diff --git a/Lib/distutils/sysconfig.py b/Lib/distutils/sysconfig.py
index 0ea4bb7334a..96923bdca4b 100644
--- a/Lib/distutils/sysconfig.py
+++ b/Lib/distutils/sysconfig.py
@@ -354,7 +354,7 @@ def _init_posix():
     # load the installed pyconfig.h:
     try:
         filename = get_config_h_filename()
-        parse_config_h(file(filename), g)
+        parse_config_h(open(filename), g)
     except IOError, msg:
         my_msg = "invalid Python installation: unable to open %s" % filename
         if hasattr(msg, "strerror"):
diff --git a/Lib/idlelib/ColorDelegator.py b/Lib/idlelib/ColorDelegator.py
index e55f9e6b77b..4cfcdc63534 100644
--- a/Lib/idlelib/ColorDelegator.py
+++ b/Lib/idlelib/ColorDelegator.py
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ def make_pat():
     kw = r"\b" + any("KEYWORD", keyword.kwlist) + r"\b"
     builtinlist = [str(name) for name in dir(__builtin__)
                                         if not name.startswith('_')]
-    # self.file = file("file") :
+    # self.file = open("file") :
     # 1st 'file' colorized normal, 2nd as builtin, 3rd as string
     builtin = r"([^.'\"\\#]\b|^)" + any("BUILTIN", builtinlist) + r"\b"
     comment = any("COMMENT", [r"#[^\n]*"])
diff --git a/Lib/pstats.py b/Lib/pstats.py
index 20edd70f5ab..2acdadcde1f 100644
--- a/Lib/pstats.py
+++ b/Lib/pstats.py
@@ -173,7 +173,7 @@ class Stats:
 
     def dump_stats(self, filename):
         """Write the profile data to a file we know how to load back."""
-        f = file(filename, 'wb')
+        f = open(filename, 'wb')
         try:
             marshal.dump(self.stats, f)
         finally:
diff --git a/Lib/site.py b/Lib/site.py
index 92798ca3c5a..0cf19cd349c 100644
--- a/Lib/site.py
+++ b/Lib/site.py
@@ -274,7 +274,7 @@ class _Printer(object):
             for filename in self.__files:
                 filename = os.path.join(dir, filename)
                 try:
-                    fp = file(filename, "rU")
+                    fp = open(filename, "rU")
                     data = fp.read()
                     fp.close()
                     break
diff --git a/Lib/tarfile.py b/Lib/tarfile.py
index 38cccae1d5e..f7ddac83ff1 100644
--- a/Lib/tarfile.py
+++ b/Lib/tarfile.py
@@ -934,7 +934,7 @@ class TarFile(object):
         self.mode = {"r": "rb", "a": "r+b", "w": "wb"}[mode]
 
         if not fileobj:
-            fileobj = file(self.name, self.mode)
+            fileobj = open(self.name, self.mode)
             self._extfileobj = False
         else:
             if self.name is None and hasattr(fileobj, "name"):
@@ -1083,7 +1083,7 @@ class TarFile(object):
         tarname = pre + ext
 
         if fileobj is None:
-            fileobj = file(name, mode + "b")
+            fileobj = open(name, mode + "b")
 
         if mode != "r":
             name = tarname
@@ -1355,7 +1355,7 @@ class TarFile(object):
 
         # Append the tar header and data to the archive.
         if tarinfo.isreg():
-            f = file(name, "rb")
+            f = open(name, "rb")
             self.addfile(tarinfo, f)
             f.close()
 
@@ -1617,7 +1617,7 @@ class TarFile(object):
         """Make a file called targetpath.
         """
         source = self.extractfile(tarinfo)
-        target = file(targetpath, "wb")
+        target = open(targetpath, "wb")
         copyfileobj(source, target)
         source.close()
         target.close()
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_bool.py b/Lib/test/test_bool.py
index 15e1ef7a446..97ac4809a5c 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_bool.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_bool.py
@@ -246,7 +246,7 @@ class BoolTest(unittest.TestCase):
 
     def test_fileclosed(self):
         try:
-            f = file(test_support.TESTFN, "w")
+            f = open(test_support.TESTFN, "w")
             self.assertIs(f.closed, False)
             f.close()
             self.assertIs(f.closed, True)
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_bz2.py b/Lib/test/test_bz2.py
index 85617235d11..518005aadaf 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_bz2.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_bz2.py
@@ -243,7 +243,7 @@ class BZ2FileTest(BaseTest):
         self.createTempFile()
         bz2f = BZ2File(self.filename, "U")
         bz2f.close()
-        f = file(self.filename)
+        f = open(self.filename)
         f.seek(0, 2)
         self.assertEqual(f.tell(), len(self.DATA))
         f.close()
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_descr.py b/Lib/test/test_descr.py
index 3fb01e73c08..53054adfd50 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_descr.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_descr.py
@@ -2338,7 +2338,7 @@ def inherits():
                 self.ateof = 1
             return s
 
