diff --git a/src/lib.rs b/src/lib.rs
index ae95f32..7010cb8 100644
--- a/src/lib.rs
+++ b/src/lib.rs
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@ pub mod designer;
 pub mod errors;
 pub mod graph;
 pub mod manager;
+pub mod platform;
 pub mod plugin;
 pub mod plugins;
 pub mod process;
diff --git a/src/platform.rs b/src/platform.rs
new file mode 100644
index 0000000..84dcf20
--- /dev/null
+++ b/src/platform.rs
@@ -0,0 +1,264 @@
+use std::path::{Path, PathBuf};
+use std::process::{Child, Command};
+
+use crate::errors::Result;
+
+/// Supported shell types for command execution
+#[derive(Debug, Clone, PartialEq, Eq)]
+pub enum Shell {
+    /// Windows Command Prompt
+    Cmd,
+    /// Windows PowerShell
+    PowerShell,
+    /// Unix/Linux shell
+    Sh,
+    /// Bash shell
+    Bash,
+}
+
+/// Platform-specific execution abstraction
+pub trait PlatformExecutor {
+    /// Spawn a process with the given command
+    fn spawn_process(&self, command: &Command) -> Result<Child>;
+    
+    /// Normalize a path for the current platform
+    fn normalize_path(&self, path: &Path) -> PathBuf;
+    
+    /// Get the default shell for the platform
+    fn get_shell(&self) -> Shell;
+    
+    /// Get the PATH environment variable separator for the platform
+    fn get_path_separator(&self) -> &'static str;
+    
+    /// Build a shell command for executing a script string
+    fn build_shell_command(&self, script: &str) -> Command;
+    
+    /// Get available shells on this platform
+    fn get_available_shells(&self) -> Vec<Shell>;
+}
+
+/// Windows platform executor
+#[derive(Debug, Default)]
+pub struct WindowsExecutor {
+    preferred_shell: Shell,
+}
+
+impl WindowsExecutor {
+    pub fn new() -> Self {
+        Self {
+            preferred_shell: Shell::Cmd,
+        }
+    }
+    
+    pub fn with_shell(shell: Shell) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            preferred_shell: shell,
+        }
+    }
+    
+    /// Check if PowerShell is available on the system
+    fn is_powershell_available(&self) -> bool {
+        Command::new("powershell")
+            .arg("-Version")
+            .output()
+            .is_ok()
+    }
+}
+
+impl PlatformExecutor for WindowsExecutor {
+    fn spawn_process(&self, command: &Command) -> Result<Child> {
+        Ok(command.spawn()?)
+    }
+    
+    fn normalize_path(&self, path: &Path) -> PathBuf {
+        // Convert forward slashes to backslashes on Windows
+        let path_str = path.to_string_lossy();
+        let normalized = path_str.replace('/', "\\");
+        PathBuf::from(normalized)
+    }
+    
+    fn get_shell(&self) -> Shell {
+        match self.preferred_shell {
+            Shell::PowerShell if self.is_powershell_available() => Shell::PowerShell,
+            _ => Shell::Cmd,
+        }
+    }
+    
+    fn get_path_separator(&self) -> &'static str {
+        ";"
+    }
+    
+    fn build_shell_command(&self, script: &str) -> Command {
+        match self.get_shell() {
+            Shell::PowerShell => {
+                let mut cmd = Command::new("powershell");
+                cmd.arg("-Command").arg(script);
+                cmd
+            }
+            Shell::Cmd => {
+                let mut cmd = Command::new("cmd");
+                cmd.arg("/C").arg(script);
+                cmd
+            }
+            _ => {
+                // Fallback to cmd
+                let mut cmd = Command::new("cmd");
+                cmd.arg("/C").arg(script);
+                cmd
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    
+    fn get_available_shells(&self) -> Vec<Shell> {
+        let mut shells = vec![Shell::Cmd];
+        if self.is_powershell_available() {
+            shells.push(Shell::PowerShell);
+        }
+        shells
+    }
+}
+
+/// Unix/Linux platform executor  
+#[derive(Debug, Default)]
+pub struct UnixExecutor {
+    preferred_shell: Shell,
+}
+
+impl UnixExecutor {
+    pub fn new() -> Self {
+        Self {
+            preferred_shell: Shell::Sh,
+        }
+    }
+    
+    pub fn with_shell(shell: Shell) -> Self {
+        Self {
