diff --git a/.travis.install.deps.sh b/.travis.install.deps.sh
index 8e1eb0008..387cf1dd0 100755
--- a/.travis.install.deps.sh
+++ b/.travis.install.deps.sh
@@ -1,75 +1,5 @@
-#!/bin/bash
+#!/bin/sh
 
-set -x
-set -e
+set -ex
 
-if [ "${TRAVIS_OS_NAME}" = "osx" ] || [ "${PLATFORM}" = "mac" ] || [ "`uname`" = "Darwin" ]; then
-    target=apple-darwin
-elif [ "${OS}" = "Windows_NT" ] || [ "${PLATFORM}" = "win" ]; then
-    windows=1
-else
-    target=unknown-linux-gnu
-fi
-
-if [ "${TRAVIS}" = "true" ] && [ "${target}" = "unknown-linux-gnu" ]; then
-    # Install a 32-bit compiler for linux
-    sudo apt-get update
-    if [ "${BITS}" = "32" ]; then
-        sudo apt-get install libssl-dev:i386
-    fi
-    sudo apt-get install g++-multilib lib32stdc++6
-fi
-
-url=https://static.rust-lang.org/dist/`cat src/rustversion.txt`
-
-# On unix hosts install both 32 and 64-bit libraries, but respect BITS to
-# determine what arch should be used by default. On windows we don't use 32/64
-# libraries, but instead we install msvc as an alternate architecture.
-if [ -z "${windows}" ]; then
-    if [ "${BITS}" = "32" ]; then
-        cargo_extra=x86_64-$target
-        cargo_host=i686-$target
-    else
-        cargo_extra=i686-$target
-        cargo_host=x86_64-$target
-    fi
-    libdir=lib
-else
-    if [ "${BITS}" = "32" ]; then
-        cargo_host=i686-pc-windows-gnu
-    elif [ "${MSVC}" = "1" ]; then
-        cargo_host=x86_64-pc-windows-msvc
-    else
-        cargo_host=x86_64-pc-windows-gnu
-        cargo_extra=x86_64-pc-windows-msvc
-    fi
-    libdir=bin
-fi
-
-rm -rf rustc *.tar.gz
-curl -O $url/rustc-nightly-$cargo_host.tar.gz
-tar xfz rustc-nightly-$cargo_host.tar.gz
-
-if [ ! -z "${cargo_extra}" ]; then
-    curl -O $url/rustc-nightly-$cargo_extra.tar.gz
-    tar xfz rustc-nightly-$cargo_extra.tar.gz
-
-    cp -r rustc-nightly-$cargo_extra/rustc/$libdir/rustlib/$cargo_extra \
-          rustc-nightly-$cargo_host/rustc/$libdir/rustlib
-    cp -r rustc-nightly-$cargo_extra/rustc/$libdir/rustlib/$cargo_extra/bin \
-          rustc-nightly-$cargo_host/rustc/$libdir/rustlib/$cargo_host
-    (cd rustc-nightly-$cargo_host && \
-     find rustc/$libdir/rustlib/$cargo_extra -type f | \
-     sed 's/^rustc\//file:/' >> rustc/manifest.in)
-    (cd rustc-nightly-$cargo_host && \
-     find rustc/$libdir/rustlib/$cargo_host/bin -type f | \
-     sed 's/^rustc\//file:/' >> rustc/manifest.in)
-    rm -rf rustc-nightly-$cargo_extra
-    rm -f rustc-nightly-$cargo_extra.tar.gz
-fi
-
-./rustc-nightly-$cargo_host/install.sh --prefix=rustc
-rm -rf rustc-nightly-$cargo_host
-rm -f rustc-nightly-$cargo_host.tar.gz
-
-set +x
+python src/etc/install-deps.py
diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index 1f0ceafae..2dd3a38e7 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -1,25 +1,27 @@
 language: rust
+sudo: false
 install:
-  - sh ./.travis.install.deps.sh
+  - python src/etc/install-deps.py
 script:
-  - ./configure --local-rust-root=`pwd`/rustc
+  - ./configure --local-rust-root=`pwd`/rustc --prefix=$HOME/cargo-install
   - make
   - make test
   - make distcheck
   - make doc
-  - sudo make install
-  - sudo make uninstall
+  - make install
+  - make uninstall
 after_success: |
   [ $TRAVIS_BRANCH = master ] &&
   [ $TRAVIS_PULL_REQUEST = false ] &&
   [ $(uname -s) = Linux ] &&
-  sudo pip install ghp-import &&
-  ghp-import -n target/doc &&
-  git push -f https://${TOKEN}@github.com/${TRAVIS_REPO_SLUG}.git gh-pages
+  pip install ghp-import --user $USER &&
+  $HOME/.local/bin/ghp-import -n target/doc &&
+  git push -qf https://${TOKEN}@github.com/${TRAVIS_REPO_SLUG}.git gh-pages
 env:
   global:
     - secure: scGpeetUfba5RWyuS4yt10bPoFAI9wpHEReIFqEx7eH5vr2Anajk6+70jW6GdrWVdUvdINiArlQ3An2DeB9vEUWcBjw8WvuPtOH0tDMoSsuVloPlFD8yn1Ac0Bx9getAO5ofxqtoNg+OV4MDVuGabEesqAOWqURNrBC7XK+ntC8=
     - RUST_TEST_THREADS=1
+
 os:
   - linux
   - osx
@@ -27,3 +29,9 @@ os:
 branches:
   only:
     - master
+
+addons:
+  apt:
+    packages:
+    - g++-multilib
+    - lib32stdc++6
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 25309ba13..20786fcc1 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -1,21 +1,16 @@
 Cargo downloads your Rust project’s dependencies and compiles your project.
 
