diff --git a/extras/audio plugins/wrapper/RTAS/juce_RTAS_WinUtilities.cpp b/extras/audio plugins/wrapper/RTAS/juce_RTAS_WinUtilities.cpp
index c234836a19..f20bd11c0b 100644
--- a/extras/audio plugins/wrapper/RTAS/juce_RTAS_WinUtilities.cpp	
+++ b/extras/audio plugins/wrapper/RTAS/juce_RTAS_WinUtilities.cpp	
@@ -98,8 +98,7 @@ namespace
             if (parent == 0)
                 break;
 
-            TCHAR windowType [32];
-            zeromem (windowType, sizeof (windowType));
+            TCHAR windowType [32] = { 0 };
             GetClassName (parent, windowType, 31);
 
             if (String (windowType).equalsIgnoreCase ("MDIClient"))
diff --git a/extras/audio plugins/wrapper/VST/juce_VST_Wrapper.cpp b/extras/audio plugins/wrapper/VST/juce_VST_Wrapper.cpp
index b29df3bfae..58fc7d50cf 100644
--- a/extras/audio plugins/wrapper/VST/juce_VST_Wrapper.cpp	
+++ b/extras/audio plugins/wrapper/VST/juce_VST_Wrapper.cpp	
@@ -180,8 +180,7 @@ namespace
             if (parent == 0)
                 break;
 
-            TCHAR windowType [32];
-            zeromem (windowType, sizeof (windowType));
+            TCHAR windowType[32] = { 0 };
             GetClassName (parent, windowType, 31);
 
             if (String (windowType).equalsIgnoreCase ("MDIClient"))
@@ -1253,8 +1252,7 @@ public:
                     if (parent == 0)
                         break;
 
-                    TCHAR windowType [32];
-                    zeromem (windowType, sizeof (windowType));
+                    TCHAR windowType [32] = { 0 };
                     GetClassName (parent, windowType, 31);
 
                     if (String (windowType).equalsIgnoreCase ("MDIClient"))
@@ -1489,8 +1487,7 @@ private:
 
     const String getHostName()
     {
-        char host[256];
-        zeromem (host, sizeof (host));
+        char host[256] = { 0 };
         getHostProductString (host);
         return host;
     }
diff --git a/src/audio/audio_file_formats/juce_AiffAudioFormat.cpp b/src/audio/audio_file_formats/juce_AiffAudioFormat.cpp
index 5140a083d2..53e80858f5 100644
--- a/src/audio/audio_file_formats/juce_AiffAudioFormat.cpp
+++ b/src/audio/audio_file_formats/juce_AiffAudioFormat.cpp
@@ -308,8 +308,7 @@ private:
         output->writeIntBigEndian (lengthInSamples);
         output->writeShortBigEndian ((short) bitsPerSample);
 
-        uint8 sampleRateBytes[10];
-        zeromem (sampleRateBytes, 10);
+        uint8 sampleRateBytes[10] = { 0 };
 
         if (sampleRate <= 1)
         {
diff --git a/src/audio/audio_sources/juce_ResamplingAudioSource.cpp b/src/audio/audio_sources/juce_ResamplingAudioSource.cpp
index 6e80f48936..08f9ae7dfb 100644
--- a/src/audio/audio_sources/juce_ResamplingAudioSource.cpp
+++ b/src/audio/audio_sources/juce_ResamplingAudioSource.cpp
@@ -242,7 +242,7 @@ void ResamplingAudioSource::setFilterCoefficients (double c1, double c2, double
 
 void ResamplingAudioSource::resetFilters()
 {
-    zeromem (filterStates, sizeof (FilterState) * numChannels);
+    filterStates.clear (numChannels);
 }
 
 void ResamplingAudioSource::applyFilter (float* samples, int num, FilterState& fs)
diff --git a/src/audio/dsp/juce_AudioSampleBuffer.cpp b/src/audio/dsp/juce_AudioSampleBuffer.cpp
index b902c82c46..3286122235 100644
--- a/src/audio/dsp/juce_AudioSampleBuffer.cpp
+++ b/src/audio/dsp/juce_AudioSampleBuffer.cpp
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@ void AudioSampleBuffer::setSize (const int newNumChannels,
             if (avoidReallocating && allocatedBytes >= newTotalBytes)
             {
                 if (clearExtraSpace)
-                    zeromem (allocatedData, newTotalBytes);
+                    allocatedData.clear (newTotalBytes);
             }
             else
             {
diff --git a/src/core/juce_Time.cpp b/src/core/juce_Time.cpp
index 6ac445f564..ab04182000 100644
--- a/src/core/juce_Time.cpp
+++ b/src/core/juce_Time.cpp
@@ -448,16 +448,12 @@ const String Time::getTimeZone() const throw()
     _tzset();
 
