diff -r 4641d8d99a7d Lib/idlelib/PyShell.py
--- a/Lib/idlelib/PyShell.py	Sat May 19 16:52:33 2012 +0100
+++ b/Lib/idlelib/PyShell.py	Sat May 19 09:15:08 2012 -0700
@@ -1458,6 +1458,16 @@
     if tkversionwarning:
         shell.interp.runcommand(''.join(("print('", tkversionwarning, "')")))
 
+    # Mac OS X - make the GUI window rise to the top
+    if os.path.exists("/usr/bin/osascript"):
+        applescript = """
+tell application "System Events"
+    set proc to first process whose unix id is %d
+    set frontmost of proc to true
+end tell
+""" % (os.getpid())
+        os.system("/usr/bin/osascript -e '%s'" % applescript)
+
     root.mainloop()
     root.destroy()