My Ideal Code Editor

I'm a vim user.

I've been using vim for a few years now, and I'm very comfortable with it. I wish it were easier to do some things, but I can live with a little bit of difficulty, as long as it only happens one time (crafting the config file, mostly).

The problem is, I also sort of like Textmate.

I won't use Textmate though, because Macromates is probably the least transparent organization that I can think of; less so than Microsoft, in my opinion. They have been stringing people along for years now, saying that "Textmate 2 is on the way: just wait. Be patient."

Well, I'm impatient and I need a good editor now.

I'm not an Objective C programmer, but I'd happily learn it, if needed. Basically, I'd like to build something that's almost exactly like Textmate, but instead of using Macromates' proprietary text editor control, I want vim. Here's what I'm sort of going for: https://skitch.com/cweagans/fpc1n/ideal-editor

Note: that's just a MacVim window sitting on top of a Textmate window.

My idea is that the file drawer replaces NERDtree. You should be able to bind hiding and showing that sidebar to a key combination (just like any other action in vim) using your .vimrc.

Additionally, the tabs across the top would not be vim tabs - those should be buffers.

I know a lot of hardcore vim users are probably cringing at this right now, but we have long been past the era where a text-only interface is acceptable or even appropriate. There are many Gvim implementations out there, but the only thing that they do is add a window around a vim editor.

Gvim, in my opinion, should be something more. The implementation that I'm proposing would be sort of a Mac-only thing, but reasonable alternatives could be developed for Linux and Windows (perhaps just a graphical sidebar with a filetree inside).

I know there's Vico, but there are a couple of problems with it, namely that it's expensive. What I'm proposing here would almost certainly be free and open source.

What other features would you like to see from Gvim that are not currently implemented? Should text-only editors get a nice looking wrapper if they're running in graphical mode? Are there any other editors (besides Emacs) that you'd recommend?

Note: Please do not turn this into an Emacs vs Vim vs $your_choice_of_editor argument. I don't like Emacs and I won't use it. Simple as that.

Note 2: This post is about gathering ideas. I'm planning on implementing it when I have sufficient time and expertise (or enough help - hint hint).