diff --git a/3rdParty/Makefile.v8-windows b/3rdParty/Makefile.v8-windows
index d4086e266f..27496fb037 100644
--- a/3rdParty/Makefile.v8-windows
+++ b/3rdParty/Makefile.v8-windows
@@ -39,6 +39,7 @@ install_bits:
 	cp -a V8-3.29.59/build/Release$(BITS)/lib/*.lib ../WindowsLibraries/$(BITS)/lib/Release
 	cp -a V8-3.29.59/build/Debug$(BITS)/lib/*.lib ../WindowsLibraries/$(BITS)/lib/Debug
 	cp -a V8-3.29.59/include/* ../WindowsLibraries/$(BITS)/include
+	cp V8-3.29.59/third_party/icu/source/data/in/icudtl.dat ../WindowsLibraries/$(BITS)/icudtl.dat
 
 	for f in common i18n io; do \
 	  cp -a V8-3.29.59/third_party/icu/source/$${f}/unicode/* ../WindowsLibraries/$(BITS)/include/unicode/; \
diff --git a/3rdParty/Makefile.v8-windows.bak b/3rdParty/Makefile.v8-windows.bak
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000..3133642920
--- /dev/null
+++ b/3rdParty/Makefile.v8-windows.bak
@@ -0,0 +1,70 @@
+.PHONY: all install
+
+all: build64 build32
+
+
+build64:
+	./v8-build.bat x86_amd64 x64 x64 64 
+
+build32:
+	./v8-build.bat x86 ia32 Win32 32
+
+
+clean: clean32 clean64
+
+clean64:
+	./v8-clean.bat cmd x86_amd64 x64 x64 64
+
+clean32:
+	./v8-clean.bat x86 ia32 Win32 32
+
+
+distclean: distclean32 distclean64
+
+distclean64:
+	./v8-distclean.bat x86_amd64 x64 x64 64
+
+distclean32:
+	./v8-distclean.bat x86 ia32 Win32 32
+
+
+install:
+	$(MAKE) -f Makefile.v8-windows install_bits BITS=32
+	$(MAKE) -f Makefile.v8-windows install_bits BITS=64
+
+install_bits:
+	mkdir -p ../WindowsLibraries/$(BITS)/lib
+	mkdir -p ../WindowsLibraries/$(BITS)/include/unicode
+
+	cp -a V8-3.29.59/build/Release$(BITS)/lib/*.lib ../WindowsLibraries/$(BITS)/lib
+	cp -a V8-3.29.59/include/* ../WindowsLibraries/$(BITS)/include
+
+	for f in common i18n io; do \
+	  cp -a V8-3.29.59/third_party/icu/source/$${f}/unicode/* ../WindowsLibraries/$(BITS)/include/unicode/; \
+	done
+
+
+emil:
+	for f in common i18n extra/uconv tools/ctestfw io; do
+	rm -rf ../out/vs2013-V8-$(BITS)
+
+	mkdir ../out/vs2013-V8-$(BITS)
+	mkdir ../out/vs2013-V8-$(BITS)/include
+	mkdir ../out/vs2013-V8-$(BITS)/lib
+	mkdir ../out/vs2013-V8-$(BITS)/lib/Release
+	mkdir ../out/vs2013-V8-$(BITS)/lib/Debug
+	mkdir -p ../out/vs2013-icu-$(BITS)/include/layout/
+	mkdir -p ../out/vs2013-icu-$(BITS)/include/unicode/
+
+	cp -a V8-3.29.59/build/Debug$(BITS)/lib/*.lib ../out/vs2013-V8-$(BITS)/lib/Debug
+	cp -a V8-3.29.59/build/Release$(BITS)/lib/*.lib ../out/vs2013-V8-$(BITS)/lib/Release
+	cp -a V8-3.29.59/include/* ../out/vs2013-V8-$(BITS)/include
+
+	for FOLDER in 	common \
+			i18n \
+			extra/uconv \
+			tools/ctestfw \
+			io ; \
+		do \
+		cp -a V8-3.29.59/third_party/icu/source/$${FOLDER}/unicode/* ../out/vs2013-icu-$(BITS)/include/unicode/ ;\
+	 done
diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index e0759ec9f7..0de5328841 100755
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -449,7 +449,7 @@ endif ()
 ################################################################################
 
