I don't think emacs has a steep learning curve for being a really efficient editor, the way (say) vi does. If you can get through the day in emacs without touc

I don't think emacs has a steep learning curve for being a really efficient editor, the way (say) vi does. If you can get through the day in emacs without touching the mouse, you're basically there, and the rest is just discovering all the features and ways to customize it. Force yourself to move the insertion point with the arrow keys, for starters. Then learn a few shortcuts so you don't go insane. C-a for beginning of line, C-e for end. M-f and M-b for forward/backwards by a whole word. C-v and M-v will scroll you up and down through the document and move the insertion point so that it stays on the screen. Emacs doesn't need a lot of UI. It isn't an IDE, for one thing (though it can be used as one). Customization is done by putting incantations in your .emacs file. Managing buffers and panes only requires a handful of commands; learn the keys for them, or re-assign them if they're awkward.