   #ifdef USE_NEW_SECURE_TIME_FNS
+    for (int i = 0; i < 2; ++i)
     {
-        char name [128];
+        char name[128] = { 0 };
         size_t length;
-
-        for (int i = 0; i < 2; ++i)
-        {
-            zeromem (name, sizeof (name));
-            _get_tzname (&length, name, 127, i);
-            zone[i] = name;
-        }
+        _get_tzname (&length, name, 127, i);
+        zone[i] = name;
     }
   #else
     const char** const zonePtr = (const char**) _tzname;
diff --git a/src/cryptography/juce_MD5.cpp b/src/cryptography/juce_MD5.cpp
index dd001ce98b..0f40c7a8ae 100644
--- a/src/cryptography/juce_MD5.cpp
+++ b/src/cryptography/juce_MD5.cpp
@@ -216,9 +216,7 @@ void MD5::ProcessContext::finish (void* const result)
     const int paddingLength = (index < 56) ? (56 - index)
                                            : (120 - index);
 
-    uint8 paddingBuffer [64];
-    zeromem (paddingBuffer, paddingLength);
-    paddingBuffer [0] = 0x80;
+    uint8 paddingBuffer[64] = { 0x80 }; // first byte is 0x80, remaining bytes are zero.
     processBlock (paddingBuffer, paddingLength);
 
     processBlock (encodedLength, 8);
diff --git a/src/gui/components/keyboard/juce_KeyPress.cpp b/src/gui/components/keyboard/juce_KeyPress.cpp
index 6c98ce0ab2..e995565ff0 100644
--- a/src/gui/components/keyboard/juce_KeyPress.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/components/keyboard/juce_KeyPress.cpp
@@ -234,18 +234,18 @@ const String KeyPress::getTextDescription() const
         if (mods.isShiftDown())
             desc << "shift + ";
 
-#if JUCE_MAC
-          // only do this on the mac, because on Windows ctrl and command are the same,
-          // and this would get confusing
-          if (mods.isCommandDown())
-              desc << "command + ";
-
+       #if JUCE_MAC
         if (mods.isAltDown())
             desc << "option + ";
-#else
+
+        // only do this on the mac, because on Windows ctrl and command are the same,
+        // and this would get confusing
+        if (mods.isCommandDown())
+            desc << "command + ";
+       #else
         if (mods.isAltDown())
             desc << "alt + ";
-#endif
+       #endif
 
         for (int i = 0; i < numElementsInArray (KeyPressHelpers::translations); ++i)
             if (keyCode == KeyPressHelpers::translations[i].code)
@@ -278,5 +278,16 @@ const String KeyPress::getTextDescription() const
     return desc;
 }
 
+const String KeyPress::getTextDescriptionWithIcons() const
+{
+   #if JUCE_MAC
+    return getTextDescription().replace ("shift + ", String::charToString (0x21e7))
+                               .replace ("command + ", String::charToString (0x2318))
+                               .replace ("option + ", String::charToString (0x2325));
+   #else
+    return getTextDescription();
+   #endif
+}
+
 
 END_JUCE_NAMESPACE
diff --git a/src/gui/components/keyboard/juce_KeyPress.h b/src/gui/components/keyboard/juce_KeyPress.h
index 3ce910e52c..59ea93ad62 100644
--- a/src/gui/components/keyboard/juce_KeyPress.h
+++ b/src/gui/components/keyboard/juce_KeyPress.h
@@ -148,6 +148,13 @@ public:
     */
     const String getTextDescription() const;
 
