Comment 2 for bug 272093

same problem, seems to be down to gnome-settings-daemon not starting on login. same problem for a clean new user account. starting gnome-settings-daemon manually after gnome-session has started rectifies the fonts and theme. attached .xsession-errors file

using hardy 64bit, asus m3a motherboard, nvidia 8500gt proprietary

gnome-session:
  Installed: 2.23.92-0ubuntu2
  Candidate: 2.23.92-0ubuntu2
  Version table:
 *** 2.23.92-0ubuntu2 0
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com intrepid/main Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

gnome-settings-daemon:
  Installed: 2.23.92-0ubuntu3
  Candidate: 2.23.92-0ubuntu3
  Version table:
 *** 2.23.92-0ubuntu3 0
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com intrepid/main Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status

metacity:
  Installed: 1:2.23.610-0ubuntu2
  Candidate: 1:2.23.610-0ubuntu2
  Version table:
 *** 1:2.23.610-0ubuntu2 0
        500 http://archive.ubuntu.com intrepid/main Packages
        100 /var/lib/dpkg/status