diff --git a/.github/workflows/tests.yaml b/.github/workflows/tests.yaml
index 6e30cfb58..6f3a51c1b 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/tests.yaml
+++ b/.github/workflows/tests.yaml
@@ -14,8 +14,7 @@ jobs:
     name: "unit-test conda-store-server"
     strategy:
       matrix:
-        # cannot run on windows due to needing fake-chroot for conda-docker
-        os: [ubuntu-latest, macos-latest]
+        os: [ubuntu-latest, macos-latest, windows-latest]
     runs-on: ${{ matrix.os }}
     defaults:
       run:
@@ -29,7 +28,6 @@ jobs:
         if: matrix.os == 'ubuntu-latest'
         uses: conda-incubator/setup-miniconda@v2
         with:
-          mamba-version: "*"
           activate-environment: conda-store-server-dev
           environment-file: conda-store-server/environment-dev.yaml
           auto-activate-base: false
@@ -42,6 +40,24 @@ jobs:
           environment-file: conda-store-server/environment-macos-dev.yaml
           auto-activate-base: false
 
+      - name: Set up Python (Windows)
+        if: matrix.os == 'windows-latest'
+        uses: conda-incubator/setup-miniconda@v2
+        with:
+          activate-environment: conda-store-server-dev
+          environment-file: conda-store-server/environment-windows-dev.yaml
+          auto-activate-base: false
+
+      # This fixes a "DLL not found" issue importing ctypes from the hatch env
+      - name: Reinstall Python 3.10 on Windows runner
+        uses: nick-fields/retry@v2.8.3
+        with:
+          timeout_minutes: 9999
+          max_attempts: 6
+          command:
+            conda install --channel=conda-forge --quiet --yes python=${{ matrix.python }}
+        if: matrix.os == 'windows-latest'
+
       - name: Linting Checks
         run: |
           hatch env run -e dev lint
@@ -52,7 +68,7 @@ jobs:
 
       - name: Unit Tests
         run: |
-          pytest tests
+          pytest -vvv tests
 
   integration-test-conda-store-server:
     name: "integration-test conda-store-server"
@@ -68,7 +84,6 @@ jobs:
       - name: Set up Python
         uses: conda-incubator/setup-miniconda@v2
         with:
-          mamba-version: "*"
           activate-environment: conda-store-server-dev
           environment-file: conda-store-server/environment-dev.yaml
           auto-activate-base: false
diff --git a/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/action/base.py b/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/action/base.py
index 43e0991a9..49e6e8e3b 100644
--- a/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/action/base.py
+++ b/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/action/base.py
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ def wrapper(*args, **kwargs):
             # redirect stdout -> action_context.stdout
             stack.enter_context(contextlib.redirect_stdout(action_context.stdout))
 
-            # redirect stderr -> action_context.stdout
+            # redirect stderr -> action_context.stderr
             stack.enter_context(contextlib.redirect_stderr(action_context.stdout))
 
             # create a temporary directory
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@ class ActionContext:
     def __init__(self):
         self.id = str(uuid.uuid4())
         self.stdout = io.StringIO()
+        self.stderr = io.StringIO()
         self.log = logging.getLogger(f"conda_store_server.action.{self.id}")
         self.log.propagate = False
         self.log.addHandler(logging.StreamHandler(stream=self.stdout))
@@ -45,13 +46,15 @@ def __init__(self):
         self.result = None
         self.artifacts = {}
 
-    def run(self, *args, **kwargs):
+    def run(self, *args, redirect_stderr=True, **kwargs):
         result = subprocess.run(
             *args,
             **kwargs,
             stdout=subprocess.PIPE,
-            stderr=subprocess.STDOUT,
+            stderr=subprocess.STDOUT if redirect_stderr else subprocess.PIPE,
             encoding="utf-8",
         )
         self.stdout.write(result.stdout)
+        if not redirect_stderr:
+            self.stderr.write(result.stderr)
         return result
diff --git a/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/action/generate_conda_export.py b/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/action/generate_conda_export.py
index 9cdedfeb8..cbcc0fe04 100644
--- a/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/action/generate_conda_export.py
+++ b/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/action/generate_conda_export.py
@@ -17,5 +17,7 @@ def action_generate_conda_export(
         "--json",
     ]
 
