diff -ur --exclude=.svn parrot-0.4.9/config/auto/alignptrs.pm parrot-new/config/auto/alignptrs.pm
--- parrot-0.4.9/config/auto/alignptrs.pm	2007-02-22 14:41:12.000000000 +0100
+++ parrot-new/config/auto/alignptrs.pm	2007-02-23 12:26:33.353248400 +0100
@@ -40,7 +40,7 @@
         $align = $conf->data->get('ptr_alignment');
         $self->set_result("configured: ");
     }
-    elsif ( $^O eq 'hpux' && $Config{ccflags} !~ /DD64/ ) {
+    elsif ( $conf->data->get('osname') eq 'hpux' && $Config{ccflags} !~ /DD64/ ) {
 
         # HP-UX 10.20/32 hangs in this test.
         $align = 4;
diff -ur --exclude=.svn parrot-0.4.9/config/auto/gcc.pm parrot-new/config/auto/gcc.pm
--- parrot-0.4.9/config/auto/gcc.pm	2007-02-22 14:41:12.000000000 +0100
+++ parrot-new/config/auto/gcc.pm	2007-02-23 12:27:02.021820400 +0100
@@ -260,7 +260,7 @@
     );
 
     $conf->data->set( HAS_aligned_funcptr => 0 )
-        if $^O eq 'hpux';
+        if $conf->data->get('osname') eq 'hpux';
 
     return $self;
 }
diff -ur --exclude=.svn parrot-0.4.9/config/auto/gdbm.pm parrot-new/config/auto/gdbm.pm
--- parrot-0.4.9/config/auto/gdbm.pm	2007-02-22 14:41:12.000000000 +0100
+++ parrot-new/config/auto/gdbm.pm	2007-02-23 13:23:20.882530800 +0100
@@ -43,7 +43,7 @@
     my $linkflags = $conf->data->get('linkflags');
     my $ccflags   = $conf->data->get('ccflags');
 
-    my $osname = $Config{osname};
+    my $osname = $conf->data->get('osname');
 
     # On OS X check the presence of the gdbm header in the standard
     # Fink location. TODO: Need a more generalized way for finding
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@
     }
 
     cc_gen('config/auto/gdbm/gdbm.in');
-    if ( $^O =~ /mswin32/i ) {
+    if ( $conf->data->get('osname') =~ /mswin32/i ) {
         if ( $cc =~ /^gcc/i ) {
             eval { cc_build( '', '-llibgdbm' ); };
         }
diff -ur --exclude=.svn parrot-0.4.9/config/auto/gmp.pm parrot-new/config/auto/gmp.pm
--- parrot-0.4.9/config/auto/gmp.pm	2007-02-22 14:41:12.000000000 +0100
+++ parrot-new/config/auto/gmp.pm	2007-02-23 13:24:26.546840400 +0100
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@
     my $libs      = $conf->data->get('libs');
     my $linkflags = $conf->data->get('linkflags');
     my $ccflags   = $conf->data->get('ccflags');
-    if ( $^O =~ /mswin32/i ) {
+    if ( $conf->data->get('osname') =~ /mswin32/i ) {
         if ( $cc =~ /^gcc/i ) {
             $conf->data->add( ' ', libs => '-lgmp' );
         }
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@
         $conf->data->add( ' ', libs => '-lgmp' );
     }
 
-    my $osname = $Config{osname};
+    my $osname = $conf->data->get('osname');
 
     # On OS X check the presence of the gmp header in the standard
     # Fink location. TODO: Need a more generalized way for finding
diff -ur --exclude=.svn parrot-0.4.9/config/auto/headers.pm parrot-new/config/auto/headers.pm
--- parrot-0.4.9/config/auto/headers.pm	2007-02-22 14:41:12.000000000 +0100
+++ parrot-new/config/auto/headers.pm	2007-02-23 13:25:09.776234800 +0100
@@ -60,7 +60,7 @@
         sys/stat.h sysexit.h limits.h);
 
