diff --git a/CONTRIBUTING.md b/CONTRIBUTING.md
index 59c1f9542ebd..1305577cff46 100644
--- a/CONTRIBUTING.md
+++ b/CONTRIBUTING.md
@@ -184,9 +184,9 @@ npm run test:ui:runner
 
 Packages are built using fpm, pleaserun, dpkg, and rpm.  fpm and pleaserun can be installed using gem.  Package building has only been tested on Linux and is not supported on any other platform.
 ```sh
-gem install pleaserun
-apt-get install ruby-dev
-gem install fpm
+apt-get install ruby-dev rpm
+gem install fpm -v 1.5.0 # required by pleaserun 0.0.16
+gem install pleaserun -v 0.0.16 # higher versions fail at the moment
 npm run build:ospackages
 ```
 
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 5a3fb904fc0d..113d563f5859 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -41,9 +41,9 @@ Visit [Elastic.co](http://www.elastic.co/guide/en/kibana/current/index.html) for
 
 For the daring, snapshot builds are available. These builds are created after each commit to the master branch, and therefore are not something you should run in production.
 
-| platform |  |  |  |  |
-| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
-| OSX | [tar](http://download.elastic.co/kibana/kibana-snapshot/kibana-5.0.0-snapshot-darwin-x64.tar.gz) | [zip](http://download.elastic.co/kibana/kibana-snapshot/kibana-5.0.0-snapshot-darwin-x64.zip) |  |  |
-| Linux x64 | [tar](http://download.elastic.co/kibana/kibana-snapshot/kibana-5.0.0-snapshot-linux-x64.tar.gz) | [zip](http://download.elastic.co/kibana/kibana-snapshot/kibana-5.0.0-snapshot-linux-x64.zip) | [deb](https://download.elastic.co/kibana/kibana-snapshot/kibana_5.0.0-snapshot_amd64.deb)| [rpm](https://download.elastic.co/kibana/kibana-snapshot/kibana-5.0.0_snapshot-1.x86_64.rpm) |
-| Linux x86 | [tar](http://download.elastic.co/kibana/kibana-snapshot/kibana-5.0.0-snapshot-linux-x86.tar.gz) | [zip](http://download.elastic.co/kibana/kibana-snapshot/kibana-5.0.0-snapshot-linux-x86.zip) | [deb](https://download.elastic.co/kibana/kibana-snapshot/kibana_5.0.0-snapshot_i386.deb) | [rpm](https://download.elastic.co/kibana/kibana-snapshot/kibana-5.0.0_snapshot-1.i386.rpm) |
-| Windows | [tar](http://download.elastic.co/kibana/kibana-snapshot/kibana-5.0.0-snapshot-windows.tar.gz) | [zip](http://download.elastic.co/kibana/kibana-snapshot/kibana-5.0.0-snapshot-windows.zip) |  |  |
+| platform |  |
+| --- | --- |
+| OSX | [tar](http://download.elastic.co/kibana/kibana-snapshot/kibana-5.0.0-snapshot-darwin-x64.tar.gz) |
+| Linux x64 | [tar](http://download.elastic.co/kibana/kibana-snapshot/kibana-5.0.0-snapshot-linux-x64.tar.gz) [deb](https://download.elastic.co/kibana/kibana-snapshot/kibana_5.0.0-snapshot_amd64.deb) [rpm](https://download.elastic.co/kibana/kibana-snapshot/kibana-5.0.0_snapshot-1.x86_64.rpm) |
+| Linux x86 | [tar](http://download.elastic.co/kibana/kibana-snapshot/kibana-5.0.0-snapshot-linux-x86.tar.gz) [deb](https://download.elastic.co/kibana/kibana-snapshot/kibana_5.0.0-snapshot_i386.deb) [rpm](https://download.elastic.co/kibana/kibana-snapshot/kibana-5.0.0_snapshot-1.i386.rpm) |
+| Windows | [zip](http://download.elastic.co/kibana/kibana-snapshot/kibana-5.0.0-snapshot-windows.zip) |
diff --git a/src/ui/index.js b/src/ui/index.js
index 94e6274521d6..ada8fa2a0f06 100644
--- a/src/ui/index.js
+++ b/src/ui/index.js
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@ export default async (kbnServer, server, config) => {
   });
 