-    result = context.run(command, check=True)
+    result = context.run(command, check=True, redirect_stderr=False)
+    if result.stderr:
+        context.log.warning(f"conda env export stderr: {result.stderr}")
     return json.loads(result.stdout)
diff --git a/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/action/install_lockfile.py b/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/action/install_lockfile.py
index 60ac9f8dc..23d7d5c94 100644
--- a/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/action/install_lockfile.py
+++ b/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/action/install_lockfile.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import json
 import pathlib
+import sys
 import typing
 
 from conda_store_server import action
@@ -16,7 +17,9 @@ def action_install_lockfile(
         json.dump(conda_lock_spec, f)
 
     command = [
-        "conda-lock",
+        sys.executable,
+        "-m",
+        "conda_lock",
         "install",
         "--validate-platform",
         "--log-level",
diff --git a/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/app.py b/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/app.py
index aa97ac179..62b88b243 100644
--- a/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/app.py
+++ b/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/app.py
@@ -31,6 +31,8 @@
 )
 from traitlets.config import LoggingConfigurable
 
+ON_WIN = sys.platform.startswith("win")
+
 
 def conda_store_validate_specification(
     db: Session,
@@ -301,21 +303,24 @@ def _default_celery_results_backend(self):
     )
 
     default_uid = Integer(
-        os.getuid(),
+        None if ON_WIN else os.getuid(),
         help="default uid to assign to built environments",
         config=True,
+        allow_none=True,
     )
 
     default_gid = Integer(
-        os.getgid(),
+        None if ON_WIN else os.getgid(),
         help="default gid to assign to built environments",
         config=True,
+        allow_none=True,
     )
 
     default_permissions = Unicode(
-        "775",
+        None if ON_WIN else "775",
         help="default file permissions to assign to built environments",
         config=True,
+        allow_none=True,
     )
 
     default_docker_base_image = Union(
diff --git a/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/dbutil.py b/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/dbutil.py
index 7f3eff640..b76b28ba6 100644
--- a/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/dbutil.py
+++ b/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/dbutil.py
@@ -1,6 +1,5 @@
 import os
 from contextlib import contextmanager
-from subprocess import check_call
 from tempfile import TemporaryDirectory
 
 from alembic import command
@@ -78,6 +77,8 @@ def upgrade(db_url, revision="head"):
     current_table_names = set(inspect(engine).get_table_names())
 
     with _temp_alembic_ini(db_url) as alembic_ini:
+        alembic_cfg = Config(alembic_ini)
+
         if (
             "alembic_version" not in current_table_names
             and len(current_table_names) > 0
@@ -86,10 +87,10 @@ def upgrade(db_url, revision="head"):
             # we stamp the revision at the first one, that introduces the alembic revisions.
             # I chose the leave the revision number hardcoded as it's not something
             # dynamic, not something we want to change, and tightly related to the codebase
-            command.stamp(Config(alembic_ini), "48be4072fe58")
+            command.stamp(alembic_cfg, "48be4072fe58")
             # After this point, whatever is in the database, Alembic will
             # believe it's at the first revision. If there are more upgrades/migrations
             # to run, they'll be at the next step :
 
         # run the upgrade.
-        check_call(["alembic", "-c", alembic_ini, "upgrade", revision])
+        command.upgrade(config=alembic_cfg, revision=revision)
diff --git a/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/orm.py b/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/orm.py
index 5f2ae301c..5a9b11762 100644
--- a/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/orm.py
+++ b/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/orm.py
@@ -513,10 +513,11 @@ def update_packages(self, db, subdirs=None):
                 package_builds[package_key].append(new_package_build_dict)
             logger.info("CondaPackageBuild objects created")
 
-            batch_size = 1000
+            # sqlite3 has a max expression depth of 1000
+            batch_size = 990
             all_package_keys = list(package_builds.keys())
             for i in range(0, len(all_package_keys), batch_size):
-                logger.info(f"handling subset at index {i} (batch size {batch_size}")
+                logger.info(f"handling subset at index {i} (batch size {batch_size})")
                 subset_keys = all_package_keys[i : i + batch_size]
 
                 # retrieve the parent packages for the subset
diff --git a/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/schema.py b/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/schema.py
index 173174249..66948d546 100644
--- a/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/schema.py
+++ b/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/schema.py
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@
 from conda_store_server import conda_utils, utils
 from pydantic import BaseModel, Field, ValidationError, constr, validator
 
