I am rendering an SVG file in Gimp due to the fact that I used blur, and it takes forever to export a bitmap from within Inkscape. Everything goes well (and quickly!) in Gimp, with the exception that the text does not smooth. It comes in very rough. Is there a simple fix for this, or will I need to convert my text to paths before rendering?

Incidentally, I'm wondering why Inkscape's export feature is so slow (ie. hours) while Gimp manages to get the job done in a couple minutes...

If you're using 0.45 I believe that exporting is faster in 0.46.

I can't explain the lack of antia-liasing on your text. I checked and it AA my text alright. It could be something with your file, in which case can you post it online along with an example of what you see and what you expect to see?

0.45 vs 0.46 export improvements:
http://kaioa.com/node/30