diff --git a/build.xml b/build.xml
index 9e2db7402..7c257d8bb 100644
--- a/build.xml
+++ b/build.xml
@@ -45,8 +45,10 @@
   <property name="starr.lib.jar" value="${lib.dir}/scala-library.jar"/>
   <property name="starr.comp.jar" value="${lib.dir}/scala-compiler.jar"/>
   <property name="jaco.jar" value="${lib.dir}/jaco.jar"/>
-  <property name="fjbg.jar" value="${lib.dir}/fjbg.jar"/>
-  <property name="msil.jar" value="${lib.dir}/msil.jar"/>
+  <property name="fjbg.name" value="fjbg.jar"/>
+  <property name="fjbg.jar" value="${lib.dir}/${fjbg.name}"/>
+  <property name="msil.name" value="msil.jar"/>
+  <property name="msil.jar" value="${lib.dir}/${msil.name}"/>
   <property name="scala.dll" value="${lib.dir}/scala.dll"/>
   <property name="ant.jar" value="${ant.home}/lib/ant.jar"/>
   <!-- Location of build products properties -->
@@ -149,6 +151,8 @@
     <!-- Defining version number -->
   	<tstamp prefix="start"/>
     <property name="version.number" value="${start.DSTAMP}-${start.TSTAMP}"/>
+  <property name="dist.current.dir"
+            value="${dist.dir}/${dist.name}-${version.number}"/>
     <!-- Creating boot-level tasks -->
     <taskdef name="starr"
              classname="scala.tools.nsc.ant.NSC"
@@ -187,8 +191,10 @@
   -->
   
   <macrodef name="build.exec">
-    <attribute name="lib.dir"/>
-    <attribute name="comp.dir"/>
+    <attribute name="lib.path"/>
+    <attribute name="comp.path"/>
+    <attribute name="fjbg.path"/>
+    <attribute name="msil.path"/>
     <attribute name="exec.dir"/>
     <sequential>
       <mkdir dir="@{exec.dir}"/>
@@ -197,7 +203,7 @@
         <filterset>
           <filter token="version" value="${version}"/>
           <filter token="copyright" value="${copyright}"/>
-          <filter token="lib.path" value="@{lib.dir}"/>
+          <filter token="lib.path" value="@{lib.path}"/>
         </filterset>
       </copy>
       <chmod file="@{exec.dir}/scala" perm="ugo+rx"/>
@@ -206,10 +212,10 @@
         <filterset>
           <filter token="version" value="${version}"/>
           <filter token="copyright" value="${copyright}"/>
-          <filter token="lib.path" value="@{lib.dir}"/>
-          <filter token="comp.path" value="@{comp.dir}"/>
-          <filter token="fjbg.jar" value="${fjbg.jar}"/>
-          <filter token="msil.jar" value="${msil.jar}"/>
+          <filter token="lib.path" value="@{lib.path}"/>
+          <filter token="comp.path" value="@{comp.path}"/>
+          <filter token="fjbg.jar" value="@{fjbg.path}"/>
+          <filter token="msil.jar" value="@{msil.path}"/>
           <filter token="tool.class" value="scala.tools.nsc.Main"/>
         </filterset>
       </copy>
@@ -219,7 +225,7 @@
         <filterset>
           <filter token="version" value="${version}"/>
           <filter token="copyright" value="${copyright}"/>
-          <filter token="lib.path" value="@{lib.dir}"/>
+          <filter token="lib.path" value="@{lib.path}"/>
         </filterset>
       </copy>
       <copy file="${src.dir}/${exec.dir.name}/scala-tool.win.tmpl"
@@ -227,10 +233,10 @@
         <filterset>
           <filter token="version" value="${version}"/>
           <filter token="copyright" value="${copyright}"/>
-          <filter token="lib.path" value="@{lib.dir}"/>
-          <filter token="comp.path" value="@{comp.dir}"/>
-          <filter token="fjbg.jar" value="${fjbg.jar}"/>
-          <filter token="msil.jar" value="${msil.jar}"/>
+          <filter token="lib.path" value="@{lib.path}"/>
+          <filter token="comp.path" value="@{comp.path}"/>
+          <filter token="fjbg.jar" value="@{fjbg.path}"/>
+          <filter token="msil.jar" value="@{msil.path}"/>
           <filter token="tool.class" value="scala.tools.nsc.Main"/>
         </filterset>
       </copy>
@@ -299,8 +305,10 @@
       <excludesfile name="${nsc.excludes}" if="excludes.avail"/>
     </starr>
     <!-- Build executable files -->
-    <build.exec lib.dir="${locker.lib.dir}"
-                comp.dir="${locker.comp.dir}"
+    <build.exec lib.path="${locker.lib.dir}"
+                comp.path="${locker.comp.dir}"
+                fjbg.path="${fjbg.jar}"
+                msil.path="${msil.jar}"
                 exec.dir="${locker.dir}/${exec.dir.name}"/>
   </target>
   