+ON_WIN = sys.platform.startswith("win")
+
 
 def _datetime_factory(offset: datetime.timedelta):
     """utcnow datetime + timezone as string"""
@@ -194,20 +196,20 @@ class Settings(BaseModel):
         metadata={"global": True},
     )
 
-    default_uid: int = Field(
-        os.getuid(),
+    default_uid: int | None = Field(
+        None if ON_WIN else os.getuid(),
         description="default uid to assign to built environments",
         metadata={"global": True},
     )
 
-    default_gid: int = Field(
-        os.getgid(),
+    default_gid: int | None = Field(
+        None if ON_WIN else os.getgid(),
         description="default gid to assign to built environments",
         metadata={"global": True},
     )
 
-    default_permissions: str = Field(
-        "775",
+    default_permissions: str | None = Field(
+        None if ON_WIN else "775",
         description="default file permissions to assign to built environments",
         metadata={"global": True},
     )
diff --git a/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/server/app.py b/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/server/app.py
index a96857b28..146d2f68b 100644
--- a/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/server/app.py
+++ b/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/server/app.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import logging
 import os
+import posixpath
 import sys
 
 import conda_store_server
@@ -198,9 +199,9 @@ def trim_slash(url):
         app = FastAPI(
             title="conda-store",
             version=__version__,
-            openapi_url=os.path.join(self.url_prefix, "openapi.json"),
-            docs_url=os.path.join(self.url_prefix, "docs"),
-            redoc_url=os.path.join(self.url_prefix, "redoc"),
+            openapi_url=posixpath.join(self.url_prefix, "openapi.json"),
+            docs_url=posixpath.join(self.url_prefix, "docs"),
+            redoc_url=posixpath.join(self.url_prefix, "redoc"),
             contact={
                 "name": "Quansight",
                 "url": "https://quansight.com",
@@ -335,6 +336,10 @@ def start(self):
 
         # start worker if in standalone mode
         if self.standalone:
+            address = "localhost" if self.address == "0.0.0.0" else self.address
+            print(
+                f"Starting standalone conda-store server at http://{address}:{self.port}"
+            )
             import multiprocessing
 
             multiprocessing.set_start_method("spawn")
diff --git a/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/server/auth.py b/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/server/auth.py
index ec0e2d0ae..86a072b74 100644
--- a/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/server/auth.py
+++ b/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/server/auth.py
@@ -436,7 +436,9 @@ async def post_login_method(
             samesite="strict",
             domain=self.cookie_domain,
             # set cookie to expire at same time as jwt
-            max_age=(authentication_token.exp - datetime.datetime.utcnow()).seconds,
+            max_age=int(
+                (authentication_token.exp - datetime.datetime.utcnow()).total_seconds()
+            ),
         )
         return response
 
diff --git a/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/storage.py b/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/storage.py
index 3d014533f..5f349a676 100644
--- a/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/storage.py
+++ b/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/storage.py
@@ -1,5 +1,6 @@
 import io
 import os
+import posixpath
 import shutil
 
 import minio
@@ -223,7 +224,7 @@ def get(self, key):
             return f.read()
 
     def get_url(self, key):
-        return os.path.join(self.storage_url, key)
+        return posixpath.join(self.storage_url, key)
 
     def delete(self, db, build_id, key):
         filename = os.path.join(self.storage_path, key)
diff --git a/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/utils.py b/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/utils.py
index f4ce9d90d..0bbac9226 100644
--- a/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/utils.py
+++ b/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/utils.py
@@ -50,13 +50,52 @@ def chdir(directory: pathlib.Path):
         os.chdir(current_directory)
 
 
+def du(path):
+    """
+    Pure Python equivalent of du -sb
+
+    Based on https://stackoverflow.com/a/55648984/161801
+    """
+    if os.path.islink(path):
+        return os.lstat(path).st_size
+    if os.path.isfile(path):
+        st = os.lstat(path)
+        return st.st_size
+    apparent_total_bytes = 0
+    have = set()
+    for dirpath, dirnames, filenames in os.walk(path):
+        apparent_total_bytes += os.lstat(dirpath).st_size
+        for f in filenames:
+            fp = os.path.join(dirpath, f)
+            if os.path.islink(fp):
+                apparent_total_bytes += os.lstat(fp).st_size
+                continue
+            st = os.lstat(fp)
+            if st.st_ino in have:
+                continue
+            have.add(st.st_ino)
+            apparent_total_bytes += st.st_size
+        for d in dirnames:
+            dp = os.path.join(dirpath, d)
+            if os.path.islink(dp):
+                apparent_total_bytes += os.lstat(dp).st_size
+
+    return apparent_total_bytes
+
+
 def disk_usage(path: pathlib.Path):
     if sys.platform == "darwin":
         cmd = ["du", "-sAB1", str(path)]
-    else:
+    elif sys.platform == "linux":
         cmd = ["du", "-sb", str(path)]
+    else:
+        return str(du(path))
 
