Mapping -Arrows to selecting characters/lines

Question

I started to use vim recently, but I miss the character/line selection methods from other text editors. By default vim maps ,

Answer 1

There's an specific option for this: keymodel:

'keymodel' 'km'     string  (default "")
            global
            {not in Vi}
    List of comma separated words, which enable special things that keys
    can do.  These values can be used:
       startsel Using a shifted special key starts selection (either
            Select mode or Visual mode, depending on "key" being
            present in 'selectmode').
       stopsel  Using a not-shifted special key stops selection.
    Special keys in this context are the cursor keys, , ,
     and .
    The 'keymodel' option is set by the |:behave| command.

TL;DR: To enable the behavior you want, use:

set keymodel=startsel

If you also want to leave visual mode when using or without pressed, you can use:

set keymodel=startsel,stopsel