-    f = file(name=TESTFN, mode='w')
+    f = open(name=TESTFN, mode='w')
     lines = ['a\n', 'b\n', 'c\n']
     try:
         f.writelines(lines)
@@ -2394,7 +2394,7 @@ def restricted():
     sandbox = rexec.RExec()
 
     code1 = """f = open(%r, 'w')""" % TESTFN
-    code2 = """f = file(%r, 'w')""" % TESTFN
+    code2 = """f = open(%r, 'w')""" % TESTFN
     code3 = """\
 f = open(%r)
 t = type(f)  # a sneaky way to get the file() constructor
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_inspect.py b/Lib/test/test_inspect.py
index e9f9ef1ebbf..1030f972e98 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_inspect.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_inspect.py
@@ -130,7 +130,7 @@ class GetSourceBase(unittest.TestCase):
     def __init__(self, *args, **kwargs):
         unittest.TestCase.__init__(self, *args, **kwargs)
 
-        self.source = file(inspect.getsourcefile(self.fodderFile)).read()
+        self.source = open(inspect.getsourcefile(self.fodderFile)).read()
 
     def sourcerange(self, top, bottom):
         lines = self.source.split("\n")
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_iter.py b/Lib/test/test_iter.py
index 324eb6820c7..81be7e16991 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_iter.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_iter.py
@@ -661,7 +661,7 @@ class TestCase(unittest.TestCase):
 
     # Test iterators with file.writelines().
     def test_writelines(self):
-        f = file(TESTFN, "w")
+        f = open(TESTFN, "w")
 
         try:
             self.assertRaises(TypeError, f.writelines, None)
@@ -700,7 +700,7 @@ class TestCase(unittest.TestCase):
             f.writelines(Whatever(6, 6+2000))
             f.close()
 
-            f = file(TESTFN)
+            f = open(TESTFN)
             expected = [str(i) + "\n" for i in range(1, 2006)]
             self.assertEqual(list(f), expected)
 
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_marshal.py b/Lib/test/test_marshal.py
index f87495bae2d..4467577b065 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_marshal.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_marshal.py
@@ -16,8 +16,8 @@ class IntTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
                 s = marshal.dumps(expected)
                 got = marshal.loads(s)
                 self.assertEqual(expected, got)
-                marshal.dump(expected, file(test_support.TESTFN, "wb"))
-                got = marshal.load(file(test_support.TESTFN, "rb"))
+                marshal.dump(expected, open(test_support.TESTFN, "wb"))
+                got = marshal.load( open(test_support.TESTFN, "rb"))
                 self.assertEqual(expected, got)
             n = n >> 1
         os.unlink(test_support.TESTFN)
@@ -51,8 +51,8 @@ class IntTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
             new = marshal.loads(marshal.dumps(b))
             self.assertEqual(b, new)
             self.assertEqual(type(b), type(new))
-            marshal.dump(b, file(test_support.TESTFN, "wb"))
-            new = marshal.load(file(test_support.TESTFN, "rb"))
+            marshal.dump(b, open(test_support.TESTFN, "wb"))
+            new = marshal.load(open(test_support.TESTFN, "rb"))
             self.assertEqual(b, new)
             self.assertEqual(type(b), type(new))
 
@@ -67,8 +67,8 @@ class FloatTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
                 s = marshal.dumps(f)
                 got = marshal.loads(s)
                 self.assertEqual(f, got)
-                marshal.dump(f, file(test_support.TESTFN, "wb"))
-                got = marshal.load(file(test_support.TESTFN, "rb"))
+                marshal.dump(f, open(test_support.TESTFN, "wb"))
+                got = marshal.load(open(test_support.TESTFN, "rb"))
                 self.assertEqual(f, got)
             n /= 123.4567
 
@@ -94,12 +94,12 @@ class FloatTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
                 got = marshal.loads(s)
                 self.assertEqual(f, got)
 
-                marshal.dump(f, file(test_support.TESTFN, "wb"))
-                got = marshal.load(file(test_support.TESTFN, "rb"))
+                marshal.dump(f, open(test_support.TESTFN, "wb"))
+                got = marshal.load(open(test_support.TESTFN, "rb"))
                 self.assertEqual(f, got)
 
