Additionally, there's something called "Easy mode", started from vim -y or evim. It's a more radical departure than just starting in insert mode: it has some key bindings matching other editors', and normal-mode commands are done by hitting Ctrl+O instead of Esc. As a consequence of that, being in insert mode is the rule rather than the exception.
https://stackoverflow.com/a/11464768/3529997
Additionally, there's something called "Easy mode", started from vim -y or evim. It's a more radical departure than just starting in insert mode: it has some key bindings matching other editors', and normal-mode commands are done by hitting Ctrl+O instead of Esc. As a consequence of that, being in insert mode is the rule rather than the exception.