The main problem I have with suggesting starting with MacVim is that using it doesn't translate well when you're SSH'd into another system running a different OS. I've been using Vim for a while (and now neovim) and recently tried out MacVim and it just didn't make any sense to me. The menus are totally non-intuitive if you're used to doing everything from the keyboard. Conversely, I wouldn't expect someone who started by using MacVim to be comfortable with the keyboard shortcuts either.
Opening up a virgin vim session on a new system kind of makes you realize how much you'll miss out on if you don't know about :set number, :set wrap, :set syntax <whatever>.
Comments
The main problem I have with suggesting starting with MacVim is that using it doesn't translate well when you're SSH'd into another system running a different OS. I've been using Vim for a while (and now neovim) and recently tried out MacVim and it just didn't make any sense to me. The menus are totally non-intuitive if you're used to doing everything from the keyboard. Conversely, I wouldn't expect someone who started by using MacVim to be comfortable with the keyboard shortcuts either.
Opening up a virgin vim session on a new system kind of makes you realize how much you'll miss out on if you don't know about :set number, :set wrap, :set syntax <whatever>.
You can disable the menus, and using MacVim doesn't require you to use the menus. I use Vim 100% with the keyboard, and I still use MacVim.