the problem is that right now there is _always_ some snapping when the grid is on, even when nothing is checked in the grid snapping part. which is a bug in my opinion.
I cannot confirm this. Please give exact steps to reproduce.
OK it might be os X related only then. I'll try to build latest inkscape on linux. the steps are simple: open a new document, put the grid on, zoom enough so that all grid lines become visible, select the freehand tool and try to trace a straight line: it snaps to the grid though grid snapping is normaly disabled by default.
Its happening on last night's Windows build too - I ran a quick test and while the freehand line came out mostly free-looking, i felt a 'snap' at certain places as I drew, and some sections were angular.
The strange thing is that it only seemed to be happening in certain places - is that at all possible? I did have a large grid, but the squiggle I drew took up half the page.
mC~