@@ -366,8 +374,10 @@
       <excludesfile name="${nsc.excludes}" if="excludes.avail"/>
     </locker>
     <!-- Build executable files -->
-    <build.exec lib.dir="${quick.lib.dir}"
-                comp.dir="${quick.comp.dir}"
+    <build.exec lib.path="${quick.lib.dir}"
+                comp.path="${quick.comp.dir}"
+                fjbg.path="${fjbg.jar}"
+                msil.path="${msil.jar}"
                 exec.dir="${quick.dir}/${exec.dir.name}"/>
   </target>
 
@@ -434,8 +444,10 @@
       <excludesfile name="${nsc.excludes}" if="excludes.avail"/>
     </quick>
     <!-- Build executable files -->
-    <build.exec lib.dir="${strap.lib.dir}"
-                comp.dir="${strap.comp.dir}"
+    <build.exec lib.path="${strap.lib.dir}"
+                comp.path="${strap.comp.dir}"
+                fjbg.path="${fjbg.jar}"
+                msil.path="${msil.jar}"
                 exec.dir="${strap.dir}/${exec.dir.name}"/>
     <!-- Compares quick and test level -->
     <checksum totalproperty="quick.md5">
@@ -481,21 +493,28 @@
   -->
   
   <target name="dist" depends="test">
-    <mkdir dir="${dist.dir}"/>
-    <mkdir dir="${dist.dir}/lib"/>
-    <jar destfile="${dist.dir}/lib/${comp.jar.name}"
+    <mkdir dir="${dist.current.dir}"/>
+    <mkdir dir="${dist.current.dir}/lib"/>
+    <jar destfile="${dist.current.dir}/lib/${comp.jar.name}"
          basedir="${strap.comp.dir}">
       <manifest>
         <attribute name="Main-Class" value="scala.tools.nsc.Main"/>
       </manifest>
     </jar>
-    <jar destfile="${dist.dir}/lib/${lib.jar.name}"
+    <jar destfile="${dist.current.dir}/lib/${lib.jar.name}"
          basedir="${strap.lib.dir}">
     </jar>
-    <mkdir dir="${dist.dir}/bin"/>
-    <build.exec lib.dir="$$PREFIX/lib/${lib.jar.name}"
-                comp.dir="$$PREFIX/lib/${comp.jar.name}"
-                exec.dir="${dist.dir}/bin"/>
+    <copy file="${fjbg.jar}" todir="${dist.current.dir}/lib"/>
+    <copy file="${msil.jar}" todir="${dist.current.dir}/lib"/>
+    <mkdir dir="${dist.current.dir}/bin"/>
+    <build.exec lib.path="$$PREFIX/lib/${lib.jar.name}"
+                comp.path="$$PREFIX/lib/${comp.jar.name}"
+                fjbg.path="$$PREFIX/lib/${fjbg.name}"
+                msil.path="$$PREFIX/lib/${msil.name}"
+                exec.dir="${dist.current.dir}/bin"/>
+    <symlink link="${dist.latest.dir}"
+             resource="${dist.current.dir}"
+             overwrite="yes"/>
   </target>
   
