Do I need the meta-key for vim?

Question

I'm looking in to learning emacs or vim. I started out with emacs but found the need for a meta key to be a hassle, especially since I have a non-english keyboard layout on my macbook.

So far I haven't seen any references to meta in vim, so my question is: Can I live without meta in vim?

If so that'll settle the vim vs. emacs question for me, otherwise I'll just have to learn to live with some workaround.

Answer 1

There are no internal key bindings that use the meta key in Vim, but—with some caveats—it can be mapped.

Answer 2

NB: With vim, mapping to is a real P.I.T.A. With gvim I naver had any troubles.