-    return subprocess.check_output(cmd, encoding="utf-8").split()[0]
+    output = subprocess.check_output(cmd, encoding="utf-8").split()[0]
+    if sys.platform == "darwin":
+        # mac du does not have the -b option to return bytes
+        output = str(int(output) * 512)
+    return output
 
 
 @contextlib.contextmanager
diff --git a/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/worker/app.py b/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/worker/app.py
index 24c7a5470..b3278a395 100644
--- a/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/worker/app.py
+++ b/conda-store-server/conda_store_server/worker/app.py
@@ -71,9 +71,18 @@ def start(self):
         argv = [
             "worker",
             "--loglevel=INFO",
-            "--beat",
         ]
 
+        # The default Celery pool requires this on Windows. See
+        # https://stackoverflow.com/questions/37255548/how-to-run-celery-on-windows
+        if sys.platform == "win32":
+            os.environ.setdefault("FORKED_BY_MULTIPROCESSING", "1")
+        else:
+            # --beat does not work on Windows
+            argv += [
+                "--beat",
+            ]
+
         if self.concurrency:
             argv.append(f"--concurrency={self.concurrency}")
 
diff --git a/conda-store-server/environment-windows-dev.yaml b/conda-store-server/environment-windows-dev.yaml
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..5f8db2786
--- /dev/null
+++ b/conda-store-server/environment-windows-dev.yaml
@@ -0,0 +1,56 @@
+name: conda-store-server-dev
+channels:
+  - conda-forge
+  - Microsoft
+dependencies:
+  - python ==3.10
+  # conda builds
+  - conda ==23.5.2
+  - python-docker
+  - conda-pack
+  - conda-lock >=1.0.5
+  - mamba
+  - conda-package-handling
+  # web server
+  - celery
+  - flower
+  - redis-py
+  - sqlalchemy<=1.4.47
+  - psycopg2
+  - pymysql
+  - requests
+  - uvicorn
+  - fastapi
+  - pydantic < 2.0
+  - pyyaml
+  - traitlets
+  - yarl
+  - pyjwt
+  - filelock
+  - itsdangerous
+  - jinja2
+  - python-multipart
+  - alembic
+  # artifact storage
+  - minio
+  # CLI
+  - typer
+
+  # dev dependencies
+  - hatch
+  - pytest
+  - pytest-celery
+  - pytest-mock
+  - black ==22.3.0
+  - flake8
+  - ruff
+  - sphinx
+  - myst-parser
+  - sphinx-panels
+  - sphinx-copybutton
+  - pydata-sphinx-theme
+  - playwright
+  - docker-compose
+
+  - pip:
+      - pytest-playwright
diff --git a/conda-store-server/hatch_build.py b/conda-store-server/hatch_build.py
index 73c4ad9cb..02bcb9965 100644
--- a/conda-store-server/hatch_build.py
+++ b/conda-store-server/hatch_build.py
@@ -61,10 +61,12 @@ def initialize(self, version: str, build_data: Dict[str, Any]) -> None:
             # main.js to enable easy configuration see
             # conda_store_server/server/templates/conda-store-ui.html
             # for global variable set
-            with (source_directory / "main.js").open("r") as source_f:
+            with (source_directory / "main.js").open("r", encoding="utf-8") as source_f:
                 content = source_f.read()
                 content = re.sub(
                     '"MISSING_ENV_VAR"', "GLOBAL_CONDA_STORE_STATE", content
                 )
-                with (destination_directory / "main.js").open("w") as dest_f:
+                with (destination_directory / "main.js").open(
+                    "w", encoding="utf-8"
+                ) as dest_f:
                     dest_f.write(content)
diff --git a/conda-store-server/tests/test_actions.py b/conda-store-server/tests/test_actions.py
index b6ea72a34..f795a61f6 100644
--- a/conda-store-server/tests/test_actions.py
+++ b/conda-store-server/tests/test_actions.py
@@ -15,9 +15,17 @@ def test_action_decorator():
     def test_function(context):
         print("stdout")
         print("stderr", file=sys.stderr)
-        context.run(["echo", "subprocess"])
-        context.run("echo subprocess_stdout", shell=True)
-        context.run("echo subprocess_stderr 1>&2", shell=True)
+        if sys.platform == "win32":
+            # echo is not a separate program on Windows
+            context.run(["cmd", "/c", "echo subprocess"])
+            context.run("echo subprocess_stdout", shell=True)
+            context.run("echo subprocess_stderr>&2", shell=True)
+            context.run("echo subprocess_stderr_no_redirect>&2", shell=True, redirect_stderr=False)
+        else:
+            context.run(["echo", "subprocess"])
+            context.run("echo subprocess_stdout", shell=True)
+            context.run("echo subprocess_stderr 1>&2", shell=True)
+            context.run("echo subprocess_stderr_no_redirect 1>&2", shell=True, redirect_stderr=False)
         context.log.info("log")
         return pathlib.Path.cwd()
 
