diff --git a/akka-core/src/main/scala/actor/ActiveObject.scala b/akka-core/src/main/scala/actor/ActiveObject.scala
index b83816f4d2..83ac1fc924 100644
--- a/akka-core/src/main/scala/actor/ActiveObject.scala
+++ b/akka-core/src/main/scala/actor/ActiveObject.scala
@@ -42,8 +42,9 @@ final class ActiveObjectConfiguration {
   private[akka] var _host: Option[InetSocketAddress] = None
   private[akka] var _messageDispatcher: Option[MessageDispatcher] = None
 
-  def timeout(timeout: Long) : ActiveObjectConfiguration = {
-    _timeout = timeout
+  def timeout = _timeout
+  def timeout(timeout: Duration) : ActiveObjectConfiguration = {
+    _timeout = timeout.toMillis
     this
   }
 
@@ -181,7 +182,7 @@ object ActiveObject extends Logging {
      if (config._messageDispatcher.isDefined) {
        actor.dispatcher = config._messageDispatcher.get
      }
-     newInstance(target, actor, config._host, config._timeout)
+     newInstance(target, actor, config._host, config.timeout)
   }
 
   def newInstance[T](intf: Class[T], target: AnyRef, config: ActiveObjectConfiguration): T = {
@@ -189,7 +190,7 @@ object ActiveObject extends Logging {
      if (config._messageDispatcher.isDefined) {
        actor.dispatcher = config._messageDispatcher.get
      }
-     newInstance(intf, target, actor, config._host, config._timeout)
+     newInstance(intf, target, actor, config._host, config.timeout)
   }
 
   @deprecated("use newInstance(target: Class[T], config: ActiveObjectConfiguration) instead")
diff --git a/akka-core/src/main/scala/actor/Actor.scala b/akka-core/src/main/scala/actor/Actor.scala
index 244fd8fbc7..b99ce22a93 100644
--- a/akka-core/src/main/scala/actor/Actor.scala
+++ b/akka-core/src/main/scala/actor/Actor.scala
@@ -9,9 +9,10 @@ import se.scalablesolutions.akka.config.Config._
 import se.scalablesolutions.akka.config.ScalaConfig._
 import se.scalablesolutions.akka.serialization.Serializer
 import se.scalablesolutions.akka.util.Helpers.{narrow, narrowSilently}
-import se.scalablesolutions.akka.util.Logging
+import se.scalablesolutions.akka.util.{Logging, Duration}
 
 import com.google.protobuf.Message
+
 import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit
 
 /**
@@ -62,7 +63,7 @@ class ActorInitializationException private[akka](message: String) extends Runtim
  * @author <a href="http://jonasboner.com">Jonas Bon&#233;r</a>
  */
 object Actor extends Logging {
-  val TIMEOUT = config.getInt("akka.actor.timeout", 5000)
+  val TIMEOUT = Duration(config.getInt("akka.actor.timeout", 5), TIME_UNIT).toMillis
   val SERIALIZE_MESSAGES = config.getBool("akka.actor.serialize-messages", false)
 
   /**
diff --git a/akka-core/src/main/scala/config/Config.scala b/akka-core/src/main/scala/config/Config.scala
index 68842ad1e3..ec44453e59 100644
--- a/akka-core/src/main/scala/config/Config.scala
+++ b/akka-core/src/main/scala/config/Config.scala
@@ -82,6 +82,8 @@ object Config extends Logging {
   if (VERSION != CONFIG_VERSION) throw new ConfigurationException(
     "Akka JAR version [" + VERSION + "] is different than the provided config ('akka.conf') version [" + CONFIG_VERSION + "]")
 
+  val TIME_UNIT = config.getString("akka.time-unit", "seconds")
+
   val startTime = System.currentTimeMillis
   def uptime = (System.currentTimeMillis - startTime) / 1000
 }
diff --git a/akka-core/src/main/scala/remote/RemoteClient.scala b/akka-core/src/main/scala/remote/RemoteClient.scala
index 4c18dcc6c8..2936b73b67 100644
--- a/akka-core/src/main/scala/remote/RemoteClient.scala
+++ b/akka-core/src/main/scala/remote/RemoteClient.scala
@@ -7,8 +7,8 @@ package se.scalablesolutions.akka.remote
 import se.scalablesolutions.akka.remote.protocol.RemoteProtocol._
 import se.scalablesolutions.akka.actor.{Exit, Actor, ActorRef, RemoteActorRef, IllegalActorStateException}
 import se.scalablesolutions.akka.dispatch.{DefaultCompletableFuture, CompletableFuture}
-import se.scalablesolutions.akka.util.{UUID, Logging}
-import se.scalablesolutions.akka.config.Config.config
+import se.scalablesolutions.akka.util.{UUID, Logging, Duration}
+import se.scalablesolutions.akka.config.Config._
 
