diff --git a/openapi/src/com/intellij/openapi/editor/colors/EditorColors.java b/openapi/src/com/intellij/openapi/editor/colors/EditorColors.java
index d40335c6390f..6d5adda4f92f 100644
--- a/openapi/src/com/intellij/openapi/editor/colors/EditorColors.java
+++ b/openapi/src/com/intellij/openapi/editor/colors/EditorColors.java
@@ -10,7 +10,6 @@ public interface EditorColors {
   ColorKey RIGHT_MARGIN_COLOR = ColorKey.createColorKey("RIGHT_MARGIN_COLOR");
   ColorKey LINE_NUMBERS_COLOR = ColorKey.createColorKey("LINE_NUMBERS_COLOR");
   ColorKey ANNOTATIONS_COLOR = ColorKey.createColorKey("ANNOTATIONS_COLOR");
-  ColorKey BACKGROUND_COLOR = ColorKey.createColorKey("BACKGROUND");
   ColorKey READONLY_BACKGROUND_COLOR = ColorKey.createColorKey("READONLY_BACKGROUND");
   ColorKey READONLY_FRAGMENT_BACKGROUND_COLOR = ColorKey.createColorKey("READONLY_FRAGMENT_BACKGROUND");
   ColorKey WHITESPACES_COLOR = ColorKey.createColorKey("WHITESPACES");
diff --git a/openapi/src/com/intellij/openapi/editor/colors/EditorColorsScheme.java b/openapi/src/com/intellij/openapi/editor/colors/EditorColorsScheme.java
index e0e03a884fee..a844e1409e96 100644
--- a/openapi/src/com/intellij/openapi/editor/colors/EditorColorsScheme.java
+++ b/openapi/src/com/intellij/openapi/editor/colors/EditorColorsScheme.java
@@ -19,6 +19,9 @@ public interface EditorColorsScheme extends Cloneable, JDOMExternalizable {
   TextAttributes getAttributes(TextAttributesKey key);
   void setAttributes(TextAttributesKey key, TextAttributes attributes);
 
+  Color getDefaultBackground();
+  Color getDefaultForeground();
+
   Color getColor(ColorKey key);
   void setColor(ColorKey key, Color color);
 
diff --git a/resources/src/DefaultColorSchemesManager.xml b/resources/src/DefaultColorSchemesManager.xml
index 7ddbbbf5993f..90f5dd4aae9e 100644
--- a/resources/src/DefaultColorSchemesManager.xml
+++ b/resources/src/DefaultColorSchemesManager.xml
@@ -9,7 +9,6 @@
       <option name="SELECTION_BACKGROUND" value="526da5"/>
       <option name="CARET_ROW_COLOR" value="ffffd7"/>
       <option name="METHOD_SEPARATORS_COLOR" value="c0c0c0"/>
-      <option name="BACKGROUND" value="ffffff"/>
       <option name="WHITESPACES" value="c5c5c5"/>
       <option name="SELECTION_FOREGROUND" value="ffffff"/>
       <option name="LINE_NUMBERS_COLOR" value="800000"/>
@@ -568,7 +567,7 @@
       <option name="TEXT">
         <value>
           <option name="FOREGROUND" value="0"/>
-          <option name="BACKGROUND"/>
+          <option name="BACKGROUND" value="ffffff"/>
           <option name="EFFECT_COLOR"/>
           <option name="FONT_TYPE" value="0"/>
         </value>
diff --git a/source/com/intellij/application/options/colors/ClickNavigator.java b/source/com/intellij/application/options/colors/ClickNavigator.java
index c5009d56739d..6686905302a0 100644
--- a/source/com/intellij/application/options/colors/ClickNavigator.java
+++ b/source/com/intellij/application/options/colors/ClickNavigator.java
@@ -7,7 +7,6 @@ import com.intellij.application.options.colors.highlighting.HighlightData;
 import com.intellij.openapi.editor.Editor;
 import com.intellij.openapi.editor.HighlighterColors;
 import com.intellij.openapi.editor.LogicalPosition;
-import com.intellij.openapi.editor.colors.EditorColors;
 import com.intellij.openapi.editor.colors.TextAttributesKey;
 import com.intellij.openapi.editor.event.CaretEvent;
 import com.intellij.openapi.editor.event.CaretListener;
@@ -46,14 +45,7 @@ public class ClickNavigator {
 
