diff --git a/electron.js b/electron.js
index 44af439..5ee5e07 100644
--- a/electron.js
+++ b/electron.js
@@ -84,7 +84,7 @@ function doCompile(code,board,sketch, cb) {
     OPTIONS.platform = platform.getDefaultPlatform();
     OPTIONS.platform.installIfNeeded(function() {
         OPTIONS.name = sketch;
-        compile.compile(sketchpath,outpath,OPTIONS, publishEvent, path.join(settings.usersketches, sketch), cb);
+        compile.compile(sketchpath,outpath,OPTIONS, publishEvent, path.join(OPTIONS.platform.getUserSketchesDir(), sketch), cb);
     });
 }
 
diff --git a/libraries.js b/libraries.js
index 603ba16..9192ca9 100644
--- a/libraries.js
+++ b/libraries.js
@@ -2,26 +2,28 @@ var fs = require('fs');
 var spawn = require('child_process').spawn;
 var http = require('http');
 var AdmZip = require('adm-zip');
+var platform = require('./platform');
 
 
 
 var settings = require('./settings.js');
 var master = null;
 var libs = null;
+var plat = platform.getDefaultPlatform();
 
 
 function isInstalled() {
     console.log('checking if',this.id,'is installed');
     if(this.source == 'ide') return true;
-    var path = settings.repos+'/'+this.id;
+    var path = plat.getReposPath()+'/'+this.id;
     console.log('checking if path exists',path);
-    if(fs.existsSync(settings.repos+'/'+this.id)) return true;
+    if(fs.existsSync(plat.getReposPath()+'/'+this.id)) return true;
     return false;
 }
 
 function getIncludePaths(platform) {
     if(this.source == 'ide') {
-        var path = platform.getArduinoLibrariesPath()+'/'+this.location;
+        var path = platform.getStandardLibraryPath()+'/'+this.location;
         //console.log("files = ",fs.readdirSync(path));
         var paths = [];
         paths.push(path);
@@ -36,14 +38,14 @@ function getIncludePaths(platform) {
         return paths;
     }
     if(this.path) {
-        return [settings.repos+'/'+this.id+'/'+this.path];
+        return [plat.getReposPath()+'/'+this.id+'/'+this.path];
     }
-    return [settings.repos+'/'+this.id];
+    return [plat.getReposPath()+'/'+this.id];
 }
 
 function install(cb) {
-    if(!fs.existsSync(settings.repos)) {
-        fs.mkdirSync(settings.repos);
+    if(!fs.existsSync(plat.getReposPath())) {
+        fs.mkdirSync(plat.getReposPath());
     }
 
     console.log('installing',this.id);
@@ -52,7 +54,7 @@ function install(cb) {
         var cmd = [
             'clone',
             this.location,
-            settings.repos+'/'+this.id,
+            plat.getReposPath()+'/'+this.id,
         ];
         console.log("execing",bin,cmd);
         var proc = spawn(bin,cmd);
@@ -70,8 +72,8 @@ function install(cb) {
 
     if(this.source == 'http'){
         console.log("source is http",this.location);
-        var outpath = settings.repos;
-        var outfile = settings.repos+'/'+this.location.substring(this.location.lastIndexOf('/')+1);
+        var outpath = plat.getReposPath();
+        var outfile = plat.getReposPath()+'/'+this.location.substring(this.location.lastIndexOf('/')+1);
         console.log("output file = ",outfile);
         var req = http.get(this.location)
             .on('response',function(res){
@@ -83,9 +85,9 @@ function install(cb) {
                     var rootpath = zipEntries[0].entryName;
                     rootpath = rootpath.substring(0,rootpath.indexOf('/'));
                     console.log("rootpath of the zip is",rootpath);
-                    zip.extractAllTo(settings.repos,true);
-                    console.log('done extracting from ',outfile, 'to',settings.repos);
-                    fs.renameSync(settings.repos+'/'+rootpath, settings.repos+'/'+rootpath.toLowerCase());
+                    zip.extractAllTo(plat.getReposPath(),true);
+                    console.log('done extracting from ',outfile, 'to',plat.getReposPath());
+                    fs.renameSync(plat.getReposPath()+'/'+rootpath, plat.getReposPath()+'/'+rootpath.toLowerCase());
                     if(cb) cb(null);
                 });
             });
diff --git a/platform.js b/platform.js
index 817bff6..86e8d7f 100644
--- a/platform.js
+++ b/platform.js
@@ -13,7 +13,31 @@ function Platform() {
     this.os = process.platform;
     console.log("os = ",this.os);
 