   server.decorate('reply', 'renderApp', async function (app) {
+    const isElasticsearchPluginRed = server.plugins.elasticsearch.status.state === 'red';
     const uiSettings = server.uiSettings();
     const payload = {
       app: app,
@@ -72,7 +73,7 @@ export default async (kbnServer, server, config) => {
       serverName: config.get('server.name'),
       uiSettings: {
         defaults: await uiSettings.getDefaults(),
-        user: await uiSettings.getUserProvided()
+        user: isElasticsearchPluginRed ? {} : await uiSettings.getUserProvided()
       },
       vars: defaults(app.getInjectedVars() || {}, uiExports.defaultInjectedVars),
     };
diff --git a/src/ui/public/chrome/directives/app_switcher/app_switcher.less b/src/ui/public/chrome/directives/app_switcher/app_switcher.less
index 2d4753b1320b..911c878a64f9 100644
--- a/src/ui/public/chrome/directives/app_switcher/app_switcher.less
+++ b/src/ui/public/chrome/directives/app_switcher/app_switcher.less
@@ -77,11 +77,7 @@ body { overflow-x: hidden; }
     > a {
       display: block;
       height: 100%;
-      color: @white;
-    }
-
-    &:hover {
-      background-color: @app-links-active-background;
+      color: #ebf7fa;
     }
 
     .app-icon {
@@ -127,38 +123,14 @@ body { overflow-x: hidden; }
       line-height: @app-icon-height;
     }
 
+    &:hover,
     &.active {
       background-color: @app-links-active-background;
       > a {
-        color: #333;
+        color: @white;
         text-decoration: none;
       }
-      img {
-        filter: none;
-      }
     }
-
-    &:nth-child(1) {
-      background-color: @firstLinkColor;
-      &:hover {
-        background-color: lighten(@firstLinkColor, 5%);
-      }
-    }
-
-    &:nth-child(2) {
-      background-color: @secondLinkColor;
-      &:hover {
-        background-color: lighten(@secondLinkColor, 5%);
-      }
-    }
-
-    &:nth-child(3) {
-      background-color: @thirdLinkColor;
-      &:hover {
-        background-color: lighten(@thirdLinkColor, 5%);
-      }
-    }
-
   }
 
 }
diff --git a/src/ui/public/config/__tests__/config.js b/src/ui/public/config/__tests__/config.js
index 299c3fdde230..929693d926f4 100644
--- a/src/ui/public/config/__tests__/config.js
+++ b/src/ui/public/config/__tests__/config.js
@@ -12,14 +12,26 @@ describe('config component', function () {
   }));
 
   describe('#get', function () {
-
     it('gives access to config values', function () {
       expect(config.get('dateFormat')).to.be.a('string');
     });
+
+    it('supports the default value overload', function () {
+      // default values are consumed and returned atomically
+      expect(config.get('obscureProperty', 'default')).to.be('default');
+      // default values are consumed only if setting was previously unset
+      expect(config.get('obscureProperty', 'another')).to.be('default');
+      // default values are persisted
+      expect(config.get('obscureProperty')).to.be('default');
+    });
+
+    it('throws on unknown properties that don\'t have a value yet.', function () {
+      const msg = 'Unexpected `config.get("throwableProperty")` call on unrecognized configuration setting';
+      expect(config.get).withArgs('throwableProperty').to.throwException(msg);
+    });
   });
 
   describe('#set', function () {
-
     it('stores a value in the config val set', function () {
       const original = config.get('dateFormat');
       config.set('dateFormat', 'notaformat');
@@ -27,6 +39,10 @@ describe('config component', function () {
       config.set('dateFormat', original);
     });
 
+    it('stores a value in a previously unknown config key', function () {
+      expect(config.set).withArgs('unrecognizedProperty', 'somevalue').to.not.throwException();
+      expect(config.get('unrecognizedProperty')).to.be('somevalue');
+    });
   });
 
   describe('#$bind', function () {
diff --git a/src/ui/public/config/config.js b/src/ui/public/config/config.js
index 4710ce47e5b2..265e0b5dd6af 100644
--- a/src/ui/public/config/config.js
+++ b/src/ui/public/config/config.js
@@ -15,11 +15,12 @@ module.service(`config`, function (Private, $rootScope, $http, chrome, uiSetting
   let settings = mergeSettings(defaults, initialUserSettings);
 