+            preferred_shell: shell,
+        }
+    }
+    
+    /// Check if bash is available on the system
+    fn is_bash_available(&self) -> bool {
+        Command::new("bash")
+            .arg("--version")
+            .output()
+            .is_ok()
+    }
+}
+
+impl PlatformExecutor for UnixExecutor {
+    fn spawn_process(&self, command: &Command) -> Result<Child> {
+        Ok(command.spawn()?)
+    }
+    
+    fn normalize_path(&self, path: &Path) -> PathBuf {
+        // Unix paths are already normalized
+        path.to_path_buf()
+    }
+    
+    fn get_shell(&self) -> Shell {
+        match self.preferred_shell {
+            Shell::Bash if self.is_bash_available() => Shell::Bash,
+            _ => Shell::Sh,
+        }
+    }
+    
+    fn get_path_separator(&self) -> &'static str {
+        ":"
+    }
+    
+    fn build_shell_command(&self, script: &str) -> Command {
+        match self.get_shell() {
+            Shell::Bash => {
+                let mut cmd = Command::new("bash");
+                cmd.arg("-c").arg(script);
+                cmd
+            }
+            Shell::Sh => {
+                let mut cmd = Command::new("sh");
+                cmd.arg("-c").arg(script);
+                cmd
+            }
+            _ => {
+                // Fallback to sh
+                let mut cmd = Command::new("sh");
+                cmd.arg("-c").arg(script);
+                cmd
+            }
+        }
+    }
+    
+    fn get_available_shells(&self) -> Vec<Shell> {
+        let mut shells = vec![Shell::Sh];
+        if self.is_bash_available() {
+            shells.push(Shell::Bash);
+        }
+        shells
+    }
+}
+
+/// Get the appropriate platform executor for the current OS
+pub fn get_platform_executor() -> Box<dyn PlatformExecutor> {
+    if cfg!(target_os = "windows") {
+        Box::new(WindowsExecutor::new())
+    } else {
+        Box::new(UnixExecutor::new())
+    }
+}
+
+/// Get a platform executor with a specific shell preference
+pub fn get_platform_executor_with_shell(shell: Shell) -> Box<dyn PlatformExecutor> {
+    if cfg!(target_os = "windows") {
+        Box::new(WindowsExecutor::with_shell(shell))
+    } else {
+        Box::new(UnixExecutor::with_shell(shell))
+    }
+}
+
+#[cfg(test)]
+mod tests {
+    use super::*;
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_windows_path_normalization() {
+        let executor = WindowsExecutor::new();
+        let path = Path::new("src/main/java/com/example");
+        let normalized = executor.normalize_path(path);
+        assert_eq!(normalized.to_string_lossy(), "src\\main\\java\\com\\example");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_unix_path_normalization() {
+        let executor = UnixExecutor::new();
+        let path = Path::new("src/main/java/com/example");
+        let normalized = executor.normalize_path(path);
+        assert_eq!(normalized, path);
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_path_separators() {
+        let windows_executor = WindowsExecutor::new();
+        assert_eq!(windows_executor.get_path_separator(), ";");
+        
+        let unix_executor = UnixExecutor::new();
+        assert_eq!(unix_executor.get_path_separator(), ":");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_shell_command_building() {
+        let windows_executor = WindowsExecutor::new();
+        let cmd = windows_executor.build_shell_command("echo hello");
+        assert_eq!(cmd.get_program(), "cmd");
+        
+        let unix_executor = UnixExecutor::new();
+        let cmd = unix_executor.build_shell_command("echo hello");
+        assert_eq!(cmd.get_program(), "sh");
+    }
+
+    #[test]
+    fn test_get_platform_executor() {
+        let executor = get_platform_executor();
+        // Just verify it returns something without panicking
+        let _separator = executor.get_path_separator();
+    }
+}
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/src/process.rs b/src/process.rs
index 6f08c8d..66605e1 100644
--- a/src/process.rs
+++ b/src/process.rs
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ use std::{
 };
 