-Learn more at http://doc.crates.io/.
+Learn more at http://doc.crates.io/
 
-## Installing cargo from nightlies
+## Installing Cargo
 
-Cargo has nightlies available for use. The cargo source is not always guaranteed
-to compile on rust master as it may lag behind by a day or two. Nightlies,
-however, will run regardless of this fact!
+Cargo is distributed by default with Rust, so if you've got `rustc` installed
+locally you probably also have `cargo` installed locally.
 
-```sh
-triple=x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
-curl -O https://static.rust-lang.org/cargo-dist/cargo-nightly-$triple.tar.gz
-tar xf cargo-nightly-$triple.tar.gz
-./cargo-nightly-$triple/install.sh
-```
-
-Nightlies are available for the following triples:
+If, however, you would like to install Cargo from the nightly binaries that are
+generated, you may also do so! Note that these nightlies are not official
+binaries, so they are only provided in one format with one installation method.
+Each tarball below contains a top-level `install.sh` script to install Cargo.
 
 * [`x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu`](https://static.rust-lang.org/cargo-dist/cargo-nightly-x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz)
 * [`i686-unknown-linux-gnu`](https://static.rust-lang.org/cargo-dist/cargo-nightly-i686-unknown-linux-gnu.tar.gz)
@@ -23,28 +18,27 @@ Nightlies are available for the following triples:
 * [`i686-apple-darwin`](https://static.rust-lang.org/cargo-dist/cargo-nightly-i686-apple-darwin.tar.gz)
 * [`x86_64-pc-windows-gnu`](https://static.rust-lang.org/cargo-dist/cargo-nightly-x86_64-pc-windows-gnu.tar.gz)
 * [`i686-pc-windows-gnu`](https://static.rust-lang.org/cargo-dist/cargo-nightly-i686-pc-windows-gnu.tar.gz)
+* [`x86_64-pc-windows-msvc`](https://static.rust-lang.org/cargo-dist/cargo-nightly-x86_64-pc-windows-msvc.tar.gz)
 
-Note that if you're using the windows snapshot you will need Mingw-w64 installed
-as well as MSYS. The installation script needs to be run inside the MSYS shell.
+Note that if you're on Windows you will have to run the `install.sh` script from
+inside an MSYS shell, likely from a MinGW-64 installation.
 
