If you are getting the following errors, there is an issue with the following versions of Joomla where they are trying to convert the timezone object into a string. This error can only be replicated when one enables the time zone option at the back end of Joomla's Global Configuration section.

Joomla 1.6.0 (This issue was fixed in Joomla 1.6.1 onwards):

Catchable fatal error: Object of class DateTimeZone could not be converted to string in /home/********/public_html/libraries/joomla/factory.php on line 449

To fix this, edit the file /libraries/joomla/factory.php and comment out line 449 where it says $key = $time . '-' . $tzOffset;

Joomla 1.7.0 (This issue has reappeared since Joomla 1.7.0):

Catchable fatal error: Object of class DateTimeZone could not be converted to string in /home/********/public_html/libraries/joomla/factory.php on line 484

To fix this, edit the file /libraries/joomla/factory.php and comment out line 484 where it says $key = $time . '-' . $tzOffset;