diff --git a/release.sh b/release.sh
index c6b657d56..40dcbe53e 100755
--- a/release.sh
+++ b/release.sh
@@ -19,21 +19,40 @@
 #######################################################################
 rm -rf bootstrap build dist distribution
 unset ANT_HOME
-export JAVA_HOME=/cygdrive/c/j2sdk1.4.2_19
+# OS specific support.  $var _must_ be set to either true or false.
+cygwin=false;
+darwin=false;
+mingw=false;
+case "`uname`" in
+  CYGWIN*) cygwin=true ;;
+  Darwin*) darwin=true;;
+  MINGW*) mingw=true ;;
+esac
+# running first build under JDK 1.4 under cygwin
+if $cygwin ; then
+  export JAVA_HOME=/cygdrive/c/j2sdk1.4.2_19
+  export PATH=$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH
+  echo ANT_HOME=$ANT_HOME
+  echo JAVA_HOME=$JAVA_HOME
+  which java
+  echo running first build under JDK 1.4
+  ./build.sh
+fi
+if $cygwin ; then
+  export JAVA_HOME="/cygdrive/c/Program Files/Java/jdk1.5.0_22"
+  JDK_VERSION=1.5
+fi
+if $darwin; then
+   export JAVA_HOME=/System/Library/Frameworks/JavaVM.framework/Home
+   JDK_VERSION=1.6
+fi  
 export PATH=$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH
 echo ANT_HOME=$ANT_HOME
 echo JAVA_HOME=$JAVA_HOME
 which java
-echo running first build under JDK 1.4
-./build.sh
-export JAVA_HOME="/cygdrive/c/Program Files/Java/jdk1.5.0_22"
-export PATH=$JAVA_HOME/bin:$PATH
-echo ANT_HOME=$ANT_HOME
-echo JAVA_HOME=$JAVA_HOME
-which java
-echo running second build under JDK 1.5
+echo running build under JDK %JDK_VERSION%
 ./build.sh dist-lite 
-echo running third build to run the tests and do the distribution
+echo running the tests and doing the distribution
 dist/bin/ant -nouserlib -lib lib/optional  run-tests distribution