Ubuntu Studio 8.10, Many programs text does not display at all or correctly

[dv-design]

At first i thought it was just with Opera, but im finding now a few programs that simply do not work correctly in regards to text.

Vim
Opera
Picasa

All the above so far have not worked properly after a successful install. They operate and function fine, with the major issue being that text either does not display at all, shows goofy characters and blank space, etc.

I suppose it must have something to do with the theme and/or not having fonts installed that those programs use.

Any help would be great, im new to Ubuntu/Linux and am learning by error and trial ;) thanks.

[dv-design]

Just noticed OpenOffice 3 does this as well. Im starting to see a bad pattern here...

Im going to try and change the theme, and see if that makes a difference. Any input in the meantime would help greatly.

[dv-design]

Well its not the theme bc i installed the vanilla Ubuntu and am having the same issues.

I had read that it is a compiz issue...but i have this same issue without compiz.

It apears to be a problem when i use anything other then the "None" option in visual effects for appearence.

The issue then is i cannot see avant window navigator.

So how is it that a option built in native to the OS could cause such a massive issue? Did i overlook some major options or something?

**NOTE: am using a nvidia geforce 4800ti 128mb with the nvidia 96 drivers. I cant see how this would be the issue tho.**

Please any help here would be great, it looks like alot of people are having this issue and are blaming it on compiz when thats not the real culprit.