Another issue: if you ever use Ctrl-C in a macro, and then try to rerun it, the macro ends on Ctrl-C.
I use ^[ to end insert mode.
This only happens when you use macros like I do. I took a look at my registers and here's a random one I did four months ago (using Surround.vim to wrap an indented area in div tags).
They're not exactly the same thing, actually, ctrl-c doesn't allow you to expand abbreviations and doesn't trigger the InsertLeave autocommand, but to be honest, I don't think it's that big of a deal. I go between ctrl-c and ctrl-] without thinking.
I use ^[ to end insert mode.
This only happens when you use macros like I do. I took a look at my registers and here's a random one I did four months ago (using Surround.vim to wrap an indented area in div tags).
V/^[ ]\{0,2}[^ ]/-1^MS<div class="question"^M