     CaretListener listener = new CaretListener() {
       public void caretPositionChanged(CaretEvent e) {
-        int offset = view.logicalPositionToOffset(e.getNewPosition());
-        CharSequence text = view.getDocument().getCharsSequence();
-        if (isWhiteSpace(offset, text)) {
-          setSelectedItem(EditorColors.BACKGROUND_COLOR.getExternalName(), true);
-        }
-        else {
-          setSelectedItem(HighlighterColors.TEXT.getExternalName(), true);
-        }
+        setSelectedItem(HighlighterColors.TEXT.getExternalName(), true);
       }
     };
     view.getCaretModel().addCaretListener(listener);
diff --git a/source/com/intellij/codeEditor/printing/HTMLTextPainter.java b/source/com/intellij/codeEditor/printing/HTMLTextPainter.java
index b85c01f8cd4c..7e66a91bbf6c 100644
--- a/source/com/intellij/codeEditor/printing/HTMLTextPainter.java
+++ b/source/com/intellij/codeEditor/printing/HTMLTextPainter.java
@@ -5,7 +5,6 @@ import com.intellij.codeInsight.daemon.impl.LineMarkerInfo;
 import com.intellij.ide.highlighter.HighlighterFactory;
 import com.intellij.openapi.diagnostic.Logger;
 import com.intellij.openapi.editor.Document;
-import com.intellij.openapi.editor.colors.EditorColors;
 import com.intellij.openapi.editor.colors.EditorColorsManager;
 import com.intellij.openapi.editor.colors.EditorColorsScheme;
 import com.intellij.openapi.editor.ex.EditorHighlighter;
@@ -325,7 +324,7 @@ class HTMLTextPainter {
     writer.write("<META HTTP-EQUIV=\"Content-Type\" CONTENT=\"text/html; charset=windows-1252\">\r\n");
     writer.write("<META NAME=\"KEYWORDS\" CONTENT=\"IntelliJ_IDEA_Html\">\r\n");
     writer.write("</HEAD>\r\n");
-    Color color = scheme.getColor(EditorColors.BACKGROUND_COLOR);
+    Color color = scheme.getDefaultBackground();
     if (color==null) color = Color.gray;
     writer.write("<BODY BGCOLOR=\"#" + Integer.toString(color.getRGB() & 0xFFFFFF, 16) + "\">\r\n");
     writer.write("<TABLE CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=5 COLS=1 WIDTH=\"100%\" BGCOLOR=\"#C0C0C0\" >\r\n");
diff --git a/source/com/intellij/codeInsight/hint/EditorFragmentComponent.java b/source/com/intellij/codeInsight/hint/EditorFragmentComponent.java
index 9cf8d2233d6e..8deed9e687d3 100644
--- a/source/com/intellij/codeInsight/hint/EditorFragmentComponent.java
+++ b/source/com/intellij/codeInsight/hint/EditorFragmentComponent.java
@@ -219,7 +219,7 @@ public class EditorFragmentComponent extends JPanel {
     EditorColorsScheme colorsScheme = editor.getColorsScheme();
     Color color = colorsScheme.getColor(EditorColors.CARET_ROW_COLOR);
     if (color == null){
-      color = colorsScheme.getColor(EditorColors.BACKGROUND_COLOR);
+      color = colorsScheme.getDefaultBackground();
     }
     return color;
   }
diff --git a/source/com/intellij/execution/impl/ConsoleViewImpl.java b/source/com/intellij/execution/impl/ConsoleViewImpl.java
index 307d1d415e0d..eb27a1571714 100644
--- a/source/com/intellij/execution/impl/ConsoleViewImpl.java
+++ b/source/com/intellij/execution/impl/ConsoleViewImpl.java
@@ -380,12 +380,10 @@ public final class ConsoleViewImpl extends JPanel implements ConsoleView, DataPr
         editorSettings.setAdditionalPageAtBottom(false);
 
         final EditorColorsScheme scheme = editor.getColorsScheme();
-        scheme.setColor(EditorColors.BACKGROUND_COLOR, BACKGROUND_COLOR);
-        scheme.setColor(EditorColors.READONLY_BACKGROUND_COLOR, BACKGROUND_COLOR);
+        editor.setBackgroundColor(BACKGROUND_COLOR);
         scheme.setColor(EditorColors.CARET_ROW_COLOR, null);
         scheme.setColor(EditorColors.RIGHT_MARGIN_COLOR, null);
 