     # more extra_headers needed on mingw/msys; *BSD fails if they are present
-    if ( $^O eq "msys" ) {
+    if ( $conf->data->get('osname') eq "msys" ) {
         push @extra_headers, qw(sysmman.h netdb.h);
     }
     my @found_headers;
diff -ur --exclude=.svn parrot-0.4.9/config/auto/readline.pm parrot-new/config/auto/readline.pm
--- parrot-0.4.9/config/auto/readline.pm	2007-02-22 14:41:12.000000000 +0100
+++ parrot-new/config/auto/readline.pm	2007-02-23 13:26:28.767134000 +0100
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
     my $libs      = $conf->data->get('libs');
     my $linkflags = $conf->data->get('linkflags');
     my $ccflags   = $conf->data->get('ccflags');
-    if ( $^O =~ /mswin32/i ) {
+    if ( $conf->data->get('osname') =~ /mswin32/i ) {
         if ( $cc =~ /^gcc/i ) {
             $conf->data->add( ' ',
                 libs => '-lreadline -lgw32c -lole32 -luuid -lwsock32 -lmsvcp60' );
@@ -44,14 +44,14 @@
             $conf->data->add( ' ', libs => 'readline.lib' );
         }
     }
-    elsif ( $^O =~ /linux/i ) {
+    elsif ( $conf->data->get('osname') =~ /linux/i ) {
         $conf->data->add( ' ', libs => '-lreadline -lncurses' );
     }
     else {
         $conf->data->add( ' ', libs => '-lreadline' );
     }
 
-    my $osname = $Config{osname};
+    my $osname = $conf->data->get('osname');
 
     # On OS X check the presence of the readline header in the standard
     # Fink/macports location. TODO: Need a more generalized way for finding
diff -ur --exclude=.svn parrot-0.4.9/config/gen/config_h.pm parrot-new/config/gen/config_h.pm
--- parrot-0.4.9/config/gen/config_h.pm	2007-02-22 14:41:12.000000000 +0100
+++ parrot-new/config/gen/config_h.pm	2007-02-23 13:27:14.683718800 +0100
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@
         }
     }
 
-    print {$HH} "\n#define BUILD_OS_NAME \"$^O\"\n";
+    print {$HH} "\n#define BUILD_OS_NAME \"".$conf->data->get('osname')."\"\n";
 
     my $define = $conf->options->get('define');
 
diff -ur --exclude=.svn parrot-0.4.9/config/gen/makefiles/dynoplibs_pl.in parrot-new/config/gen/makefiles/dynoplibs_pl.in
--- parrot-0.4.9/config/gen/makefiles/dynoplibs_pl.in	2007-02-22 14:41:12.000000000 +0100
+++ parrot-new/config/gen/makefiles/dynoplibs_pl.in	2007-02-23 13:31:45.293166000 +0100
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@
 
 # Here comes some stuff for Win32.
 our $PATHQUOTE = q[];
-if ($^O eq 'MSWin32') {
+if ('@osname@' eq 'MSWin32') {
     # Paths need quoting as they may contain spaces.
     $PATHQUOTE = q["];
 
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@
     my ($target, $libs, $sources) = @_;
     
     my $liblist;
-    if ($^O =~ /mswin32/i) {
+    if ('@osname@' =~ /mswin32/i) {
         # Need to put various libraries in the link line.
         $liblist = join( ' ', map { "$_.lib" } keys %$libs );
         if ($CC =~ /gcc/i) {
@@ -140,7 +140,7 @@
 
             # Execute permissions on libraries is especially important on
             # some platforms
-            if ($^O eq 'hpux' or $^O eq 'cygwin') {
+            if ('@osname@' eq 'hpux' or '@osname@' eq 'cygwin') {
                 chmod 0755, "$dest@slash@$src";
             }
         }
diff -ur --exclude=.svn parrot-0.4.9/config/gen/makefiles/dynpmc_pl.in parrot-new/config/gen/makefiles/dynpmc_pl.in
--- parrot-0.4.9/config/gen/makefiles/dynpmc_pl.in	2007-02-22 14:41:12.000000000 +0100
+++ parrot-new/config/gen/makefiles/dynpmc_pl.in	2007-02-23 13:32:09.884082800 +0100
@@ -36,7 +36,7 @@
 