 if (MSVC)
-  set(ICU_LIBS "icui18n;icuuc;icudata" CACHE path "ICU libraries")
+  set(ICU_LIBS "icui18n;icuuc" CACHE path "ICU libraries")
 
   add_definitions("-DU_STATIC_IMPLEMENTATION=1")
 elseif (RASPBIAN)
@@ -835,9 +835,17 @@ if (MSVC)
   if(CMAKE_CL_64)
     install(PROGRAMS WindowsLibraries/64/bin/etcd-arango.exe
             DESTINATION ${TRI_SBINDIR_INSTALL})
+
+    install(FILES WindowsLibraries/64/icudtl.dat
+            DESTINATION share/arangodb
+            RENAME icudt52l.dat)
   else()
     install(PROGRAMS WindowsLibraries/32/bin/etcd-arango.exe
             DESTINATION ${TRI_SBINDIR_INSTALL})
+
+    install(FILES WindowsLibraries/32/icudtl.dat
+            DESTINATION share/arangodb
+            RENAME icudt52l.dat)
   endif()
 
 endif ()
diff --git a/Documentation/Books/Users/Arangoimp/README.mdpp b/Documentation/Books/Users/Arangoimp/README.mdpp
index fa98958be4..0661ea1f01 100644
--- a/Documentation/Books/Users/Arangoimp/README.mdpp
+++ b/Documentation/Books/Users/Arangoimp/README.mdpp
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ existing collection named "users" on the server.
 Let's further assume the import at hand is encoded in JSON. We'll be using these
 example user records to import:
 
-``` js
+```js
 { "name" : { "first" : "John", "last" : "Connor" }, "active" : true, "age" : 25, "likes" : [ "swimming"] }
 { "name" : { "first" : "Jim", "last" : "O'Brady" }, "age" : 19, "likes" : [ "hiking", "singing" ] }
 { "name" : { "first" : "Lisa", "last" : "Jones" }, "dob" : "1981-04-09", "likes" : [ "running" ] }
diff --git a/Documentation/Books/Users/ModuleJavaScript/README.mdpp b/Documentation/Books/Users/ModuleJavaScript/README.mdpp
index ead9b6d380..5c67a89c4d 100644
--- a/Documentation/Books/Users/ModuleJavaScript/README.mdpp
+++ b/Documentation/Books/Users/ModuleJavaScript/README.mdpp
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ follows
 * If no file can be found, ArangoDB will check if the collection *_modules*
   contains a document of the form
 
-```js  
+```js
 {
   path: "/com/example/extension",
   content: "...."
diff --git a/Documentation/Books/Users/NewFeatures/NewFeatures24.mdpp b/Documentation/Books/Users/NewFeatures/NewFeatures24.mdpp
index 99a0d09dd8..7b94e94ae5 100644
--- a/Documentation/Books/Users/NewFeatures/NewFeatures24.mdpp
+++ b/Documentation/Books/Users/NewFeatures/NewFeatures24.mdpp
@@ -42,10 +42,17 @@ More details on the available ES6 features can be found in
 
 !SECTION FoxxGenerator
 
-ArangoDB 2.4 is shipped with FoxxGenerator, a framework for building 
-standardized Hypermedia APIs easily. The generated APIs can be consumed with 
+ArangoDB 2.4 is shipped with FoxxGenerator, a framework for building
+standardized Hypermedia APIs easily. The generated APIs can be consumed with
 client tools that understand [Siren](https://github.com/kevinswiber/siren).
 