 import org.jboss.netty.channel._
 import group.DefaultChannelGroup
@@ -50,8 +50,8 @@ case class RemoteClientConnected(host: String, port: Int) extends RemoteClientLi
  * @author <a href="http://jonasboner.com">Jonas Bon&#233;r</a>
  */
 object RemoteClient extends Logging {
-  val READ_TIMEOUT = config.getInt("akka.remote.client.read-timeout", 10000)
-  val RECONNECT_DELAY = config.getInt("akka.remote.client.reconnect-delay", 5000)
+  val READ_TIMEOUT = Duration(config.getInt("akka.remote.client.read-timeout", 1), TIME_UNIT)
+  val RECONNECT_DELAY = Duration(config.getInt("akka.remote.client.reconnect-delay", 5), TIME_UNIT)
 
   private val remoteClients = new HashMap[String, RemoteClient]
   private val remoteActors = new HashMap[RemoteServer.Address, HashSet[String]]
@@ -249,7 +249,7 @@ class RemoteClientPipelineFactory(name: String,
                                   timer: HashedWheelTimer,
                                   client: RemoteClient) extends ChannelPipelineFactory {
   def getPipeline: ChannelPipeline = {
-    val timeout = new ReadTimeoutHandler(timer, RemoteClient.READ_TIMEOUT)
+    val timeout = new ReadTimeoutHandler(timer, RemoteClient.READ_TIMEOUT.toMillis.toInt)
     val lenDec = new LengthFieldBasedFrameDecoder(1048576, 0, 4, 0, 4)
     val lenPrep = new LengthFieldPrepender(4)
     val protobufDec = new ProtobufDecoder(RemoteReplyProtocol.getDefaultInstance)
@@ -338,7 +338,7 @@ class RemoteClientHandler(val name: String,
           log.error(client.connection.getCause, "Reconnection to [%s] has failed", remoteAddress)
         }
       }
-    }, RemoteClient.RECONNECT_DELAY, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS)
+    }, RemoteClient.RECONNECT_DELAY.toMillis, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS)
   }
 
   override def channelConnected(ctx: ChannelHandlerContext, event: ChannelStateEvent) = {
diff --git a/akka-core/src/main/scala/remote/RemoteServer.scala b/akka-core/src/main/scala/remote/RemoteServer.scala
index 4283945de9..9ad33e9f3e 100644
--- a/akka-core/src/main/scala/remote/RemoteServer.scala
+++ b/akka-core/src/main/scala/remote/RemoteServer.scala
@@ -13,7 +13,7 @@ import se.scalablesolutions.akka.actor._
 import se.scalablesolutions.akka.actor.Actor._
 import se.scalablesolutions.akka.util._
 import se.scalablesolutions.akka.remote.protocol.RemoteProtocol._
-import se.scalablesolutions.akka.config.Config.config
+import se.scalablesolutions.akka.config.Config._
 
 import org.jboss.netty.bootstrap.ServerBootstrap
 import org.jboss.netty.channel._
@@ -63,7 +63,7 @@ object RemoteServer {
   val HOSTNAME = config.getString("akka.remote.server.hostname", "localhost")
   val PORT = config.getInt("akka.remote.server.port", 9999)
 
-  val CONNECTION_TIMEOUT_MILLIS = config.getInt("akka.remote.server.connection-timeout", 1000)
+  val CONNECTION_TIMEOUT_MILLIS = Duration(config.getInt("akka.remote.server.connection-timeout", 1), TIME_UNIT)
 
