diff --git a/WINGs/configuration.c b/WINGs/configuration.c
index 31af58d2..cb2dfb96 100644
--- a/WINGs/configuration.c
+++ b/WINGs/configuration.c
@@ -10,9 +10,9 @@ _WINGsConfiguration WINGsConfiguration;
 
 
 
-#define SYSTEM_FONT "sans:pixelsize=12"
-
-#define BOLD_SYSTEM_FONT "sans:bold:pixelsize=12"
+#define SYSTEM_FONT "Trebuchet MS,Luxi Sans"
+#define BOLD_SYSTEM_FONT "Trebuchet MS,Luxi Sans:bold"
+#define DEFAULT_FONT_SIZE 12
 
 #define FLOPPY_PATH "/floppy"
 
@@ -41,48 +41,6 @@ getButtonWithName(const char *name, unsigned defaultButton)
 }
 
 
-// fix this
-static Bool
-missingOrInvalidXLFD(char *xlfd)
-{
-    char *ptr = xlfd;
-    Bool broken = False;
-    int count = 0;
-
-    if (!xlfd)
-        return True;
-
-    while (*ptr) {
-        if (*ptr=='%') {
-            ptr++;
-            if ((*ptr=='d' || *ptr=='i') && count==0) {
-                count++;
-            } else {
-                broken = True;
-                break;
-            }
-        } else if (*ptr==',') {
-            count = 0;
-        }
-        ptr++;
-    }
-
-    if (broken) {
-        if (xlfd == WINGsConfiguration.systemFont) {
-            ptr = "system font";
-        } else if (xlfd == WINGsConfiguration.boldSystemFont) {
-            ptr = "bold system font";
-        } else {
-            ptr = "Unknown System Font";
-        }
-        wwarning(_("Invalid %s specification: '%s' (only %%d is allowed and "
-                   "at most once for each font in a fontset)."), ptr, xlfd);
-    }
-
-    return broken;
-}
-
-
 void
 W_ReadConfigurations(void)
 {
@@ -139,12 +97,15 @@ W_ReadConfigurations(void)
             WMGetUDIntegerForKey(defaults, "DefaultFontSize");
     }
 
-    if (missingOrInvalidXLFD(WINGsConfiguration.systemFont)) {
+    if (!WINGsConfiguration.systemFont) {
         WINGsConfiguration.systemFont = SYSTEM_FONT;
     }
-    if (missingOrInvalidXLFD(WINGsConfiguration.boldSystemFont)) {
+    if (!WINGsConfiguration.boldSystemFont) {
         WINGsConfiguration.boldSystemFont = BOLD_SYSTEM_FONT;
     }
+    if (WINGsConfiguration.defaultFontSize == 0) {
+        WINGsConfiguration.defaultFontSize = DEFAULT_FONT_SIZE;
+    }
     if (!WINGsConfiguration.floppyPath) {
         WINGsConfiguration.floppyPath = FLOPPY_PATH;
     }
@@ -157,9 +118,6 @@ W_ReadConfigurations(void)
     if (WINGsConfiguration.mouseWheelDown == 0) {
         WINGsConfiguration.mouseWheelDown = Button5;
     }
-    if (WINGsConfiguration.defaultFontSize == 0) {
-        WINGsConfiguration.defaultFontSize = 12;
-    }
 
 }
 
diff --git a/WINGs/wfont.c b/WINGs/wfont.c
index ae2a3922..32da8760 100644
--- a/WINGs/wfont.c
+++ b/WINGs/wfont.c
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@
 #include <X11/Xlocale.h>
 
 
-#define DEFAULT_FONT "sans-serif:pixelsize=12"
+#define DEFAULT_FONT "sans serif:pixelsize=12"
 
 #define DEFAULT_SIZE WINGsConfiguration.defaultFontSize
 
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ xlfdToFcPattern(char *xlfd, int size)
     wfree(fname);
 
     if (!pattern) {
-        wwarning(_("invalid font: %s. Using default %s"), xlfd, DEFAULT_FONT);
+        wwarning(_("invalid font: %s. Trying '%s'"), xlfd, DEFAULT_FONT);
         pattern = FcNameParse(DEFAULT_FONT);
     }
 
diff --git a/WPrefs.app/FontSimple.c b/WPrefs.app/FontSimple.c
index f3af773b..69541682 100644
--- a/WPrefs.app/FontSimple.c
+++ b/WPrefs.app/FontSimple.c
@@ -235,7 +235,7 @@ lookup_available_fonts(_Panel *panel)
     if (pat)
       FcPatternDestroy(pat);
 
