diff -r 1a4e99460438 Lib/idlelib/ColorDelegator.py
--- a/Lib/idlelib/ColorDelegator.py	Thu May 31 09:17:29 2012 -0700
+++ b/Lib/idlelib/ColorDelegator.py	Thu May 31 22:21:42 2012 -0500
@@ -20,10 +20,11 @@
     # 1st 'file' colorized normal, 2nd as builtin, 3rd as string
     builtin = r"([^.'\"\\#]\b|^)" + any("BUILTIN", builtinlist) + r"\b"
     comment = any("COMMENT", [r"#[^\n]*"])
-    sqstring = r"(\b[rRuU])?'[^'\\\n]*(\\.[^'\\\n]*)*'?"
-    dqstring = r'(\b[rRuU])?"[^"\\\n]*(\\.[^"\\\n]*)*"?'
-    sq3string = r"(\b[rRuU])?'''[^'\\]*((\\.|'(?!''))[^'\\]*)*(''')?"
-    dq3string = r'(\b[rRuU])?"""[^"\\]*((\\.|"(?!""))[^"\\]*)*(""")?'
+    stringprefix = r"(\br|u|ur|R|U|UR|Ur|uR|b|B|br|Br|bR|BR)?"
+    sqstring = stringprefix + r"'[^'\\\n]*(\\.[^'\\\n]*)*'?"
+    dqstring = stringprefix + r'"[^"\\\n]*(\\.[^"\\\n]*)*"?'
+    sq3string = stringprefix + r"'''[^'\\]*((\\.|'(?!''))[^'\\]*)*(''')?"
+    dq3string = stringprefix + r'"""[^"\\]*((\\.|"(?!""))[^"\\]*)*(""")?'
     string = any("STRING", [sq3string, dq3string, sqstring, dqstring])
     return kw + "|" + builtin + "|" + comment + "|" + string +\
            "|" + any("SYNC", [r"\n"])
diff -r 1a4e99460438 Misc/NEWS
--- a/Misc/NEWS	Thu May 31 09:17:29 2012 -0700
+++ b/Misc/NEWS	Thu May 31 22:21:42 2012 -0500
@@ -67,6 +67,9 @@
 Library
 -------
 
+- Issue #14958: Change IDLE systax highlighting to recognize all string and byte
+  literals supported in Python 2.7.4 (backported from 3.3).
+
 - Issue #14962: Update text coloring in IDLE shell window after changing
   options.  Patch by Roger Serwy.