diff --git a/ui (gen4)/e.js b/ui (gen4)/e.js
index 351d5254..5b6fec0b 100644
--- a/ui (gen4)/e.js	
+++ b/ui (gen4)/e.js	
@@ -20,12 +20,13 @@ var url = require('url')
 var win
 
 
-function createWindow () {
+function createWindow() {
 	// Create the browser window.
 	win = new BrowserWindow({width: 800, height: 600})
 
 	// and load the index.html of the app.
 	win.loadURL(url.format({
+		// XXX for some reason the system is loaded twice...
 		pathname: path.join(__dirname, 'index.html'),
 		protocol: 'file:',
 		slashes: true
diff --git a/ui (gen4)/features/app.js b/ui (gen4)/features/app.js
index d2e36c7e..49e0b258 100755
--- a/ui (gen4)/features/app.js	
+++ b/ui (gen4)/features/app.js	
@@ -197,7 +197,7 @@ module.AppControl = core.ImageGridFeatures.Feature({
 	// 	- chrome app
 	// 	- nw
 	// 	- mobile
-	isApplicable: function(){ return this.runtime == 'nw' },
+	isApplicable: function(){ return this.runtime.nw },
 
 	// XXX show main window...
 	handlers: [
diff --git a/ui (gen4)/features/cli.js b/ui (gen4)/features/cli.js
index 9874e2f4..dc3a0d9c 100755
--- a/ui (gen4)/features/cli.js	
+++ b/ui (gen4)/features/cli.js	
@@ -91,8 +91,9 @@ module.CLI = core.ImageGridFeatures.Feature({
 		'lifecycle'
 	],
 
+	// XXX should this be ONLY node???
 	isApplicable: function(){ 
-		return this.runtime == 'node' /*|| this.runtime == 'nw'*/ },
+		return this.runtime.node && !this.runtime.browser },
 
 	actions: CLIActions,
 
@@ -101,7 +102,7 @@ module.CLI = core.ImageGridFeatures.Feature({
 			function(){
 				var that = this
 				// get the arguments...
-				if(this.runtime == 'nw'){
+				if(this.runtime.nw){
 					var argv = nw.App.argv
 
 					// XXX appears to have a stray '--help' lodged in 
@@ -109,7 +110,7 @@ module.CLI = core.ImageGridFeatures.Feature({
 					// 		...need to test this with a packed exec...
 					console.log('>>>>', argv)
 
-				} else if(this.runtime == 'node'){
+				} else if(this.runtime.node){
 					var argv = process.argv
 				}
 
diff --git a/ui (gen4)/features/core.js b/ui (gen4)/features/core.js
index ecaf7a6c..983251c9 100755
--- a/ui (gen4)/features/core.js	
+++ b/ui (gen4)/features/core.js	
@@ -162,17 +162,27 @@ ImageGridFeatures.__actions__ =
 
 //---------------------------------------------------------------------
 // Setup runtime info...
+// XXX add test if chrome-app...
+// XXX add test if cordova...
+// XXX add test if mobile...
+
+// XXX should this contain feature versions???
+var runtime = ImageGridFeatures.runtime = {}
 
 // nw or node...
 if(typeof(process) != 'undefined'){
+	// node...
+	runtime.node = true
 
 	// Electron...
 	if(process.versions['electron'] != null){
-		ImageGridFeatures.runtime = 'electron'
+		runtime.electron = true
+		runtime.desktop = true
 
 	// nw.js 0.13+
 	} else if(typeof(nw) != 'undefined'){
-		ImageGridFeatures.runtime = 'nw'
+		runtime.nw = true
+		runtime.desktop = true
 
 		// NOTE: jli is patching the Date object and with two separate 
 		// 		instances we'll need to sync things up...
@@ -187,25 +197,19 @@ if(typeof(process) != 'undefined'){
 
 	// node...
 	} else {
-		ImageGridFeatures.runtime = 'node'
-
 		// XXX patch Date...
 		// XXX this will not work directly as we will need to explicitly
 		// 		require jli...
 		//patchDate(global.Date)
 	}
+}
 
