I'll have to disagree here. I'm using org-mode files even as a Vim user. Because compared to Markdown it has more basic syntax features and is fully compatible

I'll have to disagree here. I'm using org-mode files even as a Vim user. Because compared to Markdown it has more basic syntax features and is fully compatible with LaTeX, making it both convenient and more powerful than Markdown. Non-Emacs parsers aren't remotely complete or correct but the same applies to the huge variety of incompatible Markdown extensions and parsers in my experience. Some support tables, some don't, some can't handle standard table of content references. And while you are right in that the interactive features of org-mode are Emacs exclusive they still are an advantage in my view: they are optional, independent of each other and documented. This means I was easily able to reproduce one of those features with some scripting in Vim while still keeping it conforming with the standard. I think .org is a fantastic format because 100% of even its most advanced features are still rooted in plain text representation of the information, while its syntax is basically a superset of LaTeX, providing convenient shortcuts of the most common elements of text documents. This makes it universally readable and powerful when needed.