diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 41617b7..fd5945a 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -41,7 +41,13 @@ zigup run <version> <args>...
 
 # How the compilers are managed
 
-zigup stores each compiler in a global "install directory" in a versioned subdirectory.  On posix systems the "install directory" is `$HOME/zig` and on windows the install directory will be a directory named "zig" in the same directory as the "zigup.exe".
+zigup stores each compiler in a global "install directory" in a versioned subdirectory.  The "install directory" is a subdirectory called `zigup` of a platform-specific directory. The platform-specific parent directories are:
+
+  - `XDG_DATA_HOME` on Linux—*i.e.* `$XDG_DATA_HOME` with a default of `~/.local/share`,
+  - `~/Library/Application Support/zigup` on macOS,
+  - `%APPDATA/zigup` on Windows.
+
+Using the build option `-Ddefault-dir=[DIR]` changes the install directory so that on posix systems the install directory is `$HOME/[DIR]` and on windows the install directory will be a directory named `[DIR]` in the same directory as the "zigup.exe".
 
 zigup makes the zig program available by creating an entry in a directory that occurs in the `PATH` environment variable.  On posix systems this entry is a symlink to one of the `zig` executables in the install directory.  On windows this is an executable that forwards invocations to one of the `zig` executables in the install directory.
 
diff --git a/build.zig b/build.zig
index 90d6f3b..2dfd614 100644
--- a/build.zig
+++ b/build.zig
@@ -5,8 +5,27 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) !void {
     const target = b.standardTargetOptions(.{});
     const optimize = b.standardOptimizeOption(.{});
 
+    const default_dir = b.option(
+        []const u8,
+        "default-dir",
+        "Use a static default install directory",
+    );
+
+    const build_options = b.addOptions();
+    build_options.addOption(bool, "use_known_folders", default_dir == null);
+    if (default_dir) |dir| {
+        build_options.addOption([]const u8, "default_dir", dir);
+    }
+
+    const known_folders = if (default_dir != null)
+        null
+    else if (b.lazyDependency("known_folders", .{})) |pkg|
+        pkg.module("known-folders")
+    else
+        null;
+
     const zigup_exe_native = blk: {
-        const exe = addZigupExe(b, target, optimize);
+        const exe = addZigupExe(b, target, optimize, build_options, known_folders);
         b.installArtifact(exe);
         const run_cmd = b.addRunArtifact(exe);
         run_cmd.step.dependOn(b.getInstallStep());
@@ -74,13 +93,15 @@ pub fn build(b: *std.Build) !void {
     ci_step.dependOn(test_step);
     ci_step.dependOn(unzip_step);
     ci_step.dependOn(zip_step);
-    try ci(b, ci_step, test_step, host_zip_exe);
+    try ci(b, ci_step, test_step, host_zip_exe, build_options, known_folders);
 }
 
 fn addZigupExe(
     b: *std.Build,
     target: std.Build.ResolvedTarget,
     optimize: std.builtin.Mode,
+    build_options: *std.Build.Step.Options,
+    known_folders: ?*std.Build.Module,
 ) *std.Build.Step.Compile {
     const win32exelink_mod: ?*std.Build.Module = blk: {
         if (target.result.os.tag == .windows) {
@@ -104,6 +125,12 @@ fn addZigupExe(
         .optimize = optimize,
     });
 
+    exe.root_module.addOptions("build-options", build_options);
+
+    if (known_folders) |mod| {
+        exe.root_module.addImport("known-folders", mod);
+    }
+
     if (target.result.os.tag == .windows) {
         exe.root_module.addImport("win32exelink", win32exelink_mod.?);
     }
@@ -115,6 +142,8 @@ fn ci(
     ci_step: *std.Build.Step,
     test_step: *std.Build.Step,
     host_zip_exe: *std.Build.Step.Compile,
+    build_options: *std.Build.Step.Options,
+    known_folders: ?*std.Build.Module,
 ) !void {
     const ci_targets = [_][]const u8{
         "x86_64-linux",
@@ -134,13 +163,13 @@ fn ci(
     var previous_test_step = test_step;
 