-    panel->fonts->families[panel->fonts->familyn++].name= wstrdup("sans");
+    panel->fonts->families[panel->fonts->familyn++].name= wstrdup("sans serif");
     family= panel->fonts->families + panel->fonts->familyn-1;
     family->styles= wmalloc(sizeof(FontStyle)*2);
     family->stylen= 2;
@@ -453,7 +453,7 @@ selectedOption(WMWidget *w, void *data)
             FcDefaultSubstitute(pat);
 
             if (FcPatternGetString(pat, FC_FAMILY, 0, &name) != FcResultMatch)
-                name= "sans";
+                name= "sans serif";
 
             found= 0;
             // select family
@@ -672,7 +672,7 @@ createPanel(Panel *p)
         }
     }
     else
-      WMAddListItem(panel->familyL, "sans");
+      WMAddListItem(panel->familyL, "sans serif");
 
     WMSetListAction(panel->familyL, selectedFamily, panel);
 
diff --git a/WPrefs.app/WPrefs.c b/WPrefs.app/WPrefs.c
index b38625f1..e466fe9a 100644
--- a/WPrefs.app/WPrefs.c
+++ b/WPrefs.app/WPrefs.c
@@ -61,8 +61,8 @@ extern Panel *InitAppearance(WMScreen *scr, WMWidget *parent);
 
 
 
-#define ICON_TITLE_FONT "sans:pixelsize=9"
-#define ICON_TITLE_VFONT "sans:pixelsize=9:weight=100"
+#define ICON_TITLE_FONT "sans serif:pixelsize=9"
+#define ICON_TITLE_VFONT "sans serif:pixelsize=9:weight=100"
 
 
 #define MAX_SECTIONS 16
diff --git a/src/window.c b/src/window.c
index 35cc9b69..63a68c4e 100644
--- a/src/window.c
+++ b/src/window.c
@@ -339,6 +339,18 @@ setupGNUstepHints(WWindow *wwin, GNUstepWMAttributes *gs_hints)
     if (gs_hints->extra_flags & GSNoApplicationIconFlag) {
         wwin->client_flags.no_appicon = 1;
     }
+
+    /* temporary solution to avoid GS menus in our window list.
+     * it's temporary because it's not the proper way: windows at the
+     * floating level are also skipped from the window list with this.
+     * Fix it -Dan */
+    if (gs_hints->flags & GSWindowLevelAttr) {
+        if (gs_hints->window_level == WMMainMenuWindowLevel ||
+            gs_hints->window_level == WMSubmenuWindowLevel) {
+            wwin->client_flags.skip_window_list = 1;
+        }
+    }
+
 }
 
 
diff --git a/util/convertfonts.c b/util/convertfonts.c
index 259aaa25..c2339514 100644
--- a/util/convertfonts.c
+++ b/util/convertfonts.c
@@ -103,6 +103,9 @@ main(int argc, char **argv)
         }
     }
 
+    /* we need this in order for MB_CUR_MAX to work */
+    setlocale(LC_ALL, "");
+
     WMPLSetCaseSensitive(False);
 
     if (stat(file, &statbuf) < 0) {
diff --git a/util/fontconv.c b/util/fontconv.c
index a10ba23d..0f07abfd 100644
--- a/util/fontconv.c
+++ b/util/fontconv.c
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 
 #include "../src/wconfig.h"
 
-#define DEFAULT_FONT "sans:pixelsize=12"
+#define DEFAULT_FONT "sans serif:pixelsize=12"
 
 static int
 countChar(char *str, char c)
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ getXLFDTokens(char *xlfd)
         len--;
         if (len <= 0)
             break;
-        size = strcspn(ptr, "-");
+        size = strcspn(ptr, "-,");
         tokens[i].str = ptr;
         tokens[i].len = size;
         ptr += size;
@@ -84,20 +84,44 @@ strToInt(str *token)
 }
 