-                marshal.dump(f, file(test_support.TESTFN, "wb"), 1)
-                got = marshal.load(file(test_support.TESTFN, "rb"))
+                marshal.dump(f, open(test_support.TESTFN, "wb"), 1)
+                got = marshal.load(open(test_support.TESTFN, "rb"))
                 self.assertEqual(f, got)
             n *= 123.4567
         os.unlink(test_support.TESTFN)
@@ -110,8 +110,8 @@ class StringTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
             new = marshal.loads(marshal.dumps(s))
             self.assertEqual(s, new)
             self.assertEqual(type(s), type(new))
-            marshal.dump(s, file(test_support.TESTFN, "wb"))
-            new = marshal.load(file(test_support.TESTFN, "rb"))
+            marshal.dump(s, open(test_support.TESTFN, "wb"))
+            new = marshal.load(open(test_support.TESTFN, "rb"))
             self.assertEqual(s, new)
             self.assertEqual(type(s), type(new))
         os.unlink(test_support.TESTFN)
@@ -121,8 +121,8 @@ class StringTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
             new = marshal.loads(marshal.dumps(s))
             self.assertEqual(s, new)
             self.assertEqual(type(s), type(new))
-            marshal.dump(s, file(test_support.TESTFN, "wb"))
-            new = marshal.load(file(test_support.TESTFN, "rb"))
+            marshal.dump(s, open(test_support.TESTFN, "wb"))
+            new = marshal.load(open(test_support.TESTFN, "rb"))
             self.assertEqual(s, new)
             self.assertEqual(type(s), type(new))
         os.unlink(test_support.TESTFN)
@@ -132,8 +132,8 @@ class StringTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
             b = buffer(s)
             new = marshal.loads(marshal.dumps(b))
             self.assertEqual(s, new)
-            marshal.dump(b, file(test_support.TESTFN, "wb"))
-            new = marshal.load(file(test_support.TESTFN, "rb"))
+            marshal.dump(b, open(test_support.TESTFN, "wb"))
+            new = marshal.load(open(test_support.TESTFN, "rb"))
             self.assertEqual(s, new)
         os.unlink(test_support.TESTFN)
 
@@ -161,8 +161,8 @@ class ContainerTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
     def test_dict(self):
         new = marshal.loads(marshal.dumps(self.d))
         self.assertEqual(self.d, new)
-        marshal.dump(self.d, file(test_support.TESTFN, "wb"))
-        new = marshal.load(file(test_support.TESTFN, "rb"))
+        marshal.dump(self.d, open(test_support.TESTFN, "wb"))
+        new = marshal.load(open(test_support.TESTFN, "rb"))
         self.assertEqual(self.d, new)
         os.unlink(test_support.TESTFN)
 
@@ -170,8 +170,8 @@ class ContainerTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
         lst = self.d.items()
         new = marshal.loads(marshal.dumps(lst))
         self.assertEqual(lst, new)
-        marshal.dump(lst, file(test_support.TESTFN, "wb"))
-        new = marshal.load(file(test_support.TESTFN, "rb"))
+        marshal.dump(lst, open(test_support.TESTFN, "wb"))
+        new = marshal.load(open(test_support.TESTFN, "rb"))
         self.assertEqual(lst, new)
         os.unlink(test_support.TESTFN)
 
@@ -179,8 +179,8 @@ class ContainerTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
         t = tuple(self.d.keys())
         new = marshal.loads(marshal.dumps(t))
         self.assertEqual(t, new)
-        marshal.dump(t, file(test_support.TESTFN, "wb"))
-        new = marshal.load(file(test_support.TESTFN, "rb"))
+        marshal.dump(t, open(test_support.TESTFN, "wb"))
+        new = marshal.load(open(test_support.TESTFN, "rb"))
         self.assertEqual(t, new)
         os.unlink(test_support.TESTFN)
 
@@ -191,8 +191,8 @@ class ContainerTestCase(unittest.TestCase):
             self.assertEqual(t, new)
             self.assert_(isinstance(new, constructor))
             self.assertNotEqual(id(t), id(new))
-            marshal.dump(t, file(test_support.TESTFN, "wb"))
-            new = marshal.load(file(test_support.TESTFN, "rb"))
+            marshal.dump(t, open(test_support.TESTFN, "wb"))
+            new = marshal.load(open(test_support.TESTFN, "rb"))
             self.assertEqual(t, new)
             os.unlink(test_support.TESTFN)
 
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_os.py b/Lib/test/test_os.py
index 9497777218c..bf0e196e671 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_os.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_os.py
@@ -273,7 +273,7 @@ class WalkTests(unittest.TestCase):
         os.makedirs(sub11_path)
         os.makedirs(sub2_path)
         for path in tmp1_path, tmp2_path, tmp3_path:
-            f = file(path, "w")
+            f = open(path, "w")
             f.write("I'm " + path + " and proud of it.  Blame test_os.\n")
             f.close()
 
@@ -361,10 +361,10 @@ class MakedirTests (unittest.TestCase):
 
 class DevNullTests (unittest.TestCase):
     def test_devnull(self):
-        f = file(os.devnull, 'w')
+        f = open(os.devnull, 'w')
         f.write('hello')
         f.close()
-        f = file(os.devnull, 'r')
+        f = open(os.devnull, 'r')
         self.assertEqual(f.read(), '')
         f.close()
 
