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Many distributions actually use vim (which has syntax highlighting) instead of vi these days. If invoked as vi, vim operates in a mode which mimics vi - including the monochrome display.
You can invoke vim directly. For example:
vim somefile
If you have the X11 extensions installed (usually called vim-X11), you can also bring up a GUI with the gvim command:
gvim somefile
If these are not installed by your distribution by default, they can usually be installed using your maintenance tool. For example:
Try the ":syn on" command. It could be that colors are enabled but the feature isn't enabled.
Also, look in /usr/share/vim/ for a vimrc_example.rc file. You can copy this to your home directory and use it as a model for a ~/.vimrc configuration file to include the changes every time you start vim.
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