+    /** Creates a textual description of the key combination, using unicode icon symbols if possible.
+
+        On OSX, this uses the Apple symbols for command, option, shift, etc, instead of the textual
+        modifier key descriptions that are returned by getTextDescription()
+    */
+    const String getTextDescriptionWithIcons() const;
+
     //==============================================================================
     /** Checks whether the user is currently holding down the keys that make up this
         KeyPress.
diff --git a/src/gui/components/menus/juce_PopupMenu.cpp b/src/gui/components/menus/juce_PopupMenu.cpp
index 7133ddaa57..41f563c492 100644
--- a/src/gui/components/menus/juce_PopupMenu.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/components/menus/juce_PopupMenu.cpp
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ public:
 
             for (int i = 0; i < keyPresses.size(); ++i)
             {
-                const String key (keyPresses.getReference(i).getTextDescription());
+                const String key (keyPresses.getReference(i).getTextDescriptionWithIcons());
 
                 if (shortcutKey.isNotEmpty())
                     shortcutKey << ", ";
diff --git a/src/gui/graphics/drawables/juce_SVGParser.cpp b/src/gui/graphics/drawables/juce_SVGParser.cpp
index b18be17b97..6ffde9c6b7 100644
--- a/src/gui/graphics/drawables/juce_SVGParser.cpp
+++ b/src/gui/graphics/drawables/juce_SVGParser.cpp
@@ -1083,8 +1083,7 @@ private:
     {
         if (s [index] == '#')
         {
-            uint32 hex [6];
-            zeromem (hex, sizeof (hex));
+            uint32 hex[6] = { 0 };
             int numChars = 0;
 
             for (int i = 6; --i >= 0;)
diff --git a/src/io/files/juce_File.cpp b/src/io/files/juce_File.cpp
index ea8ced65a8..a08c898a4d 100644
--- a/src/io/files/juce_File.cpp
+++ b/src/io/files/juce_File.cpp
@@ -369,7 +369,7 @@ bool File::isAChildOf (const File& potentialParent) const
 //==============================================================================
 bool File::isAbsolutePath (const String& path)
 {
-    return path.startsWithChar ('/') || path.startsWithChar ('\\')
+    return path.startsWithChar (separator)
            #if JUCE_WINDOWS
             || (path.isNotEmpty() && path[1] == ':');
            #else
diff --git a/src/io/files/juce_ZipFile.cpp b/src/io/files/juce_ZipFile.cpp
index ac616ea824..59e8708165 100644
--- a/src/io/files/juce_ZipFile.cpp
+++ b/src/io/files/juce_ZipFile.cpp
@@ -343,8 +343,7 @@ int ZipFile::findEndOfZipEntryTable (InputStream& input, int& numEntries)
     int64 pos = in.getPosition();
     const int64 lowestPos = jmax ((int64) 0, pos - 1024);
 
-    char buffer [32];
-    zeromem (buffer, sizeof (buffer));
+    char buffer [32] = { 0 };
 
     while (pos > lowestPos)
     {
diff --git a/src/io/streams/juce_MemoryOutputStream.cpp b/src/io/streams/juce_MemoryOutputStream.cpp
index 4f9a3a30a4..62b23fbc15 100644
--- a/src/io/streams/juce_MemoryOutputStream.cpp
+++ b/src/io/streams/juce_MemoryOutputStream.cpp
@@ -131,7 +131,8 @@ int MemoryOutputStream::writeFromInputStream (InputStream& source, int64 maxNumB
 
 const String MemoryOutputStream::toUTF8() const
 {
-    return String::fromUTF8 (static_cast <const char*> (getData()), (int) getDataSize());
+    const char* const d = static_cast <const char*> (getData());
+    return String (CharPointer_UTF8 (d), CharPointer_UTF8 (d + getDataSize()));
 }
 
 const String MemoryOutputStream::toString() const
diff --git a/src/maths/juce_BigInteger.cpp b/src/maths/juce_BigInteger.cpp
index 844f6fe4c8..03f6a68184 100644
--- a/src/maths/juce_BigInteger.cpp
+++ b/src/maths/juce_BigInteger.cpp
@@ -206,7 +206,7 @@ void BigInteger::clear()
     }
     else
     {
-        zeromem (values, sizeof (uint32) * (numValues + 1));
+        values.clear (numValues + 1);
     }
 
     highestBit = -1;
diff --git a/src/memory/juce_HeapBlock.h b/src/memory/juce_HeapBlock.h
index 1f21c03e3d..c9c10bdaf7 100644
--- a/src/memory/juce_HeapBlock.h
+++ b/src/memory/juce_HeapBlock.h
@@ -230,6 +230,14 @@ public:
         swapVariables (data, other.data);
     }
 