@@ -26,9 +34,10 @@ def test_function(context):
         context.stdout.getvalue()
         == "stdout\nstderr\nsubprocess\nsubprocess_stdout\nsubprocess_stderr\nlog\n"
     )
+    assert context.stderr.getvalue() == "subprocess_stderr_no_redirect\n"
     # test that action direction is not the same as outside function
     assert context.result != pathlib.Path.cwd()
-    # test that temportary directory is cleaned up
+    # test that temporary directory is cleaned up
     assert not context.result.exists()
 
 
@@ -155,6 +164,7 @@ def test_remove_conda_prefix(tmp_path, simple_conda_lock):
     assert not conda_prefix.exists()
 
 
+@pytest.mark.skipif(sys.platform == "win32", reason="permissions are not supported on Windows")
 def test_set_conda_prefix_permissions(tmp_path, conda_store, simple_conda_lock):
     conda_prefix = tmp_path / "test"
 
diff --git a/conda-store-server/tests/test_usage.py b/conda-store-server/tests/test_usage.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..fcf3990a8
--- /dev/null
+++ b/conda-store-server/tests/test_usage.py
@@ -0,0 +1,32 @@
+from conda_store_server.utils import disk_usage, du
+
+# TODO: Add tests for the other functions in utils.py
+
+def test_disk_usage(tmp_path):
+    test_dir = tmp_path / "test_dir"
+    test_dir.mkdir()
+
+    # This varies across OSes
+    dir_size = du(test_dir)
+    assert abs(dir_size - int(disk_usage(test_dir))) <= 1000
+
+    test_file = test_dir / "test_file"
+    test_file.write_text("a"*1000)
+    test_file2 = test_dir / "test_file2"
+    test_file2.write_text("b"*1000)
+    # Test hard links
+    test_file_hardlink = test_dir / "test_file_hardlink"
+    test_file_hardlink.hardlink_to(test_file)
+
+    # The exact values depend on the block size and other details. Just check
+    # that it is in the right range. Note that disk_usage uses the du command
+    # on Mac and Linux but uses the Python du() function on Windows.
+    val = disk_usage(test_file)
+    assert isinstance(val, str)
+    assert 1000 <= int(val) <= 1500
+    assert 1000 <= du(test_file) <= 1500
+
+    val = disk_usage(test_dir)
+    assert isinstance(val, str)
+    assert 2000 + dir_size <= int(val) <= 2700 + dir_size
+    assert 2000 + dir_size <= du(test_dir) <= 2700 + dir_size
diff --git a/docs/administration.md b/docs/administration.md
index a9356e2b6..0a0d37429 100644
--- a/docs/administration.md
+++ b/docs/administration.md
@@ -20,7 +20,7 @@ seen.
 When conda-store builds a given environment it has to locally install
 the environment in the directory specified in the
 [Traitlets](https://traitlets.readthedocs.io/en/stable/using_traitlets.html)
-configuration `CondaStore.store_directroy`. Conda environments consist
+configuration `CondaStore.store_directory`. Conda environments consist
 of many hardlinks to small files. This means that the
 `store_directory` is limited to the number of
 [IOPS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/IOPS) the directory can
@@ -217,17 +217,20 @@ filesystem.
 `CondaStore.default_uid` is the uid (user id) to assign to all
 files and directories in a given built environment. This setting is
 useful if you want to protect environments from modification from
-certain users and groups.
+certain users and groups. Note: this configuration option is not
+supported on Windows.
 