-
         editor.addEditorMouseListener(new EditorPopupHandler(){
           public void invokePopup(final EditorMouseEvent event) {
             final MouseEvent mouseEvent = event.getMouseEvent();
diff --git a/source/com/intellij/openapi/editor/colors/impl/AbstractColorsScheme.java b/source/com/intellij/openapi/editor/colors/impl/AbstractColorsScheme.java
index 650165bf80d5..a9346c3774ed 100644
--- a/source/com/intellij/openapi/editor/colors/impl/AbstractColorsScheme.java
+++ b/source/com/intellij/openapi/editor/colors/impl/AbstractColorsScheme.java
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
  */
 package com.intellij.openapi.editor.colors.impl;
 
+import com.intellij.openapi.editor.HighlighterColors;
 import com.intellij.openapi.editor.colors.ColorKey;
 import com.intellij.openapi.editor.colors.EditorColorsScheme;
 import com.intellij.openapi.editor.colors.EditorFontType;
@@ -40,6 +41,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractColorsScheme implements EditorColorsScheme {
   protected static final String EDITOR_FONT_NAME = "EDITOR_FONT_NAME";
   protected static final String SCHEME_NAME = "SCHEME_NAME";
   protected DefaultColorSchemesManager myDefaultColorSchemesManager;
+  private Color myDeprecatedBackgroundColor = null;
 
   protected AbstractColorsScheme(EditorColorsScheme parentScheme, DefaultColorSchemesManager defaultColorSchemesManager) {
     myParentScheme = parentScheme;
@@ -56,6 +58,16 @@ public abstract class AbstractColorsScheme implements EditorColorsScheme {
   public abstract void setColor(ColorKey key, Color color);
   public abstract Color getColor(ColorKey key);
 
+  public Color getDefaultBackground() {
+    final Color c = getAttributes(HighlighterColors.TEXT).getBackgroundColor();
+    return c != null ? c : Color.white;
+  }
+
+  public Color getDefaultForeground() {
+    final Color c = getAttributes(HighlighterColors.TEXT).getForegroundColor();
+    return c != null ? c : Color.black;
+  }
+
   public String getName() {
     return mySchemeName;
   }
@@ -145,6 +157,7 @@ public abstract class AbstractColorsScheme implements EditorColorsScheme {
   }
 
   private void readScheme(Element node) throws InvalidDataException {
+    myDeprecatedBackgroundColor = null;
     if ("scheme".equals(node.getName())) {
       setName(node.getAttributeValue("name"));
       myVersion = Integer.parseInt(node.getAttributeValue("version", "0"));
@@ -165,6 +178,12 @@ public abstract class AbstractColorsScheme implements EditorColorsScheme {
           readAttributes(childNode);
         }
       }
+
+      if (myDeprecatedBackgroundColor != null) {
+        final TextAttributes textAttributes = myAttributesMap.get(HighlighterColors.TEXT);
+        textAttributes.setBackgroundColor(myDeprecatedBackgroundColor);
+      }
+
       initFonts();
     }
   }
@@ -183,18 +202,28 @@ public abstract class AbstractColorsScheme implements EditorColorsScheme {
   private void readColors(Element childNode) {
     for (Iterator iterator = childNode.getChildren("option").iterator(); iterator.hasNext();) {
       Element colorElement = (Element)iterator.next();
+      Color valueColor = readColorValue(colorElement);
+      final String colorName = colorElement.getAttributeValue("name");
+      if ("BACKGROUND".equals(colorName)) {
+        // This setting has been deprecated to usages of HighlighterColors.TEXT attributes.
+        myDeprecatedBackgroundColor = valueColor;
+      }
 
-      ColorKey name = ColorKey.find(colorElement.getAttributeValue("name"));
-      String value = colorElement.getAttributeValue("value");
-      if (value == null || "".equals(value.trim())) {
-        myColorsMap.put(name, null);
-      } else {
-        try {
-          myColorsMap.put(name, new Color(Integer.parseInt(value, 16)));
-        } catch (NumberFormatException e) {
-        }
+      ColorKey name = ColorKey.find(colorName);
+      myColorsMap.put(name, valueColor);
+    }
+  }
+
+  private Color readColorValue(final Element colorElement) {
+    String value = colorElement.getAttributeValue("value");
+    Color valueColor = null;
+    if (value != null && value.trim().length() > 0) {
+      try {
+        valueColor = new Color(Integer.parseInt(value, 16));
+      } catch (NumberFormatException e) {
       }
     }
+    return valueColor;
   }
 
   private void readSettings(Element childNode) {
diff --git a/source/com/intellij/openapi/editor/impl/EditorImpl.java b/source/com/intellij/openapi/editor/impl/EditorImpl.java
index ce65b0ef874e..1dc458eca95b 100644
--- a/source/com/intellij/openapi/editor/impl/EditorImpl.java
+++ b/source/com/intellij/openapi/editor/impl/EditorImpl.java
@@ -1033,11 +1033,14 @@ public class EditorImpl implements EditorEx {
     myForcedBackground = null;
   }
 
