diff --git a/base/path.jl b/base/path.jl
index 5091c4b1b1286..46e61cc4d241a 100644
--- a/base/path.jl
+++ b/base/path.jl
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
     splitdrive(path::String) = ("",path)
     user_homedir() = ENV["HOME"]
     user_prefdir() = user_homedir()
+    user_documentsdir() = @osx ? joinpath(user_homedir(),"Documents") : user_homedir()
 end
 @windows_only begin
     const path_separator    = "\\"
@@ -23,7 +24,18 @@ end
         bytestring(m.captures[1]), bytestring(m.captures[2])
     end
     user_homedir() = get(ENV,"HOME",joinpath(ENV["HOMEDRIVE"],ENV["HOMEPATH"]))
-    user_prefdir() = get(ENV,"HOME",joinpath(ENV["AppData"],"Julia"))
+    user_prefdir() = user_homedir()
+    function user_documentsdir()
+        #HRESULT result = SHGetFolderPath(NULL, CSIDL_PERSONAL, NULL, SHGFP_TYPE_CURRENT, my_documents);
+        path = Array(Uint8,260)
+        result = ccall((:SHGetFolderPathA,:shell32),stdcall,Cint,
+            (Ptr{Void},Cint,Ptr{Void},Cint,Ptr{Uint8}),0,0x0005,0,0,path)
+        if result == 0
+            return bytestring(path[1:findfirst(path,0)-1])
+        else
+            return user_homedir()
+        end
+    end
 end
 
 isabspath(path::String) = ismatch(path_absolute_re, path)
diff --git a/base/pkg/dir.jl b/base/pkg/dir.jl
index 02ace1ac095e8..92111e37f0f8e 100644
--- a/base/pkg/dir.jl
+++ b/base/pkg/dir.jl
@@ -3,8 +3,7 @@ module Dir
 import Base.Git
 import ..Pkg: DEFAULT_META, META_BRANCH
 
-@unix_only const DIR_NAME = ".julia"
-@windows_only const DIR_NAME = "packages"
+const DIR_NAME = ".julia"
 
 function path()
     b = abspath(get(ENV,"JULIA_PKGDIR",joinpath(Base.user_prefdir(),DIR_NAME)))
diff --git a/ui/repl-readline.c b/ui/repl-readline.c
index 2e8e5bbd0863b..6d3538a4d7c2d 100644
--- a/ui/repl-readline.c
+++ b/ui/repl-readline.c
@@ -21,6 +21,7 @@
 #ifdef __WIN32__
 # define WIN32_LEAN_AND_MEAN
 # include <windows.h>
+# include <shlobj.h>
 #endif
 
 extern int asprintf(char **strp, const char *fmt, ...);
@@ -58,9 +59,10 @@ static void init_history(void)
             if (!home) return;
             asprintf(&history_file, "%s/.julia_history", home);
 #else
-            char *home = getenv("AppData");
-            if (!home) return;
-            asprintf(&history_file, "%s/julia/history", home);
+            char *homedrive = getenv("HOMEDRIVE");
+            char *homepath = getenv("HOMEPATH");
+            if (!homedrive || !homepath) return;
+            asprintf(&history_file, "%s/%s/.julia_history", homedrive, homepath);
 #endif
         }
     }