   <!--
diff --git a/src/compiler/scala/tools/nsc/Settings.scala b/src/compiler/scala/tools/nsc/Settings.scala
index a7a5dfe73..6eca1272a 100644
--- a/src/compiler/scala/tools/nsc/Settings.scala
+++ b/src/compiler/scala/tools/nsc/Settings.scala
@@ -5,24 +5,42 @@
 // $Id$
 package scala.tools.nsc;
 
+import java.io.File;
+
 class Settings(error: String => unit) {
 
   private var allsettings: List[Setting] = List();
+  
+  private val classpathDefault = {
+    val scalaCp = System.getProperty("scala.class.path");
+    if (scalaCp != null) scalaCp + File.pathSeparator + "."
+    else "."
+  }
+  private val bootclasspathDefault = {
+    val javaBcp = System.getProperty("sun.boot.class.path");
+    val scalaBcp = System.getProperty("scala.boot.class.path");
+    if (javaBcp != null && scalaBcp != null) javaBcp + File.pathSeparator + scalaBcp
+    else if (javaBcp != null) javaBcp
+    else if (scalaBcp != null) scalaBcp
+    else ""
+  }
+  private val extdirsDefault = {
+    val javaExt = System.getProperty("java.ext.dirs");
+    val scalaExt = System.getProperty("scala.ext.dirs");
+    if (javaExt != null && scalaExt != null) javaExt + File.pathSeparator + scalaExt
+    else if (javaExt != null) javaExt
+    else if (scalaExt != null) scalaExt
+    else ""
+  }
 
   val debuginfo     = BooleanSetting("-g", "Generate debugging info");
   val nowarnings    = BooleanSetting("-nowarn", "Generate no warnings");
   val noassertions  = BooleanSetting("-noassert", "Generate no assertions and assumptions");
   val verbose       = BooleanSetting("-verbose", "Output messages about what the compiler is doing");
-  val classpath     = StringSetting ("-classpath", "path", "Specify where to find user class files",
-                                     System.getProperty("scala.class.path",
-                                       System.getProperty("java.class.path", ".")));
-  val sourcepath    = StringSetting ("-sourcepath", "path", "Specify where to find input source files",
-                                     System.getProperty("scala.source.path",
-                                       System.getProperty("java.source.path", ".")));
-  val bootclasspath = StringSetting ("-bootclasspath", "path", "Override location of bootstrap class files",
-                                     System.getProperty("sun.boot.class.path", ""));
-  val extdirs       = StringSetting ("-extdirs", "dirs", "Override location of installed extensions",
-                                     System.getProperty("java.ext.dirs", ""));
+  val classpath     = StringSetting ("-classpath", "path", "Specify where to find user class files", classpathDefault);
+  val sourcepath    = StringSetting ("-sourcepath", "path", "Specify where to find input source files", "");
+  val bootclasspath = StringSetting ("-bootclasspath", "path", "Override location of bootstrap class files", bootclasspathDefault);
+  val extdirs       = StringSetting ("-extdirs", "dirs", "Override location of installed extensions", extdirsDefault);
   val outdir        = StringSetting ("-d", "directory", "Specify where to place generated class files", "");
   val encoding      = StringSetting ("-encoding", "encoding", "Specify character encoding used by source files", "ISO-8859-1");
   val separate      = ChoiceSetting ("-separate", "Read symbol files for separate compilation", List("yes","no"), "default");
diff --git a/src/compiler/scala/tools/util/ClassPath.java b/src/compiler/scala/tools/util/ClassPath.java
index 8df26355c..182e8c218 100644
--- a/src/compiler/scala/tools/util/ClassPath.java
+++ b/src/compiler/scala/tools/util/ClassPath.java
@@ -17,52 +17,6 @@ import java.util.Set;
 /** This class represents a Java/Scala class path. */
 public class ClassPath {
 