 // browser...
 // NOTE: we're avoiding detecting browser specifics for as long as possible,
 // 		this will minimize the headaches of supporting several non-standard
 // 		versions of code...
-} else if(typeof(window) != 'undefined'){
-	ImageGridFeatures.runtime = 'browser'
-
-// unknown...
-// XXX do we need to detect chrome app???
-} else {
-	ImageGridFeatures.runtime = 'unknown'
+if(typeof(window) != 'undefined'){
+	runtime.browser = true
 }
 
 
@@ -353,7 +357,7 @@ var LifeCycleActions = actions.Actions({
 			var runtime = this.runtime = ImageGridFeatures.runtime
 
 			// nw.js...
-			if(runtime == 'nw'){
+			if(runtime.nw){
 				// this handles both reload and close...
 				$(window).on('beforeunload', stop)
 
@@ -386,12 +390,12 @@ var LifeCycleActions = actions.Actions({
 				nw.Window.get().on('close', this.__nw_stop_handler)
 
 
-			// node.js...
-			} else if(runtime == 'node'){
+			// node...
+			} else if(runtime.node){
 				process.on('exit', stop)
 
 			// browser...
-			} else if(runtime == 'browser'){
+			} else if(runtime.browser){
 				$(window).on('beforeunload', stop)
 
 			// other...
@@ -400,17 +404,11 @@ var LifeCycleActions = actions.Actions({
 				console.warn('Unknown runtime:', runtime)
 			}
 
-			// handler ready event...
+			// handle ready event...
 			// ...if no one requested to do it.
 			if(this.__ready_announce_requested == null
 					|| this.__ready_announce_requested <= 0){
-				if(runtime == 'nw'){
-					$(function(){ that.declareReady() })
-
-				} else if(runtime == 'node'){
-					this.declareReady()
-
-				} else if(runtime == 'browser'){
+				if(runtime.browser){
 					$(function(){ that.declareReady() })
 
 				} else {
@@ -503,20 +501,19 @@ var LifeCycleActions = actions.Actions({
 			handlers can run cleanly.
 		`,
 		function(){
-			// browser & nw...
-			if(this.__stop_handler 
-					&& (this.runtime == 'browser' || this.runtime == 'nw')){
+			// browser...
+			if(this.__stop_handler && this.runtime.browser){
 				$(window).off('beforeunload', this.__stop_handler)
 			}
 
 			// nw...
-			if(this.__nw_stop_handler && this.runtime == 'nw'){
+			if(this.__nw_stop_handler && this.runtime.nw){
 				nw.Window.get().removeAllListeners('close')
 				delete this.__nw_stop_handler
 			}
 
 			// node...
-			if(this.__stop_handler && this.runtime == 'node'){
+			if(this.__stop_handler && this.runtime.node){
 				process.removeAllListeners('exit')
 			}
 
diff --git a/ui (gen4)/features/external-editor.js b/ui (gen4)/features/external-editor.js
index 6dcabb85..b7b0d000 100755
--- a/ui (gen4)/features/external-editor.js	
+++ b/ui (gen4)/features/external-editor.js	
@@ -122,8 +122,7 @@ module.ExternalEditor = core.ImageGridFeatures.Feature({
 		'ui-external-editor',
 	],
 
-	isApplicable: function(){ 
-		return this.runtime == 'nw' || this.runtime == 'node' },
+	isApplicable: function(){ return this.runtime.node },
 
 	actions: ExternalEditorActions,
 })
diff --git a/ui (gen4)/features/filesystem.js b/ui (gen4)/features/filesystem.js
index ab0fe48e..b590d945 100755
--- a/ui (gen4)/features/filesystem.js	
+++ b/ui (gen4)/features/filesystem.js	
@@ -215,8 +215,7 @@ module.FileSystemInfo = core.ImageGridFeatures.Feature({
 
 	actions: FileSystemInfoActions,
 
-	isApplicable: function(){ 
-		return this.runtime == 'node' || this.runtime == 'nw' },
+	isApplicable: function(){ return this.runtime.node },
 })
 