   val COMPRESSION_SCHEME = config.getString("akka.remote.compression-scheme", "zlib")
   val ZLIB_COMPRESSION_LEVEL = {
@@ -202,7 +202,7 @@ class RemoteServer extends Logging {
         bootstrap.setOption("child.tcpNoDelay", true)
         bootstrap.setOption("child.keepAlive", true)
         bootstrap.setOption("child.reuseAddress", true)
-        bootstrap.setOption("child.connectTimeoutMillis", RemoteServer.CONNECTION_TIMEOUT_MILLIS)
+        bootstrap.setOption("child.connectTimeoutMillis", RemoteServer.CONNECTION_TIMEOUT_MILLIS.toMillis)
         openChannels.add(bootstrap.bind(new InetSocketAddress(hostname, port)))
         _isRunning = true
         Cluster.registerLocalNode(hostname, port)
diff --git a/akka-core/src/main/scala/stm/TransactionFactory.scala b/akka-core/src/main/scala/stm/TransactionFactory.scala
index 24c4712509..329928c011 100644
--- a/akka-core/src/main/scala/stm/TransactionFactory.scala
+++ b/akka-core/src/main/scala/stm/TransactionFactory.scala
@@ -23,7 +23,6 @@ object TransactionConfig {
   val READONLY         = null.asInstanceOf[JBoolean]
   val MAX_RETRIES      = config.getInt("akka.stm.max-retries", 1000)
   val TIMEOUT          = config.getLong("akka.stm.timeout", 10)
-  val TIME_UNIT        = config.getString("akka.stm.time-unit", "seconds")
   val TRACK_READS      = null.asInstanceOf[JBoolean]
   val WRITE_SKEW       = config.getBool("akka.stm.write-skew", true)
   val EXPLICIT_RETRIES = config.getBool("akka.stm.explicit-retries", false)
diff --git a/akka-core/src/main/scala/util/Duration.scala b/akka-core/src/main/scala/util/Duration.scala
index f49e1ae04b..0dee2fc139 100644
--- a/akka-core/src/main/scala/util/Duration.scala
+++ b/akka-core/src/main/scala/util/Duration.scala
@@ -20,8 +20,21 @@ object Duration {
 
 /**
  * Utility for working with java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit durations.
+ *
  * <p/>
- * Example:
+ * Examples of usage from Java:
+ * <pre>
+ * import se.scalablesolutions.akka.util.Duration;
+ * import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit;
+ *
+ * Duration duration = new Duration(100, TimeUnit.MILLISECONDS);
+ * Duration duration = new Duration(5, "seconds");
+ *
+ * duration.toNanos();
+ * </pre>
+ *
+ * <p/>
+ * Examples of usage from Scala:
  * <pre>
  * import se.scalablesolutions.akka.util.Duration
  * import java.util.concurrent.TimeUnit
@@ -31,6 +44,7 @@ object Duration {
  *
  * duration.toNanos
  * </pre>
+ *
  * <p/>
  * Implicits are also provided for Int and Long. Example usage:
  * <pre>
@@ -40,6 +54,7 @@ object Duration {
  * </pre>
  */
 class Duration(val length: Long, val unit: TimeUnit) {
+  def this(length: Long, unit: String) = this(length, Duration.timeUnit(unit))
   def toNanos = unit.toNanos(length)
   def toMicros = unit.toMicros(length)
   def toMillis = unit.toMillis(length)
diff --git a/akka-jta/src/main/scala/AtomikosTransactionService.scala b/akka-jta/src/main/scala/AtomikosTransactionService.scala
index 937f31a54e..f85ff56e6a 100644
--- a/akka-jta/src/main/scala/AtomikosTransactionService.scala
+++ b/akka-jta/src/main/scala/AtomikosTransactionService.scala
@@ -10,6 +10,7 @@ import com.atomikos.icatch.jta.{J2eeTransactionManager, J2eeUserTransaction}
 import com.atomikos.icatch.config.{TSInitInfo, UserTransactionService, UserTransactionServiceImp}
 
 import se.scalablesolutions.akka.config.Config._
+import se.scalablesolutions.akka.util.Duration
 import se.scalablesolutions.akka.stm.{TransactionService, TransactionContainer}
 
 object AtomikosTransactionService extends AtomikosTransactionService
@@ -20,8 +21,8 @@ object AtomikosTransactionService extends AtomikosTransactionService
  * @author <a href="http://jonasboner.com">Jonas Bon&#233;r</a>
  */
 class AtomikosTransactionService extends TransactionService with TransactionProtocol {
+  val JTA_TRANSACTION_TIMEOUT = Duration(config.getInt("akka.jta.timeout", 60), TIME_UNIT)
 
-  val JTA_TRANSACTION_TIMEOUT: Int = config.getInt("akka.jta.timeout", 60000) / 1000
   private val txService: UserTransactionService = new UserTransactionServiceImp
   private val info: TSInitInfo = txService.createTSInitInfo
 