     for (ci_targets) |ci_target_str| {
-        const target = b.resolveTargetQuery(try std.zig.CrossTarget.parse(
+        const target = b.resolveTargetQuery(try std.Target.Query.parse(
             .{ .arch_os_abi = ci_target_str },
         ));
         const optimize: std.builtin.OptimizeMode =
             // Compile in ReleaseSafe on Windows for faster extraction
             if (target.result.os.tag == .windows) .ReleaseSafe else .Debug;
-        const zigup_exe = addZigupExe(b, target, optimize);
+        const zigup_exe = addZigupExe(b, target, optimize, build_options, known_folders);
         const zigup_exe_install = b.addInstallArtifact(zigup_exe, .{
             .dest_dir = .{ .override = .{ .custom = ci_target_str } },
         });
diff --git a/build.zig.zon b/build.zig.zon
index de6b93f..9b5bde0 100644
--- a/build.zig.zon
+++ b/build.zig.zon
@@ -1,6 +1,13 @@
 .{
     .name = "zigup",
     .version = "0.0.1",
+    .dependencies = .{
+        .known_folders = .{
+            .url = "https://github.com/ziglibs/known-folders/archive/47076c6b11214a218e9244471d8762310820911a.tar.gz",
+            .hash = "12209d2738a2e1dbd3781c2e5f01a2ea877dcfeea53efdfa1913247297d328e6b207",
+            .lazy = true,
+        },
+    },
 
     .paths = .{
         "LICENSE",
diff --git a/zigup.zig b/zigup.zig
index 2919dca..27bf7d6 100644
--- a/zigup.zig
+++ b/zigup.zig
@@ -2,6 +2,9 @@ const std = @import("std");
 const builtin = @import("builtin");
 const mem = std.mem;
 
+const build_options = @import("build-options");
+const known_folders = @import("known-folders");
+
 const ArrayList = std.ArrayList;
 const Allocator = mem.Allocator;
 
@@ -126,19 +129,28 @@ fn getHomeDir() ![]const u8 {
 }
 
 fn allocInstallDirString(allocator: Allocator) ![]const u8 {
+    if (build_options.use_known_folders) {
+        if (try known_folders.getPath(allocator, .data)) |path| {
+            defer allocator.free(path);
+            return std.fs.path.join(allocator, &.{ path, "zigup" });
+        } else {
+            std.log.err("Could not find install directory", .{});
+            return error.AlreadyReported;
+        }
+    }
     // TODO: maybe support ZIG_INSTALL_DIR environment variable?
     // TODO: maybe support a file on the filesystem to configure install dir?
     if (builtin.os.tag == .windows) {
         const self_exe_dir = try std.fs.selfExeDirPathAlloc(allocator);
         defer allocator.free(self_exe_dir);
-        return std.fs.path.join(allocator, &.{ self_exe_dir, "zig" });
+        return std.fs.path.join(allocator, &.{ self_exe_dir, build_options.default_dir });
     }
     const home = try getHomeDir();
     if (!std.fs.path.isAbsolute(home)) {
         std.log.err("$HOME environment variable '{s}' is not an absolute path", .{home});
         return error.BadHomeEnvironmentVariable;
     }
-    return std.fs.path.join(allocator, &[_][]const u8{ home, "zig" });
+    return std.fs.path.join(allocator, &[_][]const u8{ home, build_options.default_dir });
 }
 const GetInstallDirOptions = struct {
     create: bool,
@@ -501,7 +513,7 @@ pub fn loggySymlinkAbsolute(target_path: []const u8, sym_link_path: []const u8,
 
 /// returns: true if the symlink was updated, false if it was already set to the given `target_path`
 pub fn loggyUpdateSymlink(target_path: []const u8, sym_link_path: []const u8, flags: std.fs.Dir.SymLinkFlags) !bool {
-    var current_target_path_buffer: [std.fs.MAX_PATH_BYTES]u8 = undefined;
+    var current_target_path_buffer: [std.fs.max_path_bytes]u8 = undefined;
     if (std.fs.readLinkAbsolute(sym_link_path, &current_target_path_buffer)) |current_target_path| {
         if (std.mem.eql(u8, target_path, current_target_path)) {
             loginfo("symlink '{s}' already points to '{s}'", .{ sym_link_path, target_path });
@@ -631,7 +643,7 @@ fn cleanCompilers(allocator: Allocator, compiler_name_opt: ?[]const u8) !void {
         }
     }
 }
-fn readDefaultCompiler(allocator: Allocator, buffer: *[std.fs.MAX_PATH_BYTES + 1]u8) !?[]const u8 {
+fn readDefaultCompiler(allocator: Allocator, buffer: *[std.fs.max_path_bytes + 1]u8) !?[]const u8 {
     const path_link = try makeZigPathLinkString(allocator);
     defer allocator.free(path_link);
 
@@ -651,7 +663,7 @@ fn readDefaultCompiler(allocator: Allocator, buffer: *[std.fs.MAX_PATH_BYTES + 1
         return try allocator.dupe(u8, targetPathToVersion(target_exe));
     }
 
