diff -ur src.orig/megamek/client/bot/BotConfiguration.java src/megamek/client/bot/BotConfiguration.java
--- src.orig/megamek/client/bot/BotConfiguration.java	2006-09-18 01:20:30.000000000 -0400
+++ src/megamek/client/bot/BotConfiguration.java	2006-09-18 01:26:05.000000000 -0400
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 
     static {
         try {
-            BotProperties.load(new FileInputStream("mmconf/bot.properties")); //$NON-NLS-1$
+            BotProperties.load(new FileInputStream(System.getProperty("user.home") + "/.megamek/mmconf/bot.properties")); //$NON-NLS-1$
         } catch (Exception e) {
             System.out.println("Bot properties could not be loaded, will use defaults"); //$NON-NLS-1$
         }
diff -ur src.orig/megamek/client/Client.java src/megamek/client/Client.java
--- src.orig/megamek/client/Client.java	2006-09-18 01:20:30.000000000 -0400
+++ src/megamek/client/Client.java	2006-09-18 01:30:01.000000000 -0400
@@ -922,7 +922,7 @@
                 case Packet.COMMAND_SEND_SAVEGAME:
                     String sFinalFile = (String)c.getObject(0);
                     try {
-                        File sDir = new File("savegames");
+                        File sDir = new File(System.getProperty("user.home") + "/.megamek/savegames");
                         if (!sDir.exists()) {
                             sDir.mkdir();
                         }
diff -ur src.orig/megamek/common/options/GameOptions.java src/megamek/common/options/GameOptions.java
--- src.orig/megamek/common/options/GameOptions.java	2006-09-18 01:20:30.000000000 -0400
+++ src/megamek/common/options/GameOptions.java	2006-09-18 01:26:15.000000000 -0400
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@
 public class GameOptions extends AbstractOptions implements Serializable {
     static final long serialVersionUID = 5417081099101580392L;
 
-    private static final String GAME_OPTIONS_FILE_NAME = "mmconf/gameoptions.xml"; //$NON-NLS-1$
+    private static final String GAME_OPTIONS_FILE_NAME = System.getProperty("user.home") + "/.megamek/mmconf/gameoptions.xml"; //$NON-NLS-1$
     
     public GameOptions() {
         super();
diff -ur src.orig/megamek/common/preference/ClientPreferences.java src/megamek/common/preference/ClientPreferences.java
--- src.orig/megamek/common/preference/ClientPreferences.java	2006-09-18 01:20:31.000000000 -0400
+++ src/megamek/common/preference/ClientPreferences.java	2006-09-18 02:22:17.000000000 -0400
@@ -60,7 +60,27 @@
         store.setDefault(MAP_TILESET, "defaulthexset.txt");
         store.setDefault(MAX_PATHFINDER_TIME, MovePath.DEFAULT_PATHFINDER_TIME_LIMIT);
         store.setDefault(DATA_DIRECTORY,"data");
-        store.setDefault(LOG_DIRECTORY,"logs");
+        try {
+          File homeDataDir = new File(System.getProperty("user.home") + "/.megamek");
+          if (!homeDataDir.exists()) {
+            homeDataDir.mkdir();
+          }
+          File homeConfDir = new File(System.getProperty("user.home") + "/.megamek/mmconf");
+          if (!homeConfDir.exists()) {
+            homeConfDir.mkdir();
+          }
+          File homeSaveDir = new File(System.getProperty("user.home") + "/.megamek/savegames");
+          if (!homeSaveDir.exists()) {
+            homeSaveDir.mkdir();
+          }
+          File homeLogsDir = new File(System.getProperty("user.home") + "/.megamek/logs");
+          if (!homeLogsDir.exists()) {
+            homeLogsDir.mkdir();
+          }
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+          System.err.println("Unable to create " + System.getProperty("user.home") + "/.megamek directories");
+        }
+        store.setDefault(LOG_DIRECTORY,System.getProperty("user.home") + "/.megamek/logs");
         store.setDefault(MECH_DIRECTORY, store.getDefaultString(DATA_DIRECTORY) + File.separator + "mechfiles");
         store.setDefault(METASERVER_NAME, "http://www.damour.info/cgi-bin/james/metaserver");
         store.setDefault(GOAL_PLAYERS, 2);
diff -ur src.orig/megamek/common/preference/PreferenceManager.java src/megamek/common/preference/PreferenceManager.java
--- src.orig/megamek/common/preference/PreferenceManager.java	2006-09-18 01:20:31.000000000 -0400
+++ src/megamek/common/preference/PreferenceManager.java	2006-09-18 01:27:25.000000000 -0400
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@
 
 public class PreferenceManager {
 
-    public static final String DEFAULT_CFG_FILE_NAME = "mmconf/clientsettings.xml";
+    public static final String DEFAULT_CFG_FILE_NAME = System.getProperty("user.home") + "/.megamek/mmconf/clientsettings.xml";
     public static final String CFG_FILE_OPTION_NAME = "cfgfilename";
     public static final String ROOT_NODE_NAME = "MegaMekSettings";
     public static final String CLIENT_SETTINGS_STORE_NAME = "ClientSettings";    
diff -ur src.orig/megamek/MegaMek.java src/megamek/MegaMek.java
--- src.orig/megamek/MegaMek.java	2006-09-18 01:20:30.000000000 -0400
+++ src/megamek/MegaMek.java	2006-09-18 01:29:28.000000000 -0400
@@ -361,7 +361,7 @@
 
     public void loadGame() {
         FileDialog fd = new FileDialog(frame, Messages.getString("MegaMek.SaveGameDialog.title"), FileDialog.LOAD); //$NON-NLS-1$
-        fd.setDirectory("savegames"); //$NON-NLS-1$
+        fd.setDirectory(System.getProperty("user.home") + "/.megamek/savegames"); //$NON-NLS-1$
         // limit file-list to savedgames only
         fd.setFilenameFilter(new FilenameFilter() {
             public boolean accept(File dir, String name) {
diff -ur src.orig/megamek/server/Server.java src/megamek/server/Server.java
--- src.orig/megamek/server/Server.java	2006-09-18 01:20:30.000000000 -0400
+++ src/megamek/server/Server.java	2006-09-18 01:30:41.000000000 -0400
@@ -673,7 +673,7 @@
         if (!sFinalFile.endsWith(".sav")) {
             sFinalFile = sFile + ".sav";
         }
-        sFinalFile = "savegames" + File.separator + sFinalFile;
+        sFinalFile = System.getProperty("user.home") + "/.megamek/savegames" + File.separator + sFinalFile;
         File f = new File(sFinalFile);
         try {
             ObjectInputStream ois = new ObjectInputStream(
@@ -699,7 +699,7 @@
             sFinalFile = sFile + ".sav";
         }
         try {
-            File sDir = new File("savegames");
+            File sDir = new File(System.getProperty("user.home") + "/.megamek/savegames");
             if (!sDir.exists()) {
                 sDir.mkdir();
             }