That is incorrect. In vi and vim, "ESC" is the key that puts you into command mode (from insert mode). Command mode is the full-screen visual mode where you enter commands by a sequence of keypresses.
":" is the key which issues "ex" commands. vi and ex are two different modes of the same editor. Any command which begins with a colon is an ex command, not a vi command, not done in "Command Mode".
Also worth mentioning is Q , which puts you in ex mode, essentially just ":" prompts one after the other until you exit or issue a "vi" command to go (back) to visual mode.
And then there's open mode, but vim doesn't implement that.
Comments
That is incorrect. In vi and vim, "ESC" is the key that puts you into command mode (from insert mode). Command mode is the full-screen visual mode where you enter commands by a sequence of keypresses.
":" is the key which issues "ex" commands. vi and ex are two different modes of the same editor. Any command which begins with a colon is an ex command, not a vi command, not done in "Command Mode".
True. ":" is the rough equivalent to M-x, though.
Also worth mentioning is Q , which puts you in ex mode, essentially just ":" prompts one after the other until you exit or issue a "vi" command to go (back) to visual mode.
And then there's open mode, but vim doesn't implement that.