-    const target_path = std.fs.readLinkAbsolute(path_link, buffer[0..std.fs.MAX_PATH_BYTES]) catch |e| switch (e) {
+    const target_path = std.fs.readLinkAbsolute(path_link, buffer[0..std.fs.max_path_bytes]) catch |e| switch (e) {
         error.FileNotFound => return null,
         else => return e,
     };
@@ -662,7 +674,7 @@ fn targetPathToVersion(target_path: []const u8) []const u8 {
     return std.fs.path.basename(std.fs.path.dirname(std.fs.path.dirname(target_path).?).?);
 }
 
-fn readMasterDir(buffer: *[std.fs.MAX_PATH_BYTES]u8, install_dir: *std.fs.Dir) !?[]const u8 {
+fn readMasterDir(buffer: *[std.fs.max_path_bytes]u8, install_dir: *std.fs.Dir) !?[]const u8 {
     if (builtin.os.tag == .windows) {
         var file = install_dir.openFile("master", .{}) catch |e| switch (e) {
             error.FileNotFound => return null,
@@ -678,7 +690,7 @@ fn readMasterDir(buffer: *[std.fs.MAX_PATH_BYTES]u8, install_dir: *std.fs.Dir) !
 }
 
 fn getDefaultCompiler(allocator: Allocator) !?[]const u8 {
-    var buffer: [std.fs.MAX_PATH_BYTES + 1]u8 = undefined;
+    var buffer: [std.fs.max_path_bytes + 1]u8 = undefined;
     const slice_path = (try readDefaultCompiler(allocator, &buffer)) orelse return null;
     const path_to_return = try allocator.alloc(u8, slice_path.len);
     @memcpy(path_to_return, slice_path);
@@ -686,7 +698,7 @@ fn getDefaultCompiler(allocator: Allocator) !?[]const u8 {
 }
 
 fn getMasterDir(allocator: Allocator, install_dir: *std.fs.Dir) !?[]const u8 {
-    var buffer: [std.fs.MAX_PATH_BYTES]u8 = undefined;
+    var buffer: [std.fs.max_path_bytes]u8 = undefined;
     const slice_path = (try readMasterDir(&buffer, install_dir)) orelse return null;
     const path_to_return = try allocator.alloc(u8, slice_path.len);
     @memcpy(path_to_return, slice_path);
@@ -773,7 +785,7 @@ fn verifyPathLink(allocator: Allocator, path_link: []const u8) !void {
             break :blk "";
         };
 
-        var path_it = std.mem.tokenize(u8, path_env, ";");
+        var path_it = std.mem.tokenizeScalar(u8, path_env, ';');
         while (path_it.next()) |path| {
             switch (try compareDir(path_link_dir_id, path)) {
                 .missing => continue,
@@ -789,7 +801,7 @@ fn verifyPathLink(allocator: Allocator, path_link: []const u8) !void {
                 try enforceNoZig(path_link, exe);
             }
 
-            var ext_it = std.mem.tokenize(u8, pathext_env, ";");
+            var ext_it = std.mem.tokenizeScalar(u8, pathext_env, ';');
             while (ext_it.next()) |ext| {
                 if (ext.len == 0) continue;
                 const basename = try std.mem.concat(allocator, u8, &.{ "zig", ext });
@@ -802,7 +814,7 @@ fn verifyPathLink(allocator: Allocator, path_link: []const u8) !void {
             }
         }
     } else {
-        var path_it = std.mem.tokenize(u8, std.posix.getenv("PATH") orelse "", ":");
+        var path_it = std.mem.tokenizeScalar(u8, std.posix.getenv("PATH") orelse "", ':');
         while (path_it.next()) |path| {
             switch (try compareDir(path_link_dir_id, path)) {
                 .missing => continue,
@@ -924,8 +936,8 @@ const win32exelink = struct {
     };
 };
 fn createExeLink(link_target: []const u8, path_link: []const u8) !void {
-    if (path_link.len > std.fs.MAX_PATH_BYTES) {
-        std.debug.print("Error: path_link (size {}) is too large (max {})\n", .{ path_link.len, std.fs.MAX_PATH_BYTES });
+    if (path_link.len > std.fs.max_path_bytes) {
+        std.debug.print("Error: path_link (size {}) is too large (max {})\n", .{ path_link.len, std.fs.max_path_bytes });
         return error.AlreadyReported;
     }
     const file = std.fs.cwd().createFile(path_link, .{}) catch |err| switch (err) {