put follow code in ~/.vimrc
set ai " auto indenting set history=100 " keep 100 lines of history set ruler " show the cursor position syntax on " syntax highlighting set hlsearch " highlight the last searched term filetype plugin on " use the file type plugins
Don't having this file ,you will build a new one.
Also please see understanding !
quote:http://stackoverflow.com/questions/24666518/how-to-turn-on-syntax-highlighting-in-vim-7-3-osx