+    /** This fills the block with zeros, up to the number of elements specified.
+        Since the block has no way of knowing its own size, you must make sure that the number of
+        elements you specify doesn't exceed the allocated size.
+    */
+    void clear (size_t numElements) throw()
+    {
+        zeromem (data, sizeof (ElementType) * numElements);
+    }
 
 private:
     //==============================================================================
diff --git a/src/memory/juce_ReferenceCountedObject.h b/src/memory/juce_ReferenceCountedObject.h
index b2826f1882..9af61e11ba 100644
--- a/src/memory/juce_ReferenceCountedObject.h
+++ b/src/memory/juce_ReferenceCountedObject.h
@@ -113,12 +113,16 @@ private:
 
 //==============================================================================
 /**
-    Used to point to an object of type ReferenceCountedObject.
+    A smart-pointer class which points to a reference-counted object.
 
-    It's wise to use a typedef instead of typing out the templated name
-    each time - e.g.
+    The template parameter specifies the class of the object you want to point to - the easiest
+    way to make a class reference-countable is to simply make it inherit from ReferenceCountedObject,
+    but if you need to, you could roll your own reference-countable class by implementing a pair of
+    mathods called incReferenceCount() and decReferenceCount().
 
-    typedef ReferenceCountedObjectPtr<MyClass> MyClassPtr;
+    When using this class, you'll probably want to create a typedef to abbreviate the full
+    templated name - e.g.
+    @code typedef ReferenceCountedObjectPtr<MyClass> MyClassPtr;@endcode
 
     @see ReferenceCountedObject, ReferenceCountedObjectArray
 */
diff --git a/src/native/android/juce_android_Files.cpp b/src/native/android/juce_android_Files.cpp
index c72afb3ad6..86e01e73b5 100644
--- a/src/native/android/juce_android_Files.cpp
+++ b/src/native/android/juce_android_Files.cpp
@@ -195,7 +195,7 @@ public:
 
                 if (fnmatch (wildcardUTF8, de->d_name, FNM_CASEFOLD) == 0)
                 {
-                    filenameFound = String::fromUTF8 (de->d_name);
+                    filenameFound = CharPointer_UTF8 (de->d_name);
 
                     updateStatInfoForFile (parentDir + filenameFound, isDir, fileSize, modTime, creationTime, isReadOnly);
 
diff --git a/src/native/android/juce_android_SystemStats.cpp b/src/native/android/juce_android_SystemStats.cpp
index a531cab97e..ffbaa2ab37 100644
--- a/src/native/android/juce_android_SystemStats.cpp
+++ b/src/native/android/juce_android_SystemStats.cpp
@@ -105,7 +105,7 @@ const String SystemStats::getLogonName()
             user = pw->pw_name;
     }
 
-    return String::fromUTF8 (user);
+    return CharPointer_UTF8 (user);
 }
 
 const String SystemStats::getFullUserName()
diff --git a/src/native/common/juce_posix_SharedCode.h b/src/native/common/juce_posix_SharedCode.h
index ca89ea3ef0..6c0ea01920 100644
--- a/src/native/common/juce_posix_SharedCode.h
+++ b/src/native/common/juce_posix_SharedCode.h
@@ -214,7 +214,7 @@ const File File::getCurrentWorkingDirectory()
         bufferSize += 1024;
     }
 
-    return File (String::fromUTF8 (cwd));
+    return File (CharPointer_UTF8 (cwd));
 }
 
 bool File::setAsCurrentWorkingDirectory() const
@@ -490,7 +490,7 @@ const File juce_getExecutableFile()
   #else
     Dl_info exeInfo;
     dladdr ((void*) juce_getExecutableFile, &exeInfo);  // (can't be a const void* on android)
-    return File::getCurrentWorkingDirectory().getChildFile (String::fromUTF8 (exeInfo.dli_fname));
+    return File::getCurrentWorkingDirectory().getChildFile (CharPointer_UTF8 (exeInfo.dli_fname));
   #endif
 }
 
diff --git a/src/native/linux/juce_linux_Files.cpp b/src/native/linux/juce_linux_Files.cpp
index 100d4ab0fa..9d609f7e45 100644
--- a/src/native/linux/juce_linux_Files.cpp
+++ b/src/native/linux/juce_linux_Files.cpp
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ const File File::getSpecialLocation (const SpecialLocationType type)
                 homeDir = pw->pw_dir;
         }
 
