Since I haven't checked on this one for 10 years now: How screwed am I for using Ctrl-c instead of Esc? Using nvim mostly these days

I think most "hardcore" vim users do re-map Esc for something else, like Ctrl-C (or maybe it's a built-in alternative keybinding) or Caps Lock.

I've used vim for 25+ years, but always alongside other editors (only used it as my main driver for 4-5 years sometime in the 90s), so I've always stuck with Esc (which, is the default anyway).

That said, I wanna jump back on with Nvim 5.0 when I get the chance to have a free day to setup and configure it to my liking.

I did it the other way around putting Esc on CapsLock for the whole system. But yes, Esc is a pretty horrible key to reach for, especially considering how often it is used when interacting with vim.

^C is not fully equivalent to Esc. It won't trigger InsertLeave autocommands and doesn't work with a count.

Ah so that is why slash is the search shortcut in so many apps, like Google ones for example.