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_tarfile.py b/Lib/test/test_tarfile.py
index ebcb8c59f5d..a47afa4ee17 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_tarfile.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_tarfile.py
@@ -333,11 +333,11 @@ class WriteStreamTest(WriteTest):
             f.close()
         elif self.comp == "bz2":
             f = bz2.BZ2Decompressor()
-            s = file(self.dstname).read()
+            s = open(self.dstname).read()
             s = f.decompress(s)
             self.assertEqual(len(f.unused_data), 0, "trailing data")
         else:
-            f = file(self.dstname)
+            f = open(self.dstname)
             s = f.read()
             f.close()
 
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_unicode_file.py b/Lib/test/test_unicode_file.py
index 6443efd7960..0058d98a244 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_unicode_file.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_unicode_file.py
@@ -152,7 +152,7 @@ class TestUnicodeFiles(unittest.TestCase):
     # top-level 'test' functions would be if they could take params
     def _test_single(self, filename):
         remove_if_exists(filename)
-        f = file(filename, "w")
+        f = open(filename, "w")
         f.close()
         try:
             self._do_single(filename)
@@ -170,7 +170,7 @@ class TestUnicodeFiles(unittest.TestCase):
     def _test_equivalent(self, filename1, filename2):
         remove_if_exists(filename1)
         self.failUnless(not os.path.exists(filename2))
-        f = file(filename1, "w")
+        f = open(filename1, "w")
         f.close()
         try:
             self._do_equivilent(filename1, filename2)
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_urllib.py b/Lib/test/test_urllib.py
index 4579c479d14..eb962d24916 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_urllib.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_urllib.py
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ class urlopen_FileTests(unittest.TestCase):
     def setUp(self):
         """Setup of a temp file to use for testing"""
         self.text = "test_urllib: %s\n" % self.__class__.__name__
-        FILE = file(test_support.TESTFN, 'wb')
+        FILE = open(test_support.TESTFN, 'wb')
         try:
             FILE.write(self.text)
         finally:
@@ -139,7 +139,7 @@ class urlretrieve_FileTests(unittest.TestCase):
         self.registerFileForCleanUp(test_support.TESTFN)
         self.text = 'testing urllib.urlretrieve'
         try:
-            FILE = file(test_support.TESTFN, 'wb')
+            FILE = open(test_support.TESTFN, 'wb')
             FILE.write(self.text)
             FILE.close()
         finally:
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@ class urlretrieve_FileTests(unittest.TestCase):
         self.assertEqual(second_temp, result[0])
         self.assert_(os.path.exists(second_temp), "copy of the file was not "
                                                   "made")
-        FILE = file(second_temp, 'rb')
+        FILE = open(second_temp, 'rb')
         try:
             text = FILE.read()
             FILE.close()
diff --git a/Lib/test/test_urllibnet.py b/Lib/test/test_urllibnet.py
index 9105afe42af..675184bd1c9 100644
--- a/Lib/test/test_urllibnet.py
+++ b/Lib/test/test_urllibnet.py
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ class urlretrieveNetworkTests(unittest.TestCase):
         file_location,info = urllib.urlretrieve("http://www.python.org/")
         self.assert_(os.path.exists(file_location), "file location returned by"
                         " urlretrieve is not a valid path")
-        FILE = file(file_location)
+        FILE = open(file_location)
         try:
             self.assert_(FILE.read(), "reading from the file location returned"
                          " by urlretrieve failed")
@@ -134,7 +134,7 @@ class urlretrieveNetworkTests(unittest.TestCase):
                                                 test_support.TESTFN)
         self.assertEqual(file_location, test_support.TESTFN)
         self.assert_(os.path.exists(file_location))
-        FILE = file(file_location)
+        FILE = open(file_location)
         try:
             self.assert_(FILE.read(), "reading from temporary file failed")
         finally:
diff --git a/Lib/webbrowser.py b/Lib/webbrowser.py
index 7a1a3b4994c..b9fdd5d54b7 100644
--- a/Lib/webbrowser.py
+++ b/Lib/webbrowser.py
@@ -210,7 +210,7 @@ class UnixBrowser(BaseBrowser):
         cmdline = [self.name] + raise_opt + args
 
         if remote or self.background:
-            inout = file(os.devnull, "r+")
+            inout = open(os.devnull, "r+")
         else:
             # for TTY browsers, we need stdin/out
             inout = None
@@ -334,7 +334,7 @@ class Konqueror(BaseBrowser):
         else:
             action = "openURL"
 
-        devnull = file(os.devnull, "r+")
+        devnull = open(os.devnull, "r+")
         # if possible, put browser in separate process group, so
         # keyboard interrupts don't affect browser as well as Python
         setsid = getattr(os, 'setsid', None)