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I've not used it cross-platform (the creator does) but you might want to take a look at Stani's Python Editor. Releases aren't that frequent, but the repository is updated more often and generally seems stable.

There's an out of date project on Sourceforge; development moved to SPE Project Page here.

If you want an IDE, use SPE. It is licensed under the GPL, so free and completely cross-platform. It has a lot of features, such as call-tips, auto-completion, uml diagrams (with pdf exports),...

http://pythonide.stani.be/

It greatly helped me when learning python.

It's very simple Have them Use What they WANT.

Each person is a individual. They need to be taught how to use IDE's because that's what people are forced to use or choose to use based on their employer. Some people just simply much prefer IDE's while others are more productive and produce better code without the 'interference' from a IDE.

So teach them how to use all sorts of different tools. As a professor/teacher you should be fairly knowledgable in all of them. If you have some students that can't decide, just force them to use what you prefer so that you can help them out the most.

Some interesting items to take a look at:
Microsoft Vistual Studio (obviously)
Vim and Vim vs Vi (obviously) Lots of interesting stuff like ctags and whatnot.
Emacs (obviously)
SPE Python IDE.
http://stani.be/python/spe/blog/ (probably the most mature remaining Free Software IDE for python)
Kdevelop
Gnome Desktop and development environment. Maybe monodevelop
Eclispe Java-based IDE for a veriaty of languages.

Then version control systems. Popular and common open source items like cvs and svn as well as commercial items.

Just let them know what is going on. For small stuff use a text editor. For finals and big projects have them use what they want.

Grade them on completeness and code quality and then use that information to further refine your recommendations for the next crop of students.

Let me go ahead and plug a couple projects for the disillusioned masses reading this:
Free Delphi Alternative:
Lazarus
Free C++ IDEs:
Anjuta, Code::Blocks, KDevelop (works with other langs too I believe)
Free Python IDE:
Stani's Python Editor
Free Visual Basic Alternative:
Gambas
Free Java (and others) IDE:
Eclipse

But honestly, that's ok with me. It's only $30 for the personal license, and they license per developer not per seat/cpu... so you are welcome to install it on as many machines as you use (e.g. desktop and laptop).

I do quite a bit of Python coding, and after checking out Eclipse, SPE, and a few others, I'm still a huge fan of Komodo. I've easily gotten $30 of value out of using it.

Plus, if you watch the bargain sites carefully, they occasionally run promotions where you can get Komodo for free. :)

That said, YMMV. I know a lot of people who would disagree with me and would rather use Eclipse with PyDev.

SPE, Stani's Python Editor works with Mac. I've only ran it in Windows and Linux, but it's the best I've found. http://www.stani.be/python/spe/blog/

I'll just save everybody the hassle of going there: SPE - Stani's Python Editor. IMHO, this is by far the best open source free python editor. It blew me away. It is even nice for designing GUIs since it comes with wxGlade. Although, it does still have a few quirks, it is very usable.

I'm currently evaluating Python IDEs at the moment myself, starting with Wing IDE Professional, and while I don't have any conclusions yet, I can list what the current state of the market looks like.

Black Adder, has a "GUI designer with all the features of Qt Designer and generates Python and Ruby code." I can't seem to find pricing information on their website at the moment; I'm guessing the "Cannot connect to database server error" text is where an add-to-cart button is supposed to be. Their license is proprietary and the product is not free for redistribution, but source code is included.

SPE - Stani's Python Editor features the wxGlade GUI designer as a plugin. Open source, GPL license.

Komodo Professional (US$295) has a GUI builder that uses Tkinter. (There's a $29.95 "Personal" edition, but that lacks the GUI builder and is restricted to non-commercial use, where "non-commercial use is defined as tasks for which you are not paid. If you are using Komodo as part of your job, you must purchase Komodo Professional.")

One can also combine using Qt Designer (licensed together with Qt; both GPL and proprietary license options available) with one of the above or with Wing IDE Professional (US$179) or PyDev (Eclipse Public License) which both look promising. Wing IDE Professional includes source code, though like Komodo, it is not free to distribute. (There's also a $30 Wing IDE Personal edition, but it's missing a number of key features from Professional that I would think just about any Python programmer would want, even for hobby use, so I don't really consider it an option. It also has a "non-commercial use" restriction, like Komodo.)

A lot of people have already mentioned the PyDev plugin for Eclipse. You may also like to know about TruStudio (another Eclipse-based IDE) which supports Python and PHP amongst other "scripting languages", and perhaps something like Stani's Python Editor. I've got all three, plus a couple of other generic editors like Vim, Notepad++, NewEdit, JEdit, also PythonWin (which comes with ActivePython, but you can get it separately for vanilla Python.org).