-    //########################################################################
-    // Public Constants
-
-    /** The system-dependent path-separator character */
-    public static final String PATH_SEPARATOR =
-        System.getProperty("path.separator", ":");
-
-    /** The location of the scala library classes */
-    public static final String SCALA_LIBRARY_CLASSPATH =
-        System.getProperty("scala.library.class.path", "");
-
-    /** The location of the scala library sources */
-    public static final String SCALA_LIBRARY_SOURCEPATH =
-        System.getProperty("scala.library.source.path", "");
-
-    /** The current VM's boot class path */
-    public static final String RUNTIME_BOOTCLASSPATH =
-        System.getProperty("sun.boot.class.path", "");
-
-    /** The current VM's extension directory path */
-    public static final String RUNTIME_EXTDIRS =
-        System.getProperty("java.ext.dirs", "");
-
-    /** The implicit boot class path */
-    public static final String IMPLICIT_BOOTCLASSPATH =
-        concat(new String[]{
-            SCALA_LIBRARY_CLASSPATH,
-            SCALA_LIBRARY_SOURCEPATH,
-            RUNTIME_BOOTCLASSPATH});
-
-    /** The default class path */
-    public static final String DEFAULT_CLASSPATH =
-        System.getProperty("scala.class.path", ".");
-
-    /** The default source path */
-    public static final String DEFAULT_SOURCEPATH =
-        System.getProperty("scala.source.path", "");
-
-    /** The default boot class path */
-    public static final String DEFAULT_BOOTCLASSPATH =
-        System.getProperty("scala.boot.class.path", IMPLICIT_BOOTCLASSPATH);
-
-    /** The default extension directory path */
-    public static final String DEFAULT_EXTDIRS =
-        System.getProperty("scala.ext.dirs", RUNTIME_EXTDIRS);
-
     //########################################################################
     // Public Functions
 
@@ -100,32 +54,15 @@ public class ClassPath {
      * pass in an order preserving implementation of Set.
      */
     public static void addFilesInPath(Set/*<File>*/ files, String path) {
-        path += PATH_SEPARATOR;
+        path += File.pathSeparator;
         for (int i = 0; i < path.length(); ) {
-            int j = path.indexOf(PATH_SEPARATOR, i);
+            int j = path.indexOf(File.pathSeparator, i);
             File file = new File(path.substring(i, j));
             if (file.exists()) files.add(file);
             i = j + 1;
         }
     }
 
-    //########################################################################
-    // Private Functions
-
-    /** Returns the concatenation of the two paths. */
-    private static String concat(String path1, String path2) {
-        if (path1.length() == 0) return path2;
-        if (path2.length() == 0) return path1;
-        return path1 + PATH_SEPARATOR + path2;
-    }
-
-    /** Returns the concatenation of the array of paths. */
-    private static String concat(String[] paths) {
-        String path = "";
-        for (int i = 0; i < paths.length; i++) path = concat(path, paths[i]);
-        return path;
-    }
-
     //########################################################################
     // Private Fields
 
@@ -135,38 +72,17 @@ public class ClassPath {
     //########################################################################
     // Public Constructors
 
