diff --git a/gitk b/gitk
index 9e52a35791..1de5ad9316 100755
--- a/gitk
+++ b/gitk
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@ proc getcommitlines {commfd}  {
     set stuff [read $commfd]
     if {$stuff == {}} {
 	if {![eof $commfd]} return
-	# this works around what is apparently a bug in Tcl...
+	# set it blocking so we wait for the process to terminate
 	fconfigure $commfd -blocking 1
 	if {![catch {close $commfd} err]} {
 	    after idle finishcommits
@@ -273,7 +273,7 @@ proc makewindow {} {
     global findtype findtypemenu findloc findstring fstring geometry
     global entries sha1entry sha1string sha1but
     global maincursor textcursor
-    global rowctxmenu
+    global rowctxmenu gaudydiff
 
     menu .bar
     .bar add cascade -label "File" -menu .bar.file
@@ -364,11 +364,17 @@ proc makewindow {} {
     pack $ctext -side left -fill both -expand 1
     .ctop.cdet add .ctop.cdet.left
 
-    $ctext tag conf filesep -font [concat $textfont bold]
-    $ctext tag conf hunksep -back blue -fore white
-    $ctext tag conf d0 -back "#ff8080"
-    $ctext tag conf d1 -back green
-    $ctext tag conf found -back yellow
+    $ctext tag conf filesep -font [concat $textfont bold] -back "#aaaaaa"
+    if {$gaudydiff} {
+	$ctext tag conf hunksep -back blue -fore white
+	$ctext tag conf d0 -back "#ff8080"
+	$ctext tag conf d1 -back green
+    } else {
+	$ctext tag conf hunksep -fore blue
+	$ctext tag conf d0 -fore red
+	$ctext tag conf d1 -fore "#00a000"
+	$ctext tag conf found -back yellow
+    }
 
     frame .ctop.cdet.right
     set cflist .ctop.cdet.right.cfiles
@@ -465,8 +471,10 @@ proc savestuff {w} {
     if {![winfo viewable .]} return
     catch {
 	set f [open "~/.gitk-new" w]
-	puts $f "set mainfont {$mainfont}"
-	puts $f "set textfont {$textfont}"
+	puts $f [list set mainfont $mainfont]
+	puts $f [list set textfont $textfont]
+	puts $f [list set findmergefiles $findmergefiles]
+	puts $f [list set gaudydiff $gaudydiff]
 	puts $f "set geometry(width) [winfo width .ctop]"
 	puts $f "set geometry(height) [winfo height .ctop]"
 	puts $f "set geometry(canv1) [expr [winfo width $canv]-2]"
@@ -1787,6 +1795,7 @@ proc getblobdiffline {bdf ids} {
     global diffids blobdifffd ctext curdifftag curtagstart
     global diffnexthead diffnextnote diffindex difffilestart
     global nextupdate diffpending diffpindex diffinhdr
+    global gaudydiff
 
     set n [gets $bdf line]
     if {$n < 0} {
@@ -1829,18 +1838,26 @@ proc getblobdiffline {bdf ids} {
 	set diffinhdr 0
     } elseif {[regexp {^@@ -([0-9]+),([0-9]+) \+([0-9]+),([0-9]+) @@(.*)} \
 		   $line match f1l f1c f2l f2c rest]} {
-	$ctext insert end "\t" hunksep
-	$ctext insert end "    $f1l    " d0 "    $f2l    " d1
-	$ctext insert end "    $rest \n" hunksep
+	if {$gaudydiff} {
+	    $ctext insert end "\t" hunksep
+	    $ctext insert end "    $f1l    " d0 "    $f2l    " d1
+	    $ctext insert end "    $rest \n" hunksep
+	} else {
+	    $ctext insert end "$line\n" hunksep
+	}
 	set diffinhdr 0
     } else {
 	set x [string range $line 0 0]
 	if {$x == "-" || $x == "+"} {
 	    set tag [expr {$x == "+"}]
-	    set line [string range $line 1 end]
+	    if {$gaudydiff} {
+		set line [string range $line 1 end]
+	    }
 	    $ctext insert end "$line\n" d$tag
 	} elseif {$x == " "} {
-	    set line [string range $line 1 end]
+	    if {$gaudydiff} {
+		set line [string range $line 1 end]
+	    }
 	    $ctext insert end "$line\n"
 	} elseif {$diffinhdr || $x == "\\"} {
 	    # e.g. "\ No newline at end of file"
@@ -2379,6 +2396,7 @@ set wrcomcmd "git-diff-tree --stdin -p --pretty"
 set mainfont {Helvetica 9}
 set textfont {Courier 9}
 set findmergefiles 0
+set gaudydiff 0
 
 set colors {green red blue magenta darkgrey brown orange}