Tim, Egg's F2 is fine as you can always get back to text with pressing T.
Xara also includes a toggle approach from any Tool to Selector, back to any Tool: Alt+S.
I find this indispensable but I switched it to the unused F8 key, which can be done with the Pro versions.

Alt + SBecause the Selector Tool is the most used tool, there is an additional shortcut that lets you switch to the Selector Tool to perform a selection or other operation, and quickly switch back to the previous tool. If you are using another tool, you can easily switch to the Selector Tool:


Press and release "Alt + S" to switch to the Selector Tool. Press again to return to the previous tool.
Acorn