[illetrygrargo]

Generally, you need to do it by application (unclick "spell as you type" or similar in the Edit or Tools menu for each app). I think there's a command-line way to do this, but if you want to program your computer, why would you buy a Mac?

Anyway...

I found a freeware utility called Despeller 1.0 that works on 10.4 and later. It seems to do what you want, though I warn you that I haven't tried it.

Download site: http://mac.softpedia.com/get/System-...espeller.shtml

Despeller - The easiest way to disable spellchecking on Mac OS X

Despeller is a little utility, which disables the spellchecking throughout the system by replacing the image files OS X (AppKit, to be precise) uses to underline wrong spelling. You can always restore the dots.

If the system's spellchecking annoys you, you can easily get rid of it with Despeller.

Important:

Remember, this is a system file you're replacing, which means three things:
· You need to be admin to do this.
· This will effect all users. Make sure others don't use spellchecking.
· This is likely to be restored with every system update, so you'll need to run it every time after installing a system update. Hope this helps.

[FredderiK]

Thanks Jrabbit. I did try googling myself but didn't find anything useful.

Kuci - yes, maybe, but since there doesn't seem to be any accessible way (I guess it might be possible through command line though) to do it, this utility sounds like the sole (and radical) alternative.

Honestly, WTF were Apple programmers thinking?