-## Compiling cargo
+## Compiling from Source
 
 Cargo requires the following tools and packages to build:
 
 * `rustc`
 * `python`
-* `curl`
+* `curl` (on Unix)
 * `cmake`
-* `pkg-config`
-* OpenSSL headers (`libssl-dev` package on ubuntu)
+* OpenSSL headers (only for Unix, this is the `libssl-dev` package on ubuntu)
 
 Cargo can then be compiled like many other standard unix-like projects:
 
 ```sh
 git clone https://github.com/rust-lang/cargo
 cd cargo
-git submodule update --init
-./.travis.install.deps.sh
+python src/etc/install-deps.py
 ./configure --local-rust-root="$PWD"/rustc
 make
 make install
@@ -60,7 +54,9 @@ $ ./configure --target=i686-unknown-linux-gnu,x86_64-unknown-linux-gnu
 
 ## Adding new subcommands to Cargo
 
-Cargo is designed to be extensible with new subcommands without having to modify Cargo itself. See [the Wiki page][third-party-subcommands] for more details and a list of known community-developed subcommands.
+Cargo is designed to be extensible with new subcommands without having to modify
+Cargo itself. See [the Wiki page][third-party-subcommands] for more details and
+a list of known community-developed subcommands.
 
 [third-party-subcommands]: https://github.com/rust-lang/cargo/wiki/Third-party-cargo-subcommands
 
diff --git a/appveyor.yml b/appveyor.yml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..d1071f6ef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/appveyor.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,19 @@
+environment:
+  matrix:
+  - MSVC: 1
+    BITS: 64
+    TARGET: x86_64-pc-windows-msvc
+
+install:
+  - python src/etc/install-deps.py
+  - python src/etc/dl-snapshot.py %TARGET%
+  - call "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 12.0\VC\vcvarsall.bat" amd64
+  - SET PATH=%PATH%;%cd%/rustc/bin
+  - SET PATH=%PATH%;%cd%/target/snapshot/cargo/bin
+  - rustc -V
+  - cargo -V
+
+build: false
+
+test_script:
+  - cargo test
diff --git a/configure b/configure
index a7f9881f2..e5590d923 100755
--- a/configure
+++ b/configure
@@ -261,10 +261,10 @@ need_cmd uname
 need_cmd date
 need_cmd tr
 need_cmd sed
-need_cmd file
 need_cmd cmake
-need_cmd pkg-config
-need_cmd curl
+if [ "${OS}" != "Windows_NT" ]; then
+    need_cmd curl
+fi
 
 CFG_SRC_DIR="$(cd $(dirname $0) && pwd)/"
 CFG_BUILD_DIR="$(pwd)/"
diff --git a/src/etc/dl-snapshot.py b/src/etc/dl-snapshot.py
index a7f8c1907..23f9c5949 100644
--- a/src/etc/dl-snapshot.py
+++ b/src/etc/dl-snapshot.py
@@ -1,12 +1,9 @@
-import distutils.spawn
+import download
 import hashlib
 import os
-import subprocess
-import sys
-import tarfile
-import shutil
-import contextlib
 import re
+import shutil
+import sys
 
 datere = re.compile('^\d{4}-\d{2}-\d{2}')
 cksumre = re.compile('^  ([^ ]+) ([^$]+)$')
@@ -91,21 +88,9 @@ if os.path.exists(dl_path):
         exists = True
 
 if not exists:
-    ret = subprocess.call(["curl", "-o", dl_path, url])
-    if ret != 0:
-        raise Exception("failed to fetch url")
+    download.get(url, dl_path)
     h = hashlib.sha1(open(dl_path, 'rb').read()).hexdigest()
     if h != hash:
         raise Exception("failed to verify the checksum of the snapshot")
 
-with contextlib.closing(tarfile.open(dl_path)) as tar:
-    for p in tar.getnames():
-        name = p.replace("cargo-nightly-" + triple + "/", "", 1)
-        fp = os.path.join(dst, name)
-        print("extracting " + p)
-        tar.extract(p, dst)
-        tp = os.path.join(dst, p)
-        if os.path.isdir(tp) and os.path.exists(fp):
-            continue
-        shutil.move(tp, fp)
-shutil.rmtree(os.path.join(dst, 'cargo-nightly-' + triple))
+download.unpack(dl_path, dst)
diff --git a/src/etc/download.py b/src/etc/download.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..27d4a861f
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/etc/download.py
@@ -0,0 +1,38 @@
+import contextlib
+import os
+import shutil
