Currently for different windows' builds, the names for RUBY_PLATFORM are defined as i386-mingw32 i386-mswin32 i386-whatever A lotta people in their code like to use this to test for OS: if RUBY_PLATFORM !~ /mswin/ # do stuff else # windows end I therefore wish that all of these somehow contained some common prefix, like i386-win32-mingw i386-win32-msvc i386-dos-whatever So that these comparisons can be made to still make sense with differing compilers if RUBY_PLATFORM !~ /.*w*32/ # do stuff end to allow for mingw and mswin32 is not very intuitive. Thoughts? Cheers! -Roger -- The Lord hath not given us the spirit of fear, but of knowledge, and a sound mind.