 use crate::errors::BodoError;
+use crate::platform::{get_platform_executor, PlatformExecutor};
 use colored::{Color, Colorize};
 
 pub struct ChildProcess {
@@ -20,6 +21,7 @@ pub struct ChildProcess {
 pub struct ProcessManager {
     pub children: Vec<ChildProcess>,
     pub fail_fast: bool,
+    platform_executor: Box<dyn PlatformExecutor>,
 }
 
 impl ProcessManager {
diff --git a/tests/added_coverage_tests.rs b/tests/added_coverage_tests.rs
index bf74621..d87774b 100644
--- a/tests/added_coverage_tests.rs
+++ b/tests/added_coverage_tests.rs
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ mod new_tests {
 
     #[test]
     fn test_bodo_error_variants_display() {
-        let io_err = BodoError::IoError(std::io::Error::new(std::io::ErrorKind::Other, "io error"));
+        let io_err = BodoError::IoError(std::io::Error::other("io error"));
         assert_eq!(format!("{}", io_err), "io error");
 
         let watcher_err = BodoError::WatcherError("watcher error".to_string());
diff --git a/tests/cli_test.rs b/tests/cli_test.rs
index fce6c86..639b244 100644
--- a/tests/cli_test.rs
+++ b/tests/cli_test.rs
@@ -86,10 +86,7 @@ fn test_cli_get_task_name_with_existing_task() {
 
 #[test]
 fn test_bodo_error_variants_display() {
-    let io_err = bodo::errors::BodoError::IoError(std::io::Error::new(
-        std::io::ErrorKind::Other,
-        "io error",
-    ));
+    let io_err = bodo::errors::BodoError::IoError(std::io::Error::other("io error"));
     assert_eq!(format!("{}", io_err), "io error");
 
     let watcher_err = bodo::errors::BodoError::WatcherError("watcher error".to_string());
diff --git a/tests/complete_coverage.rs b/tests/complete_coverage.rs
index 486d57a..bf19a66 100644
--- a/tests/complete_coverage.rs
+++ b/tests/complete_coverage.rs
@@ -91,7 +91,7 @@ fn test_cli_get_task_name_with_existing_task() {
 
 #[test]
 fn test_bodo_error_variants_display() {
-    let io_err = BodoError::IoError(std::io::Error::new(std::io::ErrorKind::Other, "io error"));
+    let io_err = BodoError::IoError(std::io::Error::other("io error"));
     assert_eq!(format!("{}", io_err), "io error");
 
     let watcher_err = BodoError::WatcherError("watcher error".to_string());
diff --git a/tests/errors_test.rs b/tests/errors_test.rs
index e25f80f..ed61303 100644
--- a/tests/errors_test.rs
+++ b/tests/errors_test.rs
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ use std::io;
 
 #[test]
 fn test_bodo_error_display() {
-    let err = BodoError::IoError(io::Error::new(io::ErrorKind::Other, "io_error"));
+    let err = BodoError::IoError(io::Error::other("io_error"));
     assert_eq!(format!("{}", err), "io_error");
 
     let err = BodoError::WatcherError("watcher_error".to_string());
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ fn test_bodo_error_display() {
 #[test]
 fn test_bodo_error_from_io_error() {
     use std::io;
-    let io_err = io::Error::new(io::ErrorKind::Other, "some io error");
+    let io_err = io::Error::other("some io error");
     let bodo_err: BodoError = io_err.into();
     assert!(matches!(bodo_err, BodoError::IoError(_)));
 }
diff --git a/tests/extra_coverage_tests.rs b/tests/extra_coverage_tests.rs
index c7de365..a5cee63 100644
--- a/tests/extra_coverage_tests.rs
+++ b/tests/extra_coverage_tests.rs
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ mod new_tests {
 
     #[test]
     fn test_bodo_error_variants_display() {
-        let io_err = BodoError::IoError(std::io::Error::new(std::io::ErrorKind::Other, "io error"));
+        let io_err = BodoError::IoError(std::io::Error::other("io error"));
         assert_eq!(format!("{}", io_err), "io error");
 
         let watcher_err = BodoError::WatcherError("watcher error".to_string());
diff --git a/tests/new_cover_tests.rs b/tests/new_cover_tests.rs
index 7b92c50..2ef76c1 100644
--- a/tests/new_cover_tests.rs
+++ b/tests/new_cover_tests.rs
@@ -92,7 +92,7 @@ mod new_tests {
 
     #[test]
     fn test_bodo_error_variants_display() {
-        let io_err = BodoError::IoError(std::io::Error::new(std::io::ErrorKind::Other, "io error"));
+        let io_err = BodoError::IoError(std::io::Error::other("io error"));
         assert_eq!(format!("{}", io_err), "io error");
 
         let watcher_err = BodoError::WatcherError("watcher error".to_string());
diff --git a/tests/new_tests.rs b/tests/new_tests.rs
index 7abf732..76980ad 100644
--- a/tests/new_tests.rs
+++ b/tests/new_tests.rs
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ mod new_tests {
 
     #[test]
     fn test_bodo_error_variants_display() {
-        let io_err = BodoError::IoError(std::io::Error::new(std::io::ErrorKind::Other, "io error"));
+        let io_err = BodoError::IoError(std::io::Error::other("io error"));
         assert_eq!(format!("{}", io_err), "io error");
 
         let watcher_err = BodoError::WatcherError("watcher error".to_string());