 `CondaStore.default_gid` is the gid (group id) to assign to all
 files and directories in a given built environment. This setting is
 useful if you want to protect environments from modification from
-certain users and groups.
+certain users and groups. Note: this configuration option is not
+supported on Windows.
 
 `CondaStore.default_permissions` is the filesystem permissions to
 assign to all files and directories in a given built environment. This
 setting is useful if you want to protect environments from
-modification from certain users and groups.
+modification from certain users and groups. Note: this configuration
+option is not supported on Windows.
 
 `CondaStore.default_docker_base_image` default base image used for the
 Dockerized environments. Make sure to have a proper glibc within image
@@ -542,9 +545,36 @@ in the BUILDING state and are not currently running on the
 workers. This feature only works for certain brokers
 e.g. redis. Database celery brokers are not supported.
 
-This issue occurs when the worker spontaineously dies. This can happen
+This issue occurs when the worker spontaneously dies. This can happen
 for several reasons:
 
 - worker is killed due to consuming too much memory (conda solver/builds can consume a lot of memory)
 - worker was killed for other reasons e.g. forced restart
 - bugs in conda-store
+
+### Long paths on Windows
+
+conda-store supports Windows in standalone mode. However, when creating
+environments with certain packages, you may see errors like
+
+```
+ERROR:root:[WinError 206] The filename or extension is too long: 'C:\\...'
+```
+
+This error is due to the fact that Windows has a limitation that file paths
+cannot be more than 260 characters. The fix is to set the registry key
+`Computer\HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\FileSystem\LongPathsEnabled
+(Type: REG_DWORD)` to `1`, which removes this MAX_PATH limitation. See [this
+Microsoft support
+article](https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/fileio/maximum-file-path-limitation)
+for more details on how to set this registry key.
+
+If it is not possible to set this registry key, for instance, because you do
+not have access to administrator privileges, you should configure the
+conda-store `CondaStore.store_directory` to be as close to the filesystem root
+as possible, so that the total length of the paths of package files is
+minimized.
+
+See [conda-store issue
+#588](https://github.com/conda-incubator/conda-store/issues/588) for more
+details.
diff --git a/docs/contributing.md b/docs/contributing.md
index 613a2daee..36e819c8d 100644
--- a/docs/contributing.md
+++ b/docs/contributing.md
@@ -66,18 +66,20 @@ Install the following dependencies before developing on conda-store.
 Install the development dependencies and activate the environment.
 
 ```shell
+# replace this with environment-macos-dev.yaml or environment-windows-dev.yaml
+# if you are on Mac or Windows
 conda env create -f conda-store-server/environment-dev.yaml
 conda activate conda-store-server-dev
 ```
 
 Running `conda-store`. `--standalone` mode launched celery as a
-subprocess of the web server.
+subprocess of the web server. Run
 
-python -m conda_store_server.server --standalone tests/assets/conda_store_standalone_config.py
-
-````
+```
+python -m conda_store_server.server --standalone
+```
 
-Visit [localhost:5000](http://localhost:5000/)
+Then visit [localhost:5000](http://localhost:5000/).
 
 ### Changes to API
 
@@ -99,6 +101,8 @@ To build the documentation install the development environment via
 Conda.
 
 ```shell
+# replace this with environment-macos-dev.yaml or environment-windows-dev.yaml
+# if you are on Mac or Windows
 conda env create -f conda-store-server/environment-dev.yaml
 conda activate conda-store-server-dev
 ````
diff --git a/docs/user_guide.md b/docs/user_guide.md
index 8e6d728de..20c5c428a 100644
--- a/docs/user_guide.md
+++ b/docs/user_guide.md
@@ -73,6 +73,10 @@ conda-unpack
 
 ### Docker Registry
 
+```{note}
+Docker image creation is currently only supported on Linux.
+```
+
 conda-store acts as a docker registry which allows for interesting
 ways to handle Conda environment. In addition this registry leverages
 [conda-docker](https://github.com/conda-incubator/conda-docker) which