-    /** Initializes this instance with default paths. */
-    public ClassPath() {
-        this(DEFAULT_CLASSPATH);
-    }
-
-    /**
-     * Initializes this instance with the specified class path and
-     * default source, boot class and extension directory paths.
-     */
-    public ClassPath(String classpath) {
-        this(classpath, DEFAULT_SOURCEPATH, DEFAULT_BOOTCLASSPATH,
-            DEFAULT_EXTDIRS);
-    }
-
     /** Initializes this instance with the specified paths. */
-    public ClassPath(String classpath, String sourcepath, String bootclasspath,
-        String extdirs)
+    public ClassPath(String classpath,
+                     String sourcepath,
+                     String bootclasspath,
+                     String extdirs)
     {
-        // replace first empty path in bootclasspath by IMPLICIT_BOOTCLASSPATH
-        if (!bootclasspath.equals(IMPLICIT_BOOTCLASSPATH)) {
-            String path = PATH_SEPARATOR + bootclasspath + PATH_SEPARATOR;
-            int index = path.indexOf(PATH_SEPARATOR + PATH_SEPARATOR);
-            if (index >= 0)
-                bootclasspath =
-                    path.substring(1, index + 1) + IMPLICIT_BOOTCLASSPATH +
-                    path.substring(index + 1, path.length() - 1);
-        }
         Set files = new LinkedHashSet();
         addFilesInPath(files, bootclasspath);
         addArchivesInExtDirPath(files, extdirs);
-        addFilesInPath(files, classpath);
         addFilesInPath(files, sourcepath);
+        addFilesInPath(files, classpath);
         ArrayList dirs = new ArrayList(files.size());
         for (Iterator i = files.iterator(); i.hasNext(); ) {
             AbstractFile dir = AbstractFile.getDirectory((File)i.next());
diff --git a/src/exec/scala-tool.unix.tmpl b/src/exec/scala-tool.unix.tmpl
index 71f10fa26..5e5e2bb74 100644
--- a/src/exec/scala-tool.unix.tmpl
+++ b/src/exec/scala-tool.unix.tmpl
@@ -15,7 +15,20 @@ case "`uname`" in
     Darwin*) darwin=true ;;
 esac
 
-PREFIX=`dirname "$0"`/..;
+SOURCE=$0;
+SCRIPT=`basename "$SOURCE"`;
+while [ -h "$SOURCE" ]; do
+    SCRIPT=`basename "$SOURCE"`;
+    LOOKUP=`ls -ld "$SOURCE"`;
+    TARGET=`expr "$LOOKUP" : '.*-> \(.*\)$'`;
+    if expr "${TARGET:-.}/" : '/.*/$' > /dev/null; then
+        SOURCE=${TARGET:-.};
+    else
+        SOURCE=`dirname "$SOURCE"`/${TARGET:-.};
+    fi;
+done;
+PREFIX=`dirname "$SOURCE"`/..;
+prefix=$PREFIX;
 PREFIX=`cd "$PREFIX"; pwd`;
 
 JAVA=java
@@ -38,5 +51,6 @@ $JAVA \
   -Xms16M -Xmx256M \
   -Dscala.version="20051219-1541" \
   -Dscala.home="$PREFIX" \
+  -Dscala.boot.class.path="$TOOL_CLASSPATH" \
   -cp "$JAVA_CLASSPATH" \
-  "$TOOL" -sourcepath "$TOOL_CLASSPATH" "$@"
\ No newline at end of file
+  "$TOOL" "$@"
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/exec/scala-tool.win.tmpl b/src/exec/scala-tool.win.tmpl
index 2f8cfd79a..75db64409 100644
--- a/src/exec/scala-tool.win.tmpl
+++ b/src/exec/scala-tool.win.tmpl
@@ -22,13 +22,13 @@ goto loop
 
 :exec
 set _JAVACMD=java
-set _PROPS=-Dscala.version=@version@ -Dscala.home=%SCALA_HOME%
 set _MAIN=@tool.class@
 set _TOOLS_CPATH=@fjbg.jar@;@msil.jar@;@comp.path@;@lib.path@
 set _LIB_CPATH=@lib.path@
+set _PROPS=-Dscala.version=@version@ -Dscala.home=%SCALA_HOME% -Dscala.boot.class.path="%_LIB_CPATH%"
 
 rem echo %_JAVACMD% %_PROPS% -cp %_CPATH% %_MAIN% %_ARGS%
-%_JAVACMD% %_PROPS% -cp %_TOOLS_CPATH% %_MAIN% -bootclasspath %_LIB_CPATH% %_ARGS%
+%_JAVACMD% %_PROPS% -cp %_TOOLS_CPATH% %_MAIN% %_ARGS%
 goto end
 
 rem ##########################################################################
diff --git a/src/exec/scala.unix.tmpl b/src/exec/scala.unix.tmpl
index bbc2f55e9..58f547f92 100644
--- a/src/exec/scala.unix.tmpl
+++ b/src/exec/scala.unix.tmpl
@@ -15,7 +15,20 @@ case "`uname`" in
     Darwin*) darwin=true ;;
 esac
 