-    this.root = settings.repos + '/platforms/1.0.5/'+this.os;
+
+    this.getUserHome = function() {
+        return process.env.HOME || process.env.HOMEPATH || process.env.USERPROFILE;
+    }
+
+    this.getReposPath = function() {
+        if(this.os == 'darwin') {
+            return this.getUserHome() + '/Library/ElectronIDE/downloads';
+        }
+        return this.getUserHome() + '/ElectronIDE/downloads';
+    }
+
+    this.getUserSketchesDir = function() {
+        if(settings.usersketches) return settings.usersketches;
+
+        if(this.os == 'darwin') {
+            return this.getUserHome()+'/Documents/Arduino';
+        }
+        if(this.os == 'window') {
+            return this.getUserHome()+'/My Documents/Arduino';
+        }
+        return this.getUserHome() + '/Sketchbook';
+    }
+
+    this.root = this.getReposPath() + '/platforms/1.0.5/'+this.os;
     console.log("root should be ", this.root);
 
     this.getStandardLibraryPath = function() {
@@ -34,9 +58,6 @@ function Platform() {
     this.getAvrDudeConf = function(device) {
         return this.root + '/hardware/tools/avr/etc/avrdude.conf';
     }
-    this.getArduinoLibrariesPath = function() {
-        return this.root + '/libraries';
-    }
     this.isInstalled = function() {
         return fs.existsSync(this.root);
     }
diff --git a/settings.js b/settings.js
index 826bdcf..64dd729 100644
--- a/settings.js
+++ b/settings.js
@@ -1,14 +1,16 @@
 //where your sketches live
-exports.usersketches = "/Users/josh/Documents/Arduino/";
+//set only if you want to change the default
+//exports.usersketches = "/Users/josh/Documents/Arduino/";
 
 //where your personal libraries live. new libs will *not* go here
-exports.userlibs = "/Users/josh/Documents/Arduino/Libraries";
+//set only if you want to change the default
+//exports.userlibs = "/Users/josh/Documents/Arduino/Libraries";
 
 // root of the regular Arduino IDE app
-exports.root = "/Applications/Arduino.app/Contents/Resources/Java";
 
 //where new libs will be downlaoded to
-exports.repos = "/Users/josh/projects/junkrepos";
+//set only if you want to change the default
+//exports.repos = "/Users/josh/projects/junkrepos";
 
 // ==============
 // you shouldn't need to modify anything below this line
diff --git a/sketches.js b/sketches.js
index 862489e..b2b7a54 100644
--- a/sketches.js
+++ b/sketches.js
@@ -1,21 +1,23 @@
 var fs = require('fs');
 
 var settings = require('./settings.js');
+var platform = require('./platform');
+var plat = platform.getDefaultPlatform();
 
 exports.makeNewSketch = function(name,cb) {
-    var dir = settings.usersketches+'/'+name;
+    var dir = plat.getUserSketchesDir()+'/'+name;
     if(fs.existsSync(dir)) {
         if(cb)cb(null);
         return;
     }
     fs.mkdirSync(dir);
     var example = fs.readFileSync(settings.sketchtemplate).toString();
-    fs.writeFileSync(settings.usersketches+'/'+name+'/'+name+'.ino',example);
+    fs.writeFileSync(plat.getUserSketchesDir()+'/'+name+'/'+name+'.ino',example);
     if(cb) cb(name,example);
 }
 
 exports.deleteSketch = function(name, cb) {
-    var dir = settings.usersketches+'/'+name;
+    var dir = plat.getUserSketchesDir()+'/'+name;
     fs.readdirSync(dir).forEach(function(file) {
         console.log("deleting file = ",file);
         fs.unlinkSync(dir+'/'+file);
@@ -25,7 +27,7 @@ exports.deleteSketch = function(name, cb) {
 }
 
 exports.listSketches = function(cb) {
-    var list = fs.readdirSync(settings.usersketches);
+    var list = fs.readdirSync(plat.getUserSketchesDir());
     list = list.filter(function(file) {
         if(file.toLowerCase() == 'libraries') return false;
         if(file.toLowerCase() == '.ds_store') return false;
@@ -35,7 +37,7 @@ exports.listSketches = function(cb) {
 }
 
 exports.getSketch = function(name, cb) {
-    var dir = settings.usersketches + '/' + name;
+    var dir = plat.getUserSketchesDir() + '/' + name;
     var obj = {
         name:name,
         files:[]
@@ -63,7 +65,7 @@ exports.getSketch = function(name, cb) {
 
 exports.saveSketch = function(name, code, cb) {
     console.log("saving to ",name);
-    var dir = settings.usersketches + '/' + name;
+    var dir = plat.getUserSketchesDir() + '/' + name;
     console.log("dir = ",dir);
     var file = dir+'/'+name+'.ino';
     console.log("file = ",file);