[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.