diff --git a/Tools/idle/IdleConf.py b/Tools/idle/IdleConf.py
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..de208b0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tools/idle/IdleConf.py
@@ -0,0 +1,117 @@
+"""Provides access to configuration information"""
+
+import os
+import sys
+from ConfigParser import ConfigParser, NoOptionError
+
+class IdleConfParser(ConfigParser):
+
+    # these conf sections do not define extensions!
+    builtin_sections = {}
+    for section in ('EditorWindow', 'Colors'):
+        builtin_sections[section] = section
+    
+    def getcolor(self, sec, name):
+        """Return a dictionary with foreground and background colors
+
+        The return value is appropriate for passing to Tkinter in, e.g.,
+        a tag_config call.
+        """
+	fore = self.getdef(sec, name + "-foreground")
+	back = self.getdef(sec, name + "-background")
+        return {"foreground": fore,
+                "background": back}
+
+    def getdef(self, sec, options, raw=0, vars=None, default=None):
+        """Get an option value for given section or return default"""
+	try:
+            return self.get(sec, options, raw, vars)
+	except NoOptionError:
+	    return default
+
+    def getsection(self, section):
+        """Return a SectionConfigParser object"""
+        return SectionConfigParser(section, self)
+
+    def getextensions(self):
+        exts = []
+        for sec in self.sections():
+            if self.builtin_sections.has_key(sec):
+		continue
+	    # enable is a bool, but it may not be defined
+	    if self.getdef(sec, 'enable') != '0':
+		exts.append(sec)
+        return exts
+
+    def reload(self):
+        global IdleConf
+        IdleConf = IdleConfParser()
+        load(_dir) # _dir is a global holding the last directory loaded
+
+class SectionConfigParser:
+    """A ConfigParser object specialized for one section
+
+    This class has all the get methods that a regular ConfigParser does,
+    but without requiring a section argument.
+    """
+    def __init__(self, section, config):
+        self.section = section
+        self.config = config
+
+    def options(self):
+        return self.config.options(self.section)
+
+    def get(self, options, raw=0, vars=None):
+        return self.config.get(self.section, options, raw, vars)
+
+    def getdef(self, options, raw=0, vars=None, default=None):
+        return self.config.getdef(self.section, options, raw, vars, default)
+
+    def getint(self, option):
+        return self.config.getint(self.section, option)
+    
+    def getfloat(self, option):
+        return self.config.getint(self.section, option)
+    
+    def getboolean(self, option):
+        return self.config.getint(self.section, option)
+
+    def getcolor(self, option):
+        return self.config.getcolor(self.section, option)
+
+def load(dir):
+    """Load IDLE configuration files based on IDLE install in dir
+
+    Attempts to load two config files:
+    dir/config.txt
+    dir/config-[win/mac/unix].txt
+    dir/config-%(sys.platform)s.txt
+    ~/.idle
+    """
+    global _dir
+    _dir = dir
+
+    if sys.platform.startswith('win'):
+        genplatfile = os.path.join(dir, "config-win.txt")
+    # XXX don't know what the platform string is on a Mac
+    elif sys.platform.startswith('mac'):
+        genplatfile = os.path.join(dir, "config-mac.txt")
+    else:
+        genplatfile = os.path.join(dir, "config-unix.txt")
+        
+    platfile = os.path.join(dir, "config-%s.txt" % sys.platform)
+    
+    for file in (os.path.join(dir, "config.txt"),
+                 genplatfile,
+                 platfile,
+                 # XXX watch out for KeyError
+                 os.path.join(os.environ['HOME'], ".idle"),
+                 ):
+        try:
+            f = open(file)
+        except IOError:
+            continue
+        IdleConf.readfp(f)
+        f.close()
+
+IdleConf = IdleConfParser()
diff --git a/Tools/idle/config-unix.txt b/Tools/idle/config-unix.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..e3170d0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tools/idle/config-unix.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+[EditorWindow]
+font-name: courier
+font-size: 10
diff --git a/Tools/idle/config-win.txt b/Tools/idle/config-win.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..9faa635
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tools/idle/config-win.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,3 @@
+[EditorWindow]
+font-name: courier new
+font-size: 10
diff --git a/Tools/idle/config.txt b/Tools/idle/config.txt
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..545ac3c
--- /dev/null
+++ b/Tools/idle/config.txt
@@ -0,0 +1,64 @@
+# IDLE reads several config files to determine user preferences.  This 
+# file is the default config file.  When IDLE starts, it will look in
+# the following four files in order:
+#     config.txt                      the default config file
+#     config-[win/unix/mac].txt       the generic platform config file
+#     config-[sys.platform].txt       the specific platform config file
+#     ~/.idle                         the user config file
+# XXX what about Windows?
+#
+# The last definition of each option is used.  For example, you can
+# override the default window size (80x24) by defining width and
+# height options in the EditorWindow section of your ~/.idle file
+#
+# IDLE extensions can be enabled and disabled by adding them to one of
+# the config files.  To enable an extension, create a section with the
+# same name as the extension, e.g. the [ParenMatch] section below.  To
+# disable an extension, either remove the section or add the the
+# enable option with the value 0.  
+
+[EditorWindow]
+width: 80
+height: 24
+# fonts defined in config-[win/unix].txt
+
+[Colors]
+normal-foreground: black
+normal-background: white
+# These color types are not explicitly defined: sync, todo, stdin
+keyword-foreground: #ff7700
+comment-foreground: #dd0000
+string-foreground: #00aa00
+definition-foreground: #0000ff
+hilite-foreground: #000068
+hilite-background: #006868
+break-foreground: #ff7777
+hit-foreground: #ffffff
+hit-background: #000000
+stdout-foreground: blue
+stderr-foreground: red
+console-foreground: #770000
+error-background: #ff7777
+cursor-background: black
+
+[SearchBinding]
+
+[AutoIndent]
+
+[AutoExpand]
+
+[FormatParagraph]
+
+[ZoomHeight]
+
+[ScriptBinding]
+
+[CallTips]
+
+[ParenMatch]
+enable: 0 ; ParenMatch conflicts with CallTips
+style: expression
+flash-delay: 500
+bell: 1
+hilite-foreground: black
+hilite-background: #43cd80 ; SeaGreen3