RE: turning colors off

["Drew Adams" <drew.adams@oracle.com>]

> I'm having a lot of trouble with recent versions of emacs 
> which try to use color as a means of syntax highlighting.
> I'm sure many people must like this,

Yes, most people prefer it, not because it is pretty or cool, but because
the highlighting conveys useful information.

> but I find them illegible mostly due to contrast issues.
> 
> Is there some way I can shut this off globally?

Sure. Options menu > Customize Emacs > Specific Option >
global-font-lock-mode. That is, turn off `global-font-lock-mode'.

However, if your problem is the particular colors used, rather than the fact
that color is used at all, know that you can customize those colors
(individually). Colored, bold, etc. text is controlled by Emacs "faces".

Put the cursor on some colored text and do `M-x customize-face'. The name of
the face used for that colored text will appear as the face to customize -
just hit `RET' to accept it. In the Customize buffer that opens, specify the
face properties, including foreground and background colors that you want.

You might need to do that for several, or even for many, faces, depending on
your sensitivity and preferences, but you only need to do it once - you can
save your changes in the same Customize buffer.

HTH. Remember that the Emacs manual is your friend - look for "face" and
"customize" in the index.