I don't really understand what you mean by ``column marking''

I mean being able to mark text (for copying, cutting or deleting) in columns rather than rows which is most programs typically mark text. I've been trying to locate an option for it in vim but haven't been able to find it yet. However, since I'm going to be doing at least some of this project on Solaris soon I'll probably be familiarizing my self with vim no matter what editor I end up on for windows. In fact, I’ve already turned some of our other guys onto it (who are currently using vi).