+Hypermedia is the simple idea that our HTTP APIs should have links between their
+endpoints in the same way that our web sites have links between
+them. FoxxGenerator is based on the idea that you can represent an API as a
+statechart: Every endpoint is a state and the links are the transitions between
+them. Using your description of states and transitions, it can then create an
+API for you.
+
 The FoxxGenerator can create APIs based on a semantic description of entities
 and transitions. A blog series on the use cases and how to use the Foxx generator
 is here:
diff --git a/Documentation/Books/Users/Transactions/TransactionInvocation.mdpp b/Documentation/Books/Users/Transactions/TransactionInvocation.mdpp
index 8022e7af0e..4e2ddc1685 100644
--- a/Documentation/Books/Users/Transactions/TransactionInvocation.mdpp
+++ b/Documentation/Books/Users/Transactions/TransactionInvocation.mdpp
@@ -66,7 +66,7 @@ the operations inside the transactions demand for it.
 The contents of *read* or *write* can each be lists with collection names or a 
 single collection name (as a string):
 
-```js    
+```js
 db._executeTransaction({
   collections: {
     write: "users",
@@ -202,7 +202,8 @@ db._executeTransaction({
 
 Aborting the transaction by throwing an exception in the *action* function
 will revert all changes, so as if the transaction never happened:
-``` js   
+
+```js
 // setup
 db._create("c1");
 
diff --git a/Documentation/Books/Users/book.json b/Documentation/Books/Users/book.json
index 34db1cb42d..528dc7fc8e 100644
--- a/Documentation/Books/Users/book.json
+++ b/Documentation/Books/Users/book.json
@@ -1,6 +1,13 @@
 {
   "theme": "./localtheme",
   "plugins":["-mathjax"],
+  "plugins": ["piwik"],
+  "pluginsConfig": {
+      "piwik": {
+          "URL": "www.arangodb.org/piwik/",
+      "siteId": 12
+      }
+  },
   "pdf": {
     "fontSize": 12,
     "toc": true,
diff --git a/lib/Basics/Utf8Helper.cpp b/lib/Basics/Utf8Helper.cpp
index 0122a192d8..c86783cf6b 100644
--- a/lib/Basics/Utf8Helper.cpp
+++ b/lib/Basics/Utf8Helper.cpp
@@ -39,6 +39,10 @@
 #include "Basics/tri-strings.h"
 #include "Basics/utf8-helper.h"
 
+#ifdef _WIN32
+#include "Basics/win-utils.h"
+#endif
+
 using namespace triagens::basics;
 using namespace std;
 
@@ -107,6 +111,10 @@ int Utf8Helper::compareUtf16 (const uint16_t* left, size_t leftLength, const uin
 }
 
 void Utf8Helper::setCollatorLanguage (std::string const& lang) {
+#ifdef _WIN32
+  TRI_FixIcuDataEnv();
+#endif
+
   UErrorCode status = U_ZERO_ERROR;
 
   if (_coll) {
diff --git a/lib/Basics/files.cpp b/lib/Basics/files.cpp
index e382edc23c..2888d06d7a 100644
--- a/lib/Basics/files.cpp
+++ b/lib/Basics/files.cpp
@@ -1618,7 +1618,32 @@ char* TRI_BinaryName (const char* argv0) {
 
 char* TRI_LocateBinaryPath (char const* argv0) {
   char const* p;
-  char* binaryPath = NULL;
+  char* binaryPath = nullptr;
+
+#if _WIN32
+  if (argv0 == nullptr) {
+    char buff[4096];
+    int res = GetModuleFileName(NULL, buff, sizeof(buff));
+
+    if (res != 0) {
+      buff[4095] = '\0';
+
+      char* q = buff + res;
+      while (buff < q) {
+        if (*q == '\\' || *q == '/') {
+          *q = '\0';
+          break;
+        }
+
+        --q;
+      }
+
+      return TRI_DuplicateString(buff);
+    }
+
+    return nullptr;
+  }
+#endif
 