+import subprocess
+import sys
+import tarfile
+
+def get(url, path):
+    # see http://serverfault.com/questions/301128/how-to-download
+    if sys.platform == 'win32':
+        run(["PowerShell.exe", "/nologo", "-Command",
+             "(New-Object System.Net.WebClient).DownloadFile('" + url +
+                "', '" + path + "')"])
+    else:
+        run(["curl", "-o", path, url])
+
+def unpack(tarball, dst, quiet=False):
+    if quiet:
+        print("extracting " + tarball)
+    fname = os.path.basename(tarball).replace(".tar.gz", "")
+    with contextlib.closing(tarfile.open(tarball)) as tar:
+        for p in tar.getnames():
+            name = p.replace(fname + "/", "", 1)
+            fp = os.path.join(dst, name)
+            if not quiet:
+                print("extracting " + p)
+            tar.extract(p, dst)
+            tp = os.path.join(dst, p)
+            if os.path.isdir(tp) and os.path.exists(fp):
+                continue
+            shutil.move(tp, fp)
+    shutil.rmtree(os.path.join(dst, fname))
+
+def run(args):
+    print("running: " + ' '.join(args))
+    ret = subprocess.call(args)
+    if ret != 0:
+        raise Exception("failed to fetch url: " + url)
diff --git a/src/etc/install-deps.py b/src/etc/install-deps.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..c5be017fe
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/etc/install-deps.py
@@ -0,0 +1,73 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python
+
+import contextlib
+import download
+import os
+import shutil
+import sys
+import tarfile
+
+if os.environ.get('BITS') == '32':
+    host_bits = 'i686'
+    extra_bits = 'x86_64'
+else:
+    host_bits = 'x86_64'
+    extra_bits = 'i686'
+
+extra = None
+
+# Figure out our target triple
+if sys.platform == 'linux' or sys.platform == 'linux2':
+    host = host_bits + '-unknown-linux-gnu'
+    extra = extra_bits + '-unknown-linux-gnu'
+elif sys.platform == 'darwin':
+    host = host_bits + '-apple-darwin'
+    extra = extra_bits + '-apple-darwin'
+elif sys.platform == 'win32':
+    if os.environ.get('MSVC') == '1':
+        host = host_bits + '-pc-windows-msvc'
+    else:
+        host = host_bits + '-pc-windows-gnu'
+else:
+    raise "Unknown platform"
+
+rust_date = open('src/rustversion.txt').read().strip()
+url = 'https://static.rust-lang.org/dist/' + rust_date
+
+def install_via_tarballs():
+    if os.path.isdir("rustc-install"):
+        shutil.rmtree("rustc-install")
+
+    host_fname = 'rustc-nightly-' + host + '.tar.gz'
+    download.get(url + '/' + host_fname, host_fname)
+    download.unpack(host_fname, "rustc-install", quiet=True)
+    os.remove(host_fname)
+
+    if extra != None:
+        extra_fname = 'rustc-nightly-' + extra + '.tar.gz'
+        print("adding target libs for " + extra)
+        download.get(url + '/' + extra_fname, extra_fname)
+        manifest = open("rustc-install/rustc/manifest.in", "a")
+        folder = extra_fname.replace(".tar.gz", "")
+        with contextlib.closing(tarfile.open(extra_fname)) as tar:
+            for p in tar.getnames():
+                if not "rustc/lib/rustlib/" + extra in p:
+                    continue
+                name = p.replace(folder + "/", "", 1)
+                dst = "rustc-install/" + name
+                f = tar.extract(p, "rustc-install")
+                tp = os.path.join("rustc-install", p)
+                if os.path.isdir(tp) and os.path.exists(dst):
+                    continue
+                shutil.move(tp, dst)
+                if not os.path.isdir(dst):
+                    manifest.write(p.replace(folder + "/rustc/", "file:") + "\n")
+        shutil.rmtree("rustc-install/" + folder)
+        os.remove(extra_fname)
+
+    if os.path.isdir("rustc"):
+        shutil.rmtree("rustc")
+    os.rename("rustc-install/rustc", "rustc")
+    shutil.rmtree("rustc-install")
+
+install_via_tarballs()