Index: Lib/idlelib/config-main.def
===================================================================
--- Lib/idlelib/config-main.def	(revision 70642)
+++ Lib/idlelib/config-main.def	(working copy)
@@ -57,6 +57,7 @@
 font-size= 10
 font-bold= 0
 encoding= none
+cursor-blink = 0
 
 [FormatParagraph]
 paragraph=70
Index: Lib/idlelib/configDialog.py
===================================================================
--- Lib/idlelib/configDialog.py	(revision 70642)
+++ Lib/idlelib/configDialog.py	(working copy)
@@ -332,6 +332,7 @@
         self.encoding=StringVar(self)
         self.userHelpBrowser=BooleanVar(self)
         self.helpBrowser=StringVar(self)
+        self.cursorBlink = BooleanVar(self)
         #widget creation
         #body
         frame=self.tabPages.pages['General'].frame
@@ -343,6 +344,7 @@
         frameWinSize=Frame(frame,borderwidth=2,relief=GROOVE)
         frameParaSize=Frame(frame,borderwidth=2,relief=GROOVE)
         frameEncoding=Frame(frame,borderwidth=2,relief=GROOVE)
+        frameCursorBlink = Frame(frame, borderwidth=2, relief=GROOVE)
         frameHelp=LabelFrame(frame,borderwidth=2,relief=GROOVE,
                              text=' Additional Help Sources ')
         #frameRun
@@ -379,6 +381,12 @@
             value="utf-8",text="UTF-8")
         radioEncNone=Radiobutton(frameEncoding,variable=self.encoding,
             value="none",text="None")
+        # frameCursorBlink
+        labelCursorBlink = Label(frameCursorBlink, text="Cursor blink")
+        radioCursorBlink = Radiobutton(frameCursorBlink,
+                variable=self.cursorBlink, value=True, text="Blink")
+        radioCursorNoBlink = Radiobutton(frameCursorBlink,
+                variable=self.cursorBlink, value=False, text="No blink")
         #frameHelp
         frameHelpList=Frame(frameHelp)
         frameHelpListButtons=Frame(frameHelpList)
@@ -401,6 +409,7 @@
         frameWinSize.pack(side=TOP,padx=5,pady=5,fill=X)
         frameParaSize.pack(side=TOP,padx=5,pady=5,fill=X)
         frameEncoding.pack(side=TOP,padx=5,pady=5,fill=X)
+        frameCursorBlink.pack(side=TOP, padx=5, pady=5, fill=X)
         frameHelp.pack(side=TOP,padx=5,pady=5,expand=TRUE,fill=BOTH)
         #frameRun
         labelRunChoiceTitle.pack(side=LEFT,anchor=W,padx=5,pady=5)
@@ -424,6 +433,10 @@
         radioEncNone.pack(side=RIGHT,anchor=E,pady=5)
         radioEncUTF8.pack(side=RIGHT,anchor=E,pady=5)
         radioEncLocale.pack(side=RIGHT,anchor=E,pady=5)
+        # frameCursorBlink
+        labelCursorBlink.pack(side=LEFT, anchor=W, padx=5, pady=5)
+        radioCursorBlink.pack(side=RIGHT, anchor=E, pady=5)
+        radioCursorNoBlink.pack(side=RIGHT, anchor=E, pady=5)
         #frameHelp
         frameHelpListButtons.pack(side=RIGHT,padx=5,pady=5,fill=Y)
         frameHelpList.pack(side=TOP,padx=5,pady=5,expand=TRUE,fill=BOTH)
@@ -454,6 +467,7 @@
         self.startupEdit.trace_variable('w',self.VarChanged_startupEdit)
         self.autoSave.trace_variable('w',self.VarChanged_autoSave)
         self.encoding.trace_variable('w',self.VarChanged_encoding)
+        self.cursorBlink.trace_variable('w', self.VarChanged_cursorBlink)
 
     def VarChanged_fontSize(self,*params):
         value=self.fontSize.get()
@@ -551,6 +565,10 @@
         value=self.encoding.get()
         self.AddChangedItem('main','EditorWindow','encoding',value)
 
+    def VarChanged_cursorBlink(self, *params):
+        value = self.cursorBlink.get()
+        self.AddChangedItem('main', 'EditorWindow', 'cursor-blink', value)
+
     def ResetChangedItems(self):
         #When any config item is changed in this dialog, an entry
         #should be made in the relevant section (config type) of this
@@ -1043,6 +1061,9 @@
         # default source encoding
         self.encoding.set(idleConf.GetOption('main', 'EditorWindow',
                                              'encoding', default='none'))
+        # cursor blink
+        self.cursorBlink.set(idleConf.GetOption('main', 'EditorWindow',
+            'cursor-blink', default=True))
         # additional help sources
         self.userHelpList = idleConf.GetAllExtraHelpSourcesList()
         for helpItem in self.userHelpList:
@@ -1133,6 +1154,7 @@
             instance.set_notabs_indentwidth()
             instance.ApplyKeybindings()
             instance.reset_help_menu_entries()
+            instance.UpdateCursorBlink()
 
     def Cancel(self):
         self.destroy()
Index: Lib/idlelib/EditorWindow.py
===================================================================
--- Lib/idlelib/EditorWindow.py	(revision 70642)
+++ Lib/idlelib/EditorWindow.py	(working copy)
@@ -109,6 +109,10 @@
                 text_frame, name='text', padx=5, wrap='none',
                 width=self.width,
                 height=idleConf.GetOption('main','EditorWindow','height') )
+        # Store the current value of the insertofftime now so we can restore
+        # it if needed.
+        self.text._insertofftime = self.text['insertofftime']
+        self.UpdateCursorBlink()
         self.top.focused_widget = self.text
 
         self.createmenubar()
@@ -624,6 +628,16 @@
         self.per.removefilter(self.color)
         self.color = None
 
+    def UpdateCursorBlink(self):
+        """Update the cursor blink configuration."""
+        cursorblink = idleConf.GetOption(
+                'main', 'EditorWindow', 'cursor-blink', type='bool')
+        if not cursorblink:
+            self.text.config(insertofftime=0)
+        else:
+            # Restore the original value
+            self.text.config(insertofftime=self.text._insertofftime)
+
     def ResetColorizer(self):
         "Update the colour theme"
         # Called from self.filename_change_hook and from configDialog.py