-        return File (String::fromUTF8 (homeDir));
+        return File (CharPointer_UTF8 (homeDir));
     }
 
     case userDocumentsDirectory:
@@ -185,7 +185,7 @@ const File File::getSpecialLocation (const SpecialLocationType type)
 
     case invokedExecutableFile:
         if (juce_Argv0 != 0)
-            return File (String::fromUTF8 (juce_Argv0));
+            return File (CharPointer_UTF8 (juce_Argv0));
         // deliberate fall-through...
 
     case currentExecutableFile:
@@ -260,7 +260,7 @@ public:
 
                 if (fnmatch (wildcardUTF8, de->d_name, FNM_CASEFOLD) == 0)
                 {
-                    filenameFound = String::fromUTF8 (de->d_name);
+                    filenameFound = CharPointer_UTF8 (de->d_name);
 
                     updateStatInfoForFile (parentDir + filenameFound, isDir, fileSize, modTime, creationTime, isReadOnly);
 
diff --git a/src/native/linux/juce_linux_Fonts.cpp b/src/native/linux/juce_linux_Fonts.cpp
index b38900e4c6..408e3bd2c0 100644
--- a/src/native/linux/juce_linux_Fonts.cpp
+++ b/src/native/linux/juce_linux_Fonts.cpp
@@ -103,7 +103,7 @@ public:
         }
 
         StringArray fontDirs;
-        fontDirs.addTokens (String::fromUTF8 (getenv ("JUCE_FONT_PATH")), ";,", String::empty);
+        fontDirs.addTokens (CharPointer_UTF8 (getenv ("JUCE_FONT_PATH")), ";,", String::empty);
         fontDirs.removeEmptyStrings (true);
 
         if (fontDirs.size() == 0)
diff --git a/src/native/linux/juce_linux_Network.cpp b/src/native/linux/juce_linux_Network.cpp
index 91c16f8c63..f661ac9244 100644
--- a/src/native/linux/juce_linux_Network.cpp
+++ b/src/native/linux/juce_linux_Network.cpp
@@ -329,7 +329,7 @@ private:
                 numConsecutiveLFs = 0;
         }
 
-        const String header (String::fromUTF8 ((const char*) buffer.getData()));
+        const String header (CharPointer_UTF8 ((const char*) buffer.getData()));
 
         if (header.startsWithIgnoreCase ("HTTP/"))
             return header.trimEnd();
diff --git a/src/native/linux/juce_linux_SystemStats.cpp b/src/native/linux/juce_linux_SystemStats.cpp
index 8a3bdf3fcb..0dc8cb4878 100644
--- a/src/native/linux/juce_linux_SystemStats.cpp
+++ b/src/native/linux/juce_linux_SystemStats.cpp
@@ -108,7 +108,7 @@ const String SystemStats::getLogonName()
             user = pw->pw_name;
     }
 
-    return String::fromUTF8 (user);
+    return CharPointer_UTF8 (user);
 }
 
 const String SystemStats::getFullUserName()
diff --git a/src/native/linux/juce_linux_Windowing.cpp b/src/native/linux/juce_linux_Windowing.cpp
index 191d15cabd..fd41ab9a1a 100644
--- a/src/native/linux/juce_linux_Windowing.cpp
+++ b/src/native/linux/juce_linux_Windowing.cpp
@@ -507,12 +507,9 @@ public:
         if (! usingXShm)
 #endif
         {
-            imageDataAllocated.malloc (lineStride * h);
+            imageDataAllocated.allocate (lineStride * h, format_ == Image::ARGB && clearImage);
             imageData = imageDataAllocated;
 
-            if (format_ == Image::ARGB && clearImage)
-                zeromem (imageData, h * lineStride);
-
             xImage = (XImage*) juce_calloc (sizeof (XImage));
 
             xImage->width = w;
diff --git a/src/native/mac/juce_mac_AudioCDBurner.mm b/src/native/mac/juce_mac_AudioCDBurner.mm
index d9d59448dc..22f6a9661e 100644
--- a/src/native/mac/juce_mac_AudioCDBurner.mm
+++ b/src/native/mac/juce_mac_AudioCDBurner.mm
@@ -172,7 +172,7 @@ END_JUCE_NAMESPACE
 