-PREFIX=`dirname "$0"`/..;
+SOURCE=$0;
+SCRIPT=`basename "$SOURCE"`;
+while [ -h "$SOURCE" ]; do
+    SCRIPT=`basename "$SOURCE"`;
+    LOOKUP=`ls -ld "$SOURCE"`;
+    TARGET=`expr "$LOOKUP" : '.*-> \(.*\)$'`;
+    if expr "${TARGET:-.}/" : '/.*/$' > /dev/null; then
+        SOURCE=${TARGET:-.};
+    else
+        SOURCE=`dirname "$SOURCE"`/${TARGET:-.};
+    fi;
+done;
+PREFIX=`dirname "$SOURCE"`/..;
+prefix=$PREFIX;
 PREFIX=`cd "$PREFIX"; pwd`;
 
 JAVA=java
diff --git a/src/exec/scala.win.tmpl b/src/exec/scala.win.tmpl
index feb4655e0..630a52051 100644
--- a/src/exec/scala.win.tmpl
+++ b/src/exec/scala.win.tmpl
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 @echo off
 
 rem ##########################################################################
-rem # Copyright @COPYRIGHT@
+rem # Copyright @copyright@
 rem #
 rem # This is free software; see the distribution for copying conditions.
 rem # There is NO warranty; not even for MERCHANTABILITY or FITNESS FOR A
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ if "%OS%"=="Windows_NT" @setlocal
 if "%OS%"=="Windows_NT" @set SCALA_HOME=%~dp0
 
 if "%SCALA_HOME%" == "" goto error1
-if not exist "%SCALA_HOME%\VERSION-@VERSION@" goto error2
 
 set _ARGS=
 :loop
@@ -24,25 +23,25 @@ goto loop
 
 :exec
 set _JAVACMD=java
-set _JAVAOPT=-Xbootclasspath/a:@BOOTCPATH@
+set _JAVAOPT=-Xbootclasspath/a:@lib.path@
 
 rem echo %_JAVACMD% %_JAVAOPT% %_ARGS%
 %_JAVACMD% %_JAVAOPT% %_ARGS%
 goto end
 
 :version
-echo @PRODUCT@ @VERSION@ -- @COPYRIGHT@
+echo @product@ @version@ -- @copyright@
 goto end
 
 rem ##########################################################################
 rem # errors
 
 :error1
-echo ERROR: environment variable SCALA_HOME is undefined. It should point to the directory containing the file "VERSION-@VERSION@".
+echo ERROR: environment variable SCALA_HOME is undefined. It should point to the directory containing the file "VERSION-@version@".
 goto end
 
 :error2
-echo ERROR: environment variable SCALA_HOME points to the wrong directory "%SCALA_HOME%". It should point to the directory containing the file "VERSION-@VERSION@".
+echo ERROR: environment variable SCALA_HOME points to the wrong directory "%SCALA_HOME%". It should point to the directory containing the file "VERSION-@version@".
 goto end
 
 :end
diff --git a/test/scalanstest b/test/scalanstest
index e55314336..075d9a954 100755
--- a/test/scalanstest
+++ b/test/scalanstest
@@ -453,14 +453,10 @@ FILES_POS="";
 FILES_NEG="";
 FILES_MSIL="";
 
-case `uname` in
-    CYGWIN* ) LATEST="$PREFIX/distribs/windows/latest";;
-    *       ) LATEST="$PREFIX/distribs/unix/latest";;
-esac;
-
-SCALA="$LATEST/bin/ns";
-SOCOS="$LATEST/bin/nsc";
-SCALAP="$LATEST/bin/nsp";
+LATEST="$PREFIX/dists/latest";
+SCALA="$LATEST/bin/scala";
+SOCOS="$LATEST/bin/scalac";
+SCALAP="$LATEST/bin/scalap";
 DIFF="diff";
 
 case `uname` in