 # Here comes some stuff for Win32.
 our $PATHQUOTE = '';
-if ($^O eq 'MSWin32') {
+if ('@osname@' eq 'MSWin32') {
     # Paths need quoting as they may contain spaces.
     $PATHQUOTE = '"';
 
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@
     my ($target, $libs, $sources) = @_;
 
     my $liblist;
-    if ($^O =~ /mswin32/i) {
+    if ('@osname@' =~ /mswin32/i) {
         # Need to put various libraries in the link line.
         $liblist = join( ' ', map { "$_.lib" } keys %$libs );
         if ($CC =~ /gcc/i) {
@@ -167,7 +167,7 @@
 
         # Execute permissions on libraries is especially important on
         # some platforms
-        if ($^O eq 'hpux' or $^O eq 'cygwin') {
+        if ('@osname@' eq 'hpux' or '@osname@' eq 'cygwin') {
             chmod 0755, "$dest@slash@$_$LOAD_EXT";
         }
 
@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@
 
         # there can be many libs
         my %libs = %{ $class->{flags}{lib} || {} };
-        if ($^O eq 'MSWin32' && $CC =~ /^gcc/i) {
+        if ('@osname@' eq 'MSWin32' && $CC =~ /^gcc/i) {
             my %newlibs = ();
             $newlibs{"lib$_"} = $libs{$_} for keys %libs;
             %libs = %newlibs;
diff -ur --exclude=.svn parrot-0.4.9/config/init/defaults.pm parrot-new/config/init/defaults.pm
--- parrot-0.4.9/config/init/defaults.pm	2007-02-22 14:41:08.000000000 +0100
+++ parrot-new/config/init/defaults.pm	2007-02-23 12:25:40.078136400 +0100
@@ -39,6 +39,10 @@
         verbose   => $conf->options->get('verbose'),
         build_dir => abs_path($FindBin::Bin),
 
+		# OSNAME and architecture -- defaults to Perl's own
+		# (unless we are cross-compiling)
+		osname    => $conf->options->get('osname') || $^O,
+
         # Compiler -- used to turn .c files into object files.
         # (Usually cc or cl, or something like that.)
         cc      => $Config{cc},
diff -ur --exclude=.svn parrot-0.4.9/config/init/hints.pm parrot-new/config/init/hints.pm
--- parrot-0.4.9/config/init/hints.pm	2007-02-22 14:41:08.000000000 +0100
+++ parrot-new/config/init/hints.pm	2007-02-23 13:32:34.162535600 +0100
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@
 
     my $hints_used = 0;
 
-    my $hints = "init::hints::" . lc($^O);
+    my $hints = "init::hints::" . lc($conf->data->get('osname'));
 
     print "[ $hints " if $verbose;
 
diff -ur --exclude=.svn parrot-0.4.9/config/inter/progs.pm parrot-new/config/inter/progs.pm
--- parrot-0.4.9/config/inter/progs.pm	2007-02-22 14:41:08.000000000 +0100
+++ parrot-new/config/inter/progs.pm	2007-02-23 13:33:30.281070000 +0100
@@ -101,7 +101,7 @@
     $conf->data->set( ldflags => $ldflags );
 
     $libs = $conf->data->get('libs');
-    $libs = join ' ', grep { $^O =~ /VMS|MSWin/ || !/^-l(c|gdbm(_compat)?|dbm|ndbm|db)$/ }
+    $libs = join ' ', grep { $conf->data->get('osname') =~ /VMS|MSWin/ || !/^-l(c|gdbm(_compat)?|dbm|ndbm|db)$/ }
         split( ' ', $libs );
     $libs = integrate( $libs, $conf->options->get('libs') );
     $libs = prompt( "What libraries should your C compiler use?", $libs ) if $ask;