 
+static char*
+mapWeightToName(str *weight)
+{
+    char *normalNames[] = {"medium", "normal", "regular"};
+    static char buf[32];
+    int i;
+
+    if (weight->len==0)
+        return "";
+
+    for (i=0; i<sizeof(normalNames)/sizeof(char*); i++) {
+        if (strlen(normalNames[i])==weight->len &&
+            strncmp(normalNames[i], weight->str, weight->len))
+        {
+            return "";
+        }
+    }
+
+    snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), ":%.*s", weight->len, weight->str);
+
+    return buf;
+}
+
+
 static char*
 mapSlantToName(str *slant)
 {
-    if (slant->len==0 || slant->str[0]=='*')
-        return "roman";
+    if (slant->len==0)
+        return "";
 
     switch(slant->str[0]) {
     case 'i':
-        return "italic";
+        return ":italic";
     case 'o':
-        return "oblique";
+        return ":oblique";
     case 'r':
     default:
-        return "roman";
+        return "";
     }
 }
 
@@ -106,7 +130,7 @@ char*
 xlfdToFc(char *xlfd, char *useFamily, Bool keepXLFD)
 {
     str *tokens, *family, *weight, *slant;
-    char *name, buf[512];
+    char *name, buf[64], *slt;
     int size, pixelsize;
 
     tokens = getXLFDTokens(xlfd);
@@ -116,6 +140,8 @@ xlfdToFc(char *xlfd, char *useFamily, Bool keepXLFD)
     family = &(tokens[1]);
     weight = &(tokens[2]);
     slant  = &(tokens[3]);
+    pixelsize = strToInt(&tokens[6]);
+    size = strToInt(&tokens[7]);
 
     if (useFamily) {
         name = wstrdup(useFamily);
@@ -123,31 +149,23 @@ xlfdToFc(char *xlfd, char *useFamily, Bool keepXLFD)
         if (family->len==0 || family->str[0]=='*')
             return wstrdup(DEFAULT_FONT);
 
-        sprintf(buf, "%.*s", family->len, family->str);
+        snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "%.*s", family->len, family->str);
         name = wstrdup(buf);
     }
 
-    pixelsize = strToInt(&tokens[6]);
-    size = strToInt(&tokens[7]);
+    if (size>0 && pixelsize<=0) {
+        snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), "-%d", size/10);
+        name = wstrappend(name, buf);
+    }
+
+    name = wstrappend(name, mapWeightToName(weight));
+    name = wstrappend(name, mapSlantToName(slant));
 
     if (size<=0 && pixelsize<=0) {
         name = wstrappend(name, ":pixelsize=12");
     } else if (pixelsize>0) {
         /* if pixelsize is present size will be ignored so we skip it */
-        sprintf(buf, ":pixelsize=%d", pixelsize);
-        name = wstrappend(name, buf);
-    } else {
-        sprintf(buf, "-%d", size/10);
-        name = wstrappend(name, buf);
-    }
-
-    if (weight->len>0 && weight->str[0]!='*') {
-        sprintf(buf, ":weight=%.*s", weight->len, weight->str);
-        name = wstrappend(name, buf);
-    }
-
-    if (slant->len>0 && slant->str[0]!='*') {
-        sprintf(buf, ":slant=%s", mapSlantToName(slant));
+        snprintf(buf, sizeof(buf), ":pixelsize=%d", pixelsize);
         name = wstrappend(name, buf);
     }
 
@@ -165,19 +183,11 @@ char*
 convertFont(char *font, Bool keepXLFD)
 {
     if (font[0]=='-') {
-        char *res;
-        char *tmp= wstrdup(font);
-        
         if (MB_CUR_MAX < 2) {
-            char *ptr = strchr(tmp, ',');
-            if (ptr) *ptr= 0;
-            res = xlfdToFc(tmp, NULL, keepXLFD);
+            return xlfdToFc(font, NULL, keepXLFD);
         } else {
-            res = xlfdToFc(tmp, "sans", keepXLFD);
+            return xlfdToFc(font, "sans serif", keepXLFD);
         }
-        wfree(tmp);
-        
-        return res;
     } else {
         return font;
     }