 
@@ -762,8 +761,7 @@ module.FileSystemLoader = core.ImageGridFeatures.Feature({
 
 	actions: FileSystemLoaderActions,
 
-	isApplicable: function(){ 
-		return this.runtime == 'node' || this.runtime == 'nw' },
+	isApplicable: function(){ return this.runtime.node },
 
 	handlers: [
 		// clear changes when loading an index...
@@ -2085,8 +2083,7 @@ module.FileSystemWriter = core.ImageGridFeatures.Feature({
 
 	actions: FileSystemWriterActions,
 
-	isApplicable: function(){ 
-		return this.runtime == 'node' || this.runtime == 'nw' },
+	isApplicable: function(){ return this.runtime.node },
 
 	// monitor changes...
 	// XXX should we use .load(..) to trigger changes instead of .loadURLs(..)???
diff --git a/ui (gen4)/features/metadata.js b/ui (gen4)/features/metadata.js
index b3f5858d..b5aeec26 100755
--- a/ui (gen4)/features/metadata.js	
+++ b/ui (gen4)/features/metadata.js	
@@ -212,8 +212,7 @@ module.MetadataReader = core.ImageGridFeatures.Feature({
 		'metadata',
 	],
 
-	isApplicable: function(){ 
-		return this.runtime == 'nw' || this.runtime == 'node' },
+	isApplicable: function(){ return this.runtime.node },
 
 	actions: MetadataReaderActions,
 
diff --git a/ui (gen4)/features/peer.js b/ui (gen4)/features/peer.js
index 11f1e208..ca729296 100755
--- a/ui (gen4)/features/peer.js	
+++ b/ui (gen4)/features/peer.js	
@@ -372,8 +372,7 @@ module.ChildProcessPeer = core.ImageGridFeatures.Feature({
 		'peer',
 	],
 
-	isApplicable: function(){ 
-		return this.runtime == 'nw' || this.runtime == 'node' },
+	isApplicable: function(){ return this.runtime.node },
 
 	actions: ChildProcessPeerActions, 
 
diff --git a/ui (gen4)/features/ui-chrome.js b/ui (gen4)/features/ui-chrome.js
index 6350f531..e2aae49e 100755
--- a/ui (gen4)/features/ui-chrome.js	
+++ b/ui (gen4)/features/ui-chrome.js	
@@ -619,9 +619,9 @@ module.UIScale = core.ImageGridFeatures.Feature({
 
 	// XXX test if in:
 	// 	- chrome app
-	// 	- nw
+	// 	- desktop
 	// 	- mobile
-	isApplicable: function(){ return this.runtime == 'nw' },
+	isApplicable: function(){ return this.runtime.desktop },
 
 	// XXX show main window...
 	handlers: [
diff --git a/ui (gen4)/features/ui.js b/ui (gen4)/features/ui.js
index d7dafc0e..51045e44 100755
--- a/ui (gen4)/features/ui.js	
+++ b/ui (gen4)/features/ui.js	
@@ -708,7 +708,7 @@ module.Viewer = core.ImageGridFeatures.Feature({
 	// check if we are running in a UI context...
 	// NOTE: this will prevent loading of any features dependant on the 
 	// 		UI in a non UI context...
-	isApplicable: function(){ return typeof(window) == typeof({}) },
+	isApplicable: function(){ return this.runtime.browser },
 
 	handlers: [
 		['start',
@@ -976,7 +976,7 @@ module.URLHash = core.ImageGridFeatures.Feature({
 
 	//isApplicable: function(){ 
 	//	return typeof(location) != 'undefined' && location.hash != null },
-	isApplicable: function(){ return this.runtime == 'browser' },
+	isApplicable: function(){ return this.runtime.browser },
 
 	handlers: [
 		// hanlde window.onhashchange event...