=http://www.vim.org/htmldoc/version4.html |title=Official Vim Manual, Version 4 summary |access-date=2008-08-06 |archive-date=18 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080818035456/http://www.vim.org/htmldoc/version4.html |url-status=live }}</ref>
| [[Graphical user interface]]
|-
| 19 February 1998
| 5.0<ref name="history"/><ref>{{cite web |date=2004-01-17 |url=http://www.vim.org/htmldoc/version5.html |title=Official Vim Manual, Version 5 summary |access-date=2008-08-06 |archive-date=21 August 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080821072351/http://www.vim.org/htmldoc/version5.html |url-status=live }}</ref>|| [[Syntax highlighting]], basic [[Scripting language|scripting]] (user defined functions, commands, etc.)
|-
| 6 April 1998
| 5.1
| [[Software bug|Bug]] fixes, various improvements
|-
| 27 April 1998
| 5.2
| Long line support, file browser, dialogs, popup menu, select mode, session files, user defined functions and commands, [[Tcl]] interface, etc.
|-
| 31 August 1998
| 5.3
| Bug fixes, etc.
|-
| 25 July 1999
| 5.4
| Basic file encryption, various improvements
|-
| 19 September 1999
| 5.5
| Bug fixes, various improvements
|-
| 16 January 2000
| 5.6
| New syntax files, bug fixes, etc.
|-
| 24 June 2000
| 5.7
| New syntax files, bug fixes, etc.
|-
| 31 May 2001
| 5.8
| New syntax files, bug fixes, etc.
|-
| 26 September 2001
| 6.0<ref name="history"/><ref>{{cite web |date=2004-03-12 |url=http://www.vim.org/htmldoc/version6.html |title=Official Vim Manual, Version 6 summary |access-date=2008-08-06 |archive-date=11 June 2008 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080611081758/http://www.vim.org/htmldoc/version6.html |url-status=live }}</ref>|| [[Folding editor|Folding]], [[Plug-in (computing)|plugins]], multi-language, etc.
|-
| 24 March 2002
| 6.1
| Bug fixes
|-
| 1 June 2003
| 6.2
| GTK2 and libgnome2 support, Arabic language support, :try command, minor features, bug fixes
|-
| 7 June 2004
| 6.3
| Bug fixes, translation updates, mark improvements
|-
| 15 October 2005
| 6.4
| Bug fixes, updates to Perl, Python, and Ruby support
|-
| 7 May 2006
| 7.0<ref>{{cite web |date=2016-07-17 |url=https://vimhelp.org/version7.txt.html |title=Vim Reference Manual, Version 7 |access-date=2019-01-13 |archive-date=13 January 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190113232305/https://vimhelp.org/version7.txt.html |url-status=live }}</ref>|| [[Spell checker|Spell checking]], [[Autocomplete|code completion]], tab pages (multiple viewports/window layouts), current line and column highlighting, undo branches, and more
|-
| 12 May 2007
| 7.1
| Bug fixes, new syntax and runtime files, etc.
|-
| 9 August 2008
| 7.2<ref>{{cite web|url=http://groups.google.com/group/vim_announce/browse_thread/thread/2c89671dd928812f|title=Google Groups|website=groups.google.com|access-date=11 August 2008|archive-date=6 November 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121106114342/http://groups.google.com/group/vim_announce/browse_thread/thread/2c89671dd928812f|url-status=live}}</ref>|| Floating point support in scripts, refactored screen drawing code, bug fixes, new syntax files, etc.
|-
| 15 August 2010
| 7.3
| [[Lua (programming language)|Lua]] support, Python3 support, [[Blowfish (cipher)|Blowfish]] encryption, persistent undo/redo
|-
| 10 August 2013
| 7.4<ref>[https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/vim_announce/knOQ_t_H5to Google Discussiegroepen] {{Webarchive|url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20110122130054/https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/vim_announce/knOQ_t_H5to |date=22 January 2011 }}. Groups.google.com. Retrieved on 2013-12-09.</ref>
| A new, faster regular expression engine.
|-
| 12 September 2016
| 8.0<ref>{{cite web |url=https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/vim_announce/EKTuhjF3ET0 |title=Vim 8.0 released! |access-date=12 September 2016 |author=Bram Moolenaar |archive-date=22 January 2011 |archive-url=http://arquivo.pt/wayback/20110122130054/https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/vim_announce/EKTuhjF3ET0 |url-status=live }}</ref>
| Asynchronous I/O support, jobs, lambdas, etc.
|-
| 18 May 2018
| 8.1<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vim.org/vim-8.1-released.php |title=Vim 8.1 is released! |access-date=18 May 2018 |author=Bram Moolenaar |archive-date=17 May 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180517191637/https://www.vim.org/vim-8.1-released.php |url-status=live }}</ref>
| Terminal window support and terminal gdb plugin.
|-
| 13 December 2019
| 8.2<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vim.org/vim-8.2-released.php |title=Vim 8.2 is released! |access-date=13 December 2019 |author=Bram Moolenaar |archive-date=12 December 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191212152052/https://www.vim.org/vim-8.2-released.php |url-status=live }}</ref>
| Popup windows, text properties.
|-
| 28 June 2022
| 9.0<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vim.org/vim90.php |title=Vim 9.0 is released! |access-date=30 June 2022 |author=Bram Moolenaar |archive-date=2 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220702120512/https://www.vim.org/vim90.php |url-status=live }}</ref>
| Vim9 script
|-
| 2 January 2024
| 9.1<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.vim.org/vim-9.1-released.php |title=Vim 9.1 is released! |access-date=4 January 2024 |author=Christian Brabandt |archive-date=2 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240102235711/https://www.vim.org/vim-9.1-released.php |url-status=live }}</ref>
| Classes and objects support for Vim9 script, smooth scrolling, virtual text
|}