[peterfschaadt]

I recommend the cross-platform Sublime Text editor. It's very similar to Textmate, providing basic features and syntax highlighting, while staying out of your way. With its plugins you can easily add additional features.

http://www.sublimetext.com

[eddy_chan]

This - is totally the text editor I used to learn Python, now I'm using it for jQuery tutorials.

For an IDE suggestion, I'd vote for PyCharm once you're developing more complex stuff http://www.jetbrains.com/pycharm/. Most worthwhile $100 I've ever spent when I compare the number of hours I'm on it with its purchase cost.

[dibarra]

Sublime Text 2 is really great- it's even built on Python. If OP wants the frilly stuff, I recommend PyCharm http://www.jetbrains.com/pycharm/