   // check if name contains a '/' ( or '\' for windows)
   p = argv0;
@@ -1630,7 +1655,7 @@ char* TRI_LocateBinaryPath (char const* argv0) {
   if (*p) {
     binaryPath = TRI_Dirname(argv0);
 
-    if (binaryPath == 0) {
+    if (binaryPath == nullptr) {
       binaryPath = TRI_DuplicateString("");
     }
   }
@@ -1639,7 +1664,7 @@ char* TRI_LocateBinaryPath (char const* argv0) {
   else {
     p = getenv("PATH");
 
-    if (p == 0) {
+    if (p == nullptr) {
       binaryPath = TRI_DuplicateString("");
     }
     else {
@@ -2075,7 +2100,7 @@ char * __LocateInstallDirectory_In(HKEY rootKey) {
   // open the key for reading
   long lResult = RegOpenKeyEx(
                               rootKey,
-                              "SOFTWARE\\triAGENS GmbH\\ArangoDB " TRI_VERSION,
+                              "SOFTWARE\\ArangoDB GmbH\\ArangoDB " TRI_VERSION,
                                0,
                                KEY_READ,
                                &key);
diff --git a/lib/Basics/win-utils.cpp b/lib/Basics/win-utils.cpp
index f16d0355a4..7a88cfd103 100644
--- a/lib/Basics/win-utils.cpp
+++ b/lib/Basics/win-utils.cpp
@@ -28,13 +28,22 @@
 ////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
 
 #include <io.h>
+
 #include "win-utils.h"
-#include "Basics/logging.h"
+
 #include <windows.h>
 #include <string.h>
 #include <malloc.h>
 #include <crtdbg.h>
 
+#include "Basics/logging.h"
+#include "Basics/files.h"
+#include "Basics/StringUtils.h"
+#include "Basics/tri-strings.h"
+
+using namespace std;
+using namespace triagens::basics;
+
 // .............................................................................
 // Some global variables which may be required throughout the lifetime of the
 // server
@@ -339,6 +348,42 @@ int TRI_OPEN_WIN32 (const char* filename, int openFlags) {
   return fileDescriptor;
 }
 
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+/// @brief fixes the ICU_DATA environment path
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+
+void TRI_FixIcuDataEnv () {
+  if (getenv("ICU_DATA") != nullptr) {
+    return;
+  }
+
+  char* p = nullptr;
+
+  p = TRI_LocateInstallDirectory();
+
+  if (p != nullptr) {
+    string e = string("ICU_DATA=") + p + "\\share\\arangodb\\";
+    e = StringUtils::replace(e, "\\", "\\\\");
+    putenv(e.c_str());
+  }
+  else {
+    p = TRI_LocateBinaryPath(nullptr);
+
+    if (p != nullptr) {
+      string e = string("ICU_DATA=") + p + "\\";
+      e = StringUtils::replace(e, "\\", "\\\\");
+      putenv(e.c_str());
+    }
+    else {
+      putenv("ICU_DATA=.\\\\");
+    }
+  }
+
+  if (p != nullptr) {
+    TRI_FreeString(TRI_CORE_MEM_ZONE, p);
+  }
+}
+
 // -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
 // --SECTION--                                                       END-OF-FILE
 // -----------------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/lib/Basics/win-utils.h b/lib/Basics/win-utils.h
index 340953f258..d8fc7a1fd9 100644
--- a/lib/Basics/win-utils.h
+++ b/lib/Basics/win-utils.h
@@ -95,6 +95,12 @@ void TRI_sleep (unsigned long);
 
 void TRI_usleep (unsigned long);
 
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+/// @brief fixes the ICU_DATA environment path 
+////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
+ 
+void TRI_FixIcuDataEnv ();
+
 #endif
 
 // -----------------------------------------------------------------------------