+  public Color getForegroundColor() {
+    return myScheme.getDefaultForeground();
+  }
+
   public Color getBackroundColor() {
     if (myForcedBackground != null) return myForcedBackground;
 
-    Color color = myScheme.getColor(EditorColors.BACKGROUND_COLOR);
-    if (color == null) color = Color.white;
+    Color color = myScheme.getDefaultBackground();
     if (myDocument.isWritable()) {
       return color;
     }
@@ -3546,6 +3549,14 @@ public class EditorImpl implements EditorEx {
       myOwnAttributes.put(key, attributes);
     }
 
+    public Color getDefaultBackground() {
+      return getGlobal().getDefaultBackground();
+    }
+
+    public Color getDefaultForeground() {
+      return getGlobal().getDefaultForeground();
+    }
+
     public Color getColor(ColorKey key) {
       if (myOwnColors.containsKey(key)) return myOwnColors.get(key);
       return getGlobal().getColor(key);
diff --git a/source/com/intellij/openapi/editor/impl/IterationState.java b/source/com/intellij/openapi/editor/impl/IterationState.java
index 58c77274ab10..6f98c16ed336 100644
--- a/source/com/intellij/openapi/editor/impl/IterationState.java
+++ b/source/com/intellij/openapi/editor/impl/IterationState.java
@@ -42,6 +42,8 @@ public class IterationState {
   private TextAttributes myFoldTextAttributes = null;
   private TextAttributes mySelectionAttributes = null;
   private TextAttributes myCaretRowAttributes = null;
+  private Color myDefaultBackground = null;
+  private Color myDefaultForeground = null;
   private int myCaretRowStart;
   private int myCaretRowEnd;
   private ArrayList<TextAttributes> myCachedAttributesList;
@@ -84,6 +86,8 @@ public class IterationState {
 
     CaretModelImpl caretModel = (CaretModelImpl)editor.getCaretModel();
     myCaretRowAttributes = editor.isRendererMode() ? null : caretModel.getTextAttributes();
+    myDefaultBackground = editor.getBackroundColor();
+    myDefaultForeground = editor.getForegroundColor();
 
     myCurrentHighlighters = new ArrayList<RangeHighlighterImpl>();
 
@@ -425,11 +429,11 @@ public class IterationState {
       TextAttributes textAttributes = myCachedAttributesList.get(i);
 
       if (fore == null) {
-        fore = textAttributes.getForegroundColor();
+        fore = ifDiffers(textAttributes.getForegroundColor(), myDefaultForeground);
       }
 
       if (back == null) {
-        back = textAttributes.getBackgroundColor();
+        back = ifDiffers(textAttributes.getBackgroundColor(), myDefaultBackground);
       }
 
       if (fontType == 0) {
@@ -449,6 +453,9 @@ public class IterationState {
     myMergedAttributes.setEffectType(effectType);
   }
 
+  private Color ifDiffers(final Color c1, final Color c2) {
+    return c1 == c2 ? null : c1;
+  }
 
   public boolean atEnd() {
     return myStartOffset >= myEnd;
diff --git a/source/com/intellij/openapi/options/colors/pages/GeneralColorsPage.java b/source/com/intellij/openapi/options/colors/pages/GeneralColorsPage.java
index eae0e26747fa..b26d8eac9389 100644
--- a/source/com/intellij/openapi/options/colors/pages/GeneralColorsPage.java
+++ b/source/com/intellij/openapi/options/colors/pages/GeneralColorsPage.java
@@ -58,7 +58,6 @@ public class GeneralColorsPage implements ColorSettingsPage {
   };
 
   private static final ColorDescriptor[] COLOR_DESCRIPTORS = new ColorDescriptor[] {
-    new ColorDescriptor("Background", EditorColors.BACKGROUND_COLOR, ColorDescriptor.Kind.BACKGROUND),
     new ColorDescriptor("Background in readonly files", EditorColors.READONLY_BACKGROUND_COLOR, ColorDescriptor.Kind.BACKGROUND),
     new ColorDescriptor("Readonly fragment background", EditorColors.READONLY_FRAGMENT_BACKGROUND_COLOR, ColorDescriptor.Kind.BACKGROUND),
     new ColorDescriptor("Gutter background", EditorColors.LEFT_GUTTER_BACKGROUND, ColorDescriptor.Kind.BACKGROUND),