         if ([err length] > 0)
         {
-            *error = JUCE_NAMESPACE::String::fromUTF8 ([err UTF8String]);
+            *error = JUCE_NAMESPACE::CharPointer_UTF8 ([err UTF8String]);
             break;
         }
     }
@@ -482,7 +482,7 @@ const StringArray AudioCDBurner::findAvailableDevices()
     StringArray s;
 
     for (unsigned int i = 0; i < [names count]; ++i)
-        s.add (String::fromUTF8 ([[names objectAtIndex: i] UTF8String]));
+        s.add (CharPointer_UTF8 ([[names objectAtIndex: i] UTF8String]));
 
     return s;
 }
diff --git a/src/native/mac/juce_mac_CoreAudio.cpp b/src/native/mac/juce_mac_CoreAudio.cpp
index 39f88227d0..9ff3370b5b 100644
--- a/src/native/mac/juce_mac_CoreAudio.cpp
+++ b/src/native/mac/juce_mac_CoreAudio.cpp
@@ -150,8 +150,7 @@ public:
                         String name;
 
                         {
-                            char channelName [256];
-                            zerostruct (channelName);
+                            char channelName [256] = { 0 };
                             UInt32 nameSize = sizeof (channelName);
                             UInt32 channelNum = chanNum + 1;
                             pa.mSelector = kAudioDevicePropertyChannelName;
diff --git a/src/native/mac/juce_mac_Files.mm b/src/native/mac/juce_mac_Files.mm
index e6df621fc6..314ea0e213 100644
--- a/src/native/mac/juce_mac_Files.mm
+++ b/src/native/mac/juce_mac_Files.mm
@@ -212,7 +212,7 @@ const File File::getSpecialLocation (const SpecialLocationType type)
 
         case invokedExecutableFile:
             if (juce_Argv0 != 0)
-                return File (String::fromUTF8 (juce_Argv0));
+                return File (CharPointer_UTF8 (juce_Argv0));
             // deliberate fall-through...
 
         case currentExecutableFile:
@@ -449,11 +449,10 @@ bool PlatformUtilities::makeFSRefFromPath (FSRef* destFSRef, const String& path)
 
 const String PlatformUtilities::makePathFromFSRef (FSRef* file)
 {
-    char path [2048];
-    zerostruct (path);
+    char path [2048] = { 0 };
 
     if (FSRefMakePath (file, (UInt8*) path, sizeof (path) - 1) == noErr)
-        return PlatformUtilities::convertToPrecomposedUnicode (String::fromUTF8 (path));
+        return PlatformUtilities::convertToPrecomposedUnicode (CharPointer_UTF8 (path));
 
     return String::empty;
 }
diff --git a/src/native/mac/juce_mac_Strings.mm b/src/native/mac/juce_mac_Strings.mm
index cec2447f1b..e9ce60d463 100644
--- a/src/native/mac/juce_mac_Strings.mm
+++ b/src/native/mac/juce_mac_Strings.mm
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ namespace
 {
     const String nsStringToJuce (NSString* s)
     {
-        return String::fromUTF8 ([s UTF8String]);
+        return CharPointer_UTF8 ([s UTF8String]);
     }
 
     NSString* juceStringToNS (const String& s)
diff --git a/src/native/windows/juce_win32_ASIO.cpp b/src/native/windows/juce_win32_ASIO.cpp
index 3018e697b9..1a588186c4 100644
--- a/src/native/windows/juce_win32_ASIO.cpp
+++ b/src/native/windows/juce_win32_ASIO.cpp
@@ -245,9 +245,8 @@ public:
         if (sampleRate == 0)
             sampleRate = 44100;
 
-        long numSources = 32;
-        ASIOClockSource clocks[32];
-        zeromem (clocks, sizeof (clocks));
+        ASIOClockSource clocks[32] = { 0 };
+        long numSources = numElementsInArray (clocks);
         asioObject->getClockSources (clocks, &numSources);
         bool isSourceSet = false;
 