@@ -29,10 +30,11 @@ class AtomikosTransactionService extends TransactionService with TransactionProt
     try {
       txService.init(info)
       val tm: TransactionManager = new J2eeTransactionManager
-      tm.setTransactionTimeout(JTA_TRANSACTION_TIMEOUT)
+      tm.setTransactionTimeout(JTA_TRANSACTION_TIMEOUT.toSeconds.toInt)
       tm
     } catch {
-      case e => throw new SystemException("Could not create a new Atomikos J2EE Transaction Manager, due to: " + e.toString)
+      case e => throw new SystemException(
+        "Could not create a new Atomikos J2EE Transaction Manager, due to: " + e.toString)
     }
   )))
   // TODO: gracefully shutdown of the TM
diff --git a/akka-spring/src/main/scala/ActiveObjectFactoryBean.scala b/akka-spring/src/main/scala/ActiveObjectFactoryBean.scala
index 6f62c5a8c4..7e33d0176a 100644
--- a/akka-spring/src/main/scala/ActiveObjectFactoryBean.scala
+++ b/akka-spring/src/main/scala/ActiveObjectFactoryBean.scala
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ import org.springframework.util.StringUtils
 import se.scalablesolutions.akka.actor.{ActiveObjectConfiguration, ActiveObject}
 import se.scalablesolutions.akka.config.ScalaConfig.{ShutdownCallback, RestartCallbacks}
 import se.scalablesolutions.akka.dispatch.MessageDispatcher
-import se.scalablesolutions.akka.util.Logging
+import se.scalablesolutions.akka.util.{Logging, Duration}
 
 /**
  * Factory bean for active objects.
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@ class ActiveObjectFactoryBean extends AbstractFactoryBean[AnyRef] with Logging w
 
 
   private[akka] def createConfig: ActiveObjectConfiguration = {
-    val config = new ActiveObjectConfiguration().timeout(timeout)
+    val config = new ActiveObjectConfiguration().timeout(Duration(timeout, "millis"))
     if (hasRestartCallbacks) config.restartCallbacks(pre, post)
     if (hasShutdownCallback) config.shutdownCallback(shutdown)
     if (transactional) config.makeTransactionRequired
diff --git a/config/akka-reference.conf b/config/akka-reference.conf
index c504598e31..a3cb3467b0 100644
--- a/config/akka-reference.conf
+++ b/config/akka-reference.conf
@@ -13,15 +13,17 @@ log {
   # syslog_host = ""
   # syslog_server_name = ""
 
-  akka {
+  akka { # example of package level logging settings
     node = "se.scalablesolutions.akka"
-    level = "info"
+    level = "debug"
   }
 }
 
 akka {
   version = "0.10"
 
+  time-unit = "seconds" # default timeout time unit for all timeout properties throughout the config
+
   # FQN (Fully Qualified Name) to the class doing initial active object/actor
   # supervisor bootstrap, should be defined in default constructor
   boot = ["sample.camel.Boot",
@@ -30,7 +32,7 @@ akka {
           "sample.security.Boot"]
 
   actor {
-    timeout = 5000           # default timeout for future based invocations
+    timeout = 5              # default timeout for future based invocations
     serialize-messages = off # does a deep clone of (non-primitive) messages to ensure immutability
     throughput = 5           # default throughput for ExecutorBasedEventDrivenDispatcher
   }
@@ -41,15 +43,13 @@ akka {
                           # begin (or join), commit or rollback the JTA transaction. Default is 'off'.
     timeout = 5           # default timeout for blocking transactions and transaction set (in unit defined by 
                           # the time-unit property)
-    # FIXME: use 'time-unit' for all timeouts
-    time-unit = "seconds" # default timeout time unit
   }
 
   jta {
     provider = "from-jndi" # Options: "from-jndi" (means that Akka will try to detect a TransactionManager in the JNDI)
                            #          "atomikos" (means that Akka will use the Atomikos based JTA impl in 'akka-jta',
                            #          e.g. you need the akka-jta JARs on classpath).
-    timeout = 60000
+    timeout = 60
   }
 
   rest {
@@ -85,12 +85,12 @@ akka {
       service = on
       hostname = "localhost"
       port = 9999
-      connection-timeout = 1000 # in millis (1 sec default)
+      connection-timeout = 1
     }
 
     client {
-      reconnect-delay = 5000    # in millis (5 sec default)
-      read-timeout = 10000      # in millis (10 sec default)
+      reconnect-delay = 5
+      read-timeout = 10
     }
   }