   config.getAll = () => cloneDeep(settings);
-  config.get = key => getCurrentValue(key);
+  config.get = (key, defaultValue) => getCurrentValue(key, defaultValue);
   config.set = (key, val) => change(key, isPlainObject(val) ? angular.toJson(val) : val);
   config.remove = key => change(key, null);
-  config.isDefault = key => !(key in settings) || nullOrEmpty(settings[key].userValue);
-  config.isCustom = key => key in settings && !('value' in settings[key]);
+  config.isDeclared = key => key in settings;
+  config.isDefault = key => !config.isDeclared(key) || nullOrEmpty(settings[key].userValue);
+  config.isCustom = key => config.isDeclared(key) && !('value' in settings[key]);
   config.watchAll = (fn, scope) => watchAll(scope, fn);
   config.watch = (key, fn, scope) => watch(key, scope, fn);
 
@@ -40,7 +41,7 @@ module.service(`config`, function (Private, $rootScope, $http, chrome, uiSetting
   };
 
   function watch(key, scope = $rootScope, fn) {
-    if (!(key in settings)) {
+    if (!config.isDeclared(key)) {
       throw new Error(`Unexpected \`config.watch("${key}", fn)\` call on unrecognized configuration setting "${key}".
 Setting an initial value via \`config.set("${key}", value)\` before binding
 any custom setting configuration watchers for "${key}" may fix this issue.`);
@@ -58,33 +59,33 @@ any custom setting configuration watchers for "${key}" may fix this issue.`);
   }
 
   function change(key, value) {
-    const oldVal = key in settings ? settings[key].userValue : undefined;
+    const declared = config.isDeclared(key);
+    const oldVal = declared ? settings[key].userValue : undefined;
     const newVal = key in defaults && defaults[key].defaultValue === value ? null : value;
     const unchanged = oldVal === newVal;
     if (unchanged) {
       return Promise.resolve();
     }
-    const initialVal = config.get(key);
-    localUpdate(key, newVal);
+    const initialVal = declared ? config.get(key) : undefined;
+    localUpdate(key, newVal, initialVal);
 
     return delayedUpdate(key, newVal)
       .then(updatedSettings => {
         settings = mergeSettings(defaults, updatedSettings);
       })
       .catch(reason => {
-        localUpdate(key, initialVal);
+        localUpdate(key, initialVal, config.get(key));
         notify.error(reason);
       });
   }
 
-  function localUpdate(key, newVal) {
-    const oldVal = config.get(key);
+  function localUpdate(key, newVal, oldVal) {
     patch(key, newVal);
     advertise(key, oldVal);
   }
 
   function patch(key, value) {
-    if (!(key in settings)) {
+    if (!config.isDeclared(key)) {
       settings[key] = {};
     }
     if (value === null) {
@@ -105,11 +106,16 @@ any custom setting configuration watchers for "${key}" may fix this issue.`);
     return value === undefined || value === null;
   }
 
-  function getCurrentValue(key) {
-    if (!(key in settings)) {
-      throw new Error(`Unexpected \`config.get("${key}")\` call on unrecognized configuration setting "${key}".
+  function getCurrentValue(key, defaultValueForGetter) {
+    if (!config.isDeclared(key)) {
+      if (defaultValueForGetter === undefined) {
+        throw new Error(`Unexpected \`config.get("${key}")\` call on unrecognized configuration setting "${key}".
 Setting an initial value via \`config.set("${key}", value)\` before attempting to retrieve
-any custom setting value for "${key}" may fix this issue.`);
+any custom setting value for "${key}" may fix this issue.
+You can also save an step using \`config.get("${key}", defaultValue)\`, which
+will set the initial value if one is not already set.`);
+      }
+      config.set(key, defaultValueForGetter);
     }
     const { userValue, value: defaultValue, type } = settings[key];
     const currentValue = config.isDefault(key) ? defaultValue : userValue;
diff --git a/src/ui/public/styles/variables/for-theme.less b/src/ui/public/styles/variables/for-theme.less
index 90a8e5f2ef5d..d28a7af4cc14 100644
--- a/src/ui/public/styles/variables/for-theme.less
+++ b/src/ui/public/styles/variables/for-theme.less
@@ -343,8 +343,4 @@
 @transition-time: .35s;
 @transition-delay: .25s;
 @app-links-wrapper-background: #3caed2;
-@app-links-active-background: lighten(@app-links-wrapper-background, 7.5%);
-
-@firstLinkColor: #E4BB51;
-@secondLinkColor: #8AC336;
-@thirdLinkColor: #59C6C5;
+@app-links-active-background: #2f99c1;