@@ -842,8 +841,7 @@ private:
     {
         if (asioObject != 0)
         {
-            char buffer [256];
-            zeromem (buffer, sizeof (buffer));
+            char buffer [256] = { 0 };
 
             if (! asioObject->init (windowHandle))
             {
diff --git a/src/native/windows/juce_win32_AudioCDReader.cpp b/src/native/windows/juce_win32_AudioCDReader.cpp
index 150d1ba746..9d07a04e16 100644
--- a/src/native/windows/juce_win32_AudioCDReader.cpp
+++ b/src/native/windows/juce_win32_AudioCDReader.cpp
@@ -327,8 +327,7 @@ void findCDDevices (Array<CDDeviceDescription>& list)
 
             if (h != INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)
             {
-                char buffer[100];
-                zeromem (buffer, sizeof (buffer));
+                char buffer[100] = { 0 };
 
                 SCSI_PASS_THROUGH_DIRECT_WITH_BUFFER p;
                 zerostruct (p);
@@ -1688,7 +1687,7 @@ bool AudioCDBurner::addAudioTrack (AudioSource* audioSource, int numSamples)
             source->getNextAudioBlock (info);
         }
 
-        zeromem (buffer, bytesPerBlock);
+        buffer.clear (bytesPerBlock);
 
         typedef AudioData::Pointer <AudioData::Int16, AudioData::LittleEndian,
                                     AudioData::Interleaved, AudioData::NonConst> CDSampleFormat;
diff --git a/src/native/windows/juce_win32_OpenGLComponent.cpp b/src/native/windows/juce_win32_OpenGLComponent.cpp
index 97ae6715f7..384be97870 100644
--- a/src/native/windows/juce_win32_OpenGLComponent.cpp
+++ b/src/native/windows/juce_win32_OpenGLComponent.cpp
@@ -430,8 +430,7 @@ private:
             if (availableExtensions.contains ("WGL_ARB_multisample"))
                 attributes[numAttributes++] = WGL_SAMPLES_ARB;
 
-            int values[32];
-            zeromem (values, sizeof (values));
+            int values[32] = { 0 };
 
             if (wglGetPixelFormatAttribivARB (dc, pixelFormatIndex, 0, numAttributes, attributes, values))
             {
diff --git a/src/native/windows/juce_win32_SystemStats.cpp b/src/native/windows/juce_win32_SystemStats.cpp
index 4b365894aa..440f924e52 100644
--- a/src/native/windows/juce_win32_SystemStats.cpp
+++ b/src/native/windows/juce_win32_SystemStats.cpp
@@ -67,8 +67,7 @@ const String SystemStats::getCpuVendor()
 
 static void juce_getCpuVendor (char* const v)
 {
-    int vendor[4];
-    zeromem (vendor, 16);
+    int vendor[4] = { 0 };
 
 #ifdef JUCE_64BIT
 #else
diff --git a/src/text/juce_String.cpp b/src/text/juce_String.cpp
index d717ffaa82..9319185647 100644
--- a/src/text/juce_String.cpp
+++ b/src/text/juce_String.cpp
@@ -2102,13 +2102,17 @@ const String String::createStringFromData (const void* const data_, const int si
     }
     else
     {
+        const uint8* start = data;
+        const uint8* end = data + size;
+
         if (size >= 3
               && data[0] == (uint8) CharPointer_UTF8::byteOrderMark1
               && data[1] == (uint8) CharPointer_UTF8::byteOrderMark2
               && data[2] == (uint8) CharPointer_UTF8::byteOrderMark3)
-            return String::fromUTF8 ((const char*) data + 3, size - 3);
+            start += 3;
 
-        return String::fromUTF8 ((const char*) data, size);
+        return String (CharPointer_UTF8 ((const char*) start),
+                       CharPointer_UTF8 ((const char*) end));
     }
 }
 
@@ -2218,18 +2222,13 @@ int String::getNumBytesAsUTF8() const throw()
 
 const String String::fromUTF8 (const char* const buffer, int bufferSizeBytes)
 {
-    if (buffer == 0)
-        return empty;
-
-    CharPointer_UTF8 b (buffer);
-
-    if (bufferSizeBytes < 0)
-        return String (b);
-
-    const size_t numChars = b.lengthUpTo (CharPointer_UTF8 (buffer + bufferSizeBytes));
-
-    if (numChars > 0)
-        return String (b, numChars);
+    if (buffer != 0)
+    {
+        if (bufferSizeBytes < 0)
+            return String (CharPointer_UTF8 (buffer));
+        else if (bufferSizeBytes > 0)
+            return String (CharPointer_UTF8 (buffer), CharPointer_UTF8 (buffer + bufferSizeBytes));
+    }
 
     return String::empty;
 }