diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes
new file mode 100755
index 0000000..c2c9a85
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.gitattributes
@@ -0,0 +1,4 @@
+*.php   text
+*.json  text
+*.sh    eol=lf
+*.bat   eol=crlf
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
index 7710382..e685c25
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -12,9 +12,10 @@ Currently implemented:
  - clean (removes all dead symlinks)
  - create (creates a modman file for an existing module)
  - clone (clones a git repository)
+ - remove <target> (removes the symlinks)
 
 
---force is available for link, deploy, deploy-all and clone, if not set script aborts when conflicts are found
+--force is available for link, deploy, deploy-all, remove and clone, if not set script aborts when conflicts are found
 
 Usage examples:
 
diff --git a/modman.php b/modman.php
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
index b3bd0d1..40cca45
--- a/modman.php
+++ b/modman.php
@@ -11,6 +11,27 @@ class Modman {
 	 */
 	const ERR_NO_MODMAN_FILE = 2;
 
+	/**
+	 * test if running under Cygwin
+	 * RJR 9-Apr-15
+	 *
+	 * @return bool true if running on Cygwin, otherwise false
+	 */
+	static function isCygWin() {
+		static  $bGotResult = false;    // cache the result
+		static  $bIsCygwin;             // the result
+
+		if (!$bGotResult) {
+			if (stripos(php_uname(),'cygwin') !== false) {
+				$bIsCygwin = true;
+			} else {
+				$bIsCygwin = false;
+			}
+			$bGotResult = true;
+		}
+		return $bIsCygwin;
+	}
+
 	/**
 	 * runs and dispatches the modman program
 	 *
@@ -102,15 +123,10 @@ public function run($aParameters) {
                 )
             ));
             $sMessage = $oException->getMessage();
-            $sCowsay = @file_get_contents('http://cowsay.morecode.org/say?message=' . urlencode($sMessage) . '&format=text', false, $rCtx);
-            if ($sCowsay) {
-                echo $sCowsay;
-            } else {
-                echo '-----' . PHP_EOL;
-                echo 'An error occured:' . PHP_EOL;
-                echo $sMessage . PHP_EOL;
-                echo '-----';
-            }
+            echo '-----' . PHP_EOL;
+            echo 'An error occured:' . PHP_EOL;
+            echo $sMessage . PHP_EOL;
+            echo '-----';
 			echo PHP_EOL . PHP_EOL;
 			$this->printHelp();
 		}
@@ -133,6 +149,7 @@ public function printHelp(){
 - clean
 - create (optional --force, --include <include_file> and --include-hidden)
 - clone (optional --force, --create-modman)
+- remove (optional --force)
 
 Currently supported in modman-files:
 - symlinks (with wildcards)
@@ -541,7 +558,7 @@ public function doDeploy($bForce = false) {
 		if ($this->sModuleName === Modman_Command_Init::MODMAN_BASEDIR_FILE) {
 			return;
 		}
-        
+
 		$oModmanModuleSymlink = new Modman_Module_Symlink($this->sModuleName);
 		$sTarget = $oModmanModuleSymlink->getModmanModuleSymlinkPath();
 
@@ -1138,19 +1155,17 @@ private function isFolderEmpty($sDirectoryPath){
 	 * @param string $sElementPath resource to remove
 	 */
 	public function doRemoveResource($sElementPath){
-		if (is_dir($sElementPath)){
-			if (is_link($sElementPath) OR $this->isFolderEmpty($sElementPath)){
-				rmdir($sElementPath);
-			}
-		} else if (is_file($sElementPath)){
-			// workaround for windows to delete read-only flag
-			// which prevents file from being deleted properly
-			chmod($sElementPath, 0777);
-			unlink($sElementPath);
-		}
-		elseif (is_link($sElementPath)){
-			unlink($sElementPath);
-		}
+
+        if (is_link($sElementPath)){
+            unlink($sElementPath);
+        } elseif (is_file($sElementPath)) {
+            // workaround for windows to delete read-only flag
+            // which prevents file from being deleted properly
+            chmod($sElementPath, 0777);
+            unlink($sElementPath);
+        } elseif ( is_dir($sElementPath) AND $this->isFolderEmpty($sElementPath) ) {
+            rmdir($sElementPath);
+        }
 	}
 
 	/**
diff --git a/modman.sh b/modman.sh
old mode 100644
new mode 100755
index bc5d9ce..4e2538c
--- a/modman.sh
+++ b/modman.sh
@@ -1,4 +1,29 @@
 #!/bin/bash
 
+#
+# If running under Cygwin, set the type of symlinks we want to use.
+# For modman-php we want native NTFS symbolic links.  Windows shortcuts
+# and Cygwin default symbolic links are not seen by Git or PhpStorm
+# and therefore renders modman-php useless in these cases.
+#
+# Using winsymlinks:native works for me, but according to this thread:
+#  http:#stackoverflow.com/questions/19780951/cygwin-winsymlinksnative-doesnt-work
+# some people may experience problems. Perhaps there are version issues.
+# To cover all cases more investigation and additional logic may be needed.
+# RJR 9-Apr-15
+#
+function setupEnv() {
+    shopt -s nocasematch
+    if [[ `cmd /c ver` =~ Version\ *[6789] ]]
+    then
+        if [[ `uname -a` =~ cygwin ]]
+        then
+            CYGWIN=`echo "$CYGWIN" | sed -e 's/winsymlinks[:a-z]*//' -e 's/$/ winsymlinks:native/'`
+            export CYGWIN
+        fi
+    fi
+}
+
+setupEnv
 sScript="$( cd "$( dirname "${BASH_SOURCE[0]}" )" && pwd )/modman.php";
 php "$sScript" "$@";