diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 718dac5..bcc7b3b 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -51,6 +51,13 @@ This will execute the commands `echo 1` `echo 2` and `echo 3` simultaneously.
 Note that on Windows, you need to use double-quotes to avoid confusing the
 argument parser.
 
+##### Nested usage
+
+```bash
+parallelshell "echo 1" "parallelshell 'echo 2' 'parallelshell \'echo 3\' \'parallelshell \'\'echo 4\'\' \''"
+```
+Closing on Windows will be unreliable in this case..
+
 Available options:
 ```
 -h, --help         output usage information
diff --git a/index.js b/index.js
index c93f8a0..f3fd1aa 100755
--- a/index.js
+++ b/index.js
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 'use strict';
 var spawn = require('child_process').spawn;
 
-var sh, shFlag, children, args, wait, cmds, verbose, i ,len;
+var sh, shFlag, children, args, wait, first, cmds, verbose, i ,len;
 // parsing argv
 cmds = [];
 args = process.argv.slice(2);
@@ -14,6 +14,10 @@ for (i = 0, len = args.length; i < len; i++) {
             case '--wait':
                 wait = true;
                 break;
+            case '-f':
+            case '--first':
+                first = true;
+                break;
             case '-v':
             case '--verbose':
                 verbose = true;
@@ -21,8 +25,9 @@ for (i = 0, len = args.length; i < len; i++) {
             case '-h':
             case '--help':
                 console.log('-h, --help         output usage information');
-                console.log('-v, --verbose      verbose logging')
-                console.log('-w, --wait         will not close sibling processes on error')
+                console.log('-v, --verbose      verbose logging');
+                console.log('-w, --wait         will not close sibling processes on error');
+                console.log('-f, --first        close all sibling processes after first exits (succes/error)');
                 process.exit();
                 break;
         }
@@ -31,55 +36,65 @@ for (i = 0, len = args.length; i < len; i++) {
     }
 }
 
+if (wait && first) {
+  console.error('--wait and --first cannot be used together');
+  process.exit(1);
+}
+
 // called on close of a child process
 function childClose (code) {
     var i, len;
     code = code ? (code.code || code) : code;
     if (verbose) {
         if (code > 0) {
-            console.error('`' + this.cmd + '` failed with exit code ' + code);
+            console.error('parallelshell: `' + this.cmd + '` failed with exit code ' + code);
         } else {
-            console.log('`' + this.cmd + '` ended successfully');
+            console.log('parallelshell: `' + this.cmd + '` ended successfully');
         }
     }
-    if (code > 0 && !wait) close(code);
-    status();
+    if (first || code > 0 && !wait) close(code);
 }
 
 function status () {
     if (verbose) {
         var i, len;
-        console.log('\n');
-        console.log('### Status ###');
+        console.log('parallelshell: Status');
         for (i = 0, len = children.length; i < len; i++) {
             if (children[i].exitCode === null) {
-                console.log('`' + children[i].cmd + '` is still running');
+                console.log('parallelshell: `' + children[i].cmd + '` is still running');
             } else if (children[i].exitCode > 0) {
-                console.log('`' + children[i].cmd + '` errored');
+                console.log('parallelshell: `' + children[i].cmd + '` errored');
             } else {
-                console.log('`' + children[i].cmd + '` finished');
+                console.log('parallelshell: `' + children[i].cmd + '` finished');
             }
         }
-        console.log('\n');
     }
 }
 
 // closes all children and the process
 function close (code) {
-    var i, len, closed = 0, opened = 0;
+    var i, len, closeHandler, closed = 0, opened = 0;
 
     for (i = 0, len = children.length; i < len; i++) {
-        if (!children[i].exitCode) {
+        if (children[i].exitCode === null) {
             opened++;
             children[i].removeAllListeners('close');
-            children[i].kill("SIGINT");
-            if (verbose) console.log('`' + children[i].cmd + '` will now be closed');
-            children[i].on('close', function() {
-                closed++;
-                if (opened == closed) {
-                    process.exit(code);
-                }
-            });
+            if (process.platform != "win32") {
+                spawn(sh, [shFlag, "kill -INT -"+children[i].pid]);
+            } else {
+                children[i].kill("SIGINT");
+            }
+            if (verbose) console.log('parallelshell: `' + children[i].cmd + '` will now be closed');
+            closeHandler = function (child) {
+                child.on('close', function() {
+                    if (verbose) console.log('parallelshell: `' + child.cmd + '` closed successfully');
+                    closed++;
+                    if (opened == closed) {
+                        process.exit(code);
+                    }
+                });
+            }(children[i])
+
         }
     }
     if (opened == closed) {process.exit(code);}
@@ -98,13 +113,15 @@ if (process.platform === 'win32') {
 // start the children
 children = [];
 cmds.forEach(function (cmd) {
-    if (process.platform != 'win32') {
-      cmd = "exec "+cmd;
+    if (process.platform === 'win32') {
+        cmd = cmd.replace(/'/g,"\"");
     }
     var child = spawn(sh,[shFlag,cmd], {
         cwd: process.cwd,
         env: process.env,
-        stdio: ['pipe', process.stdout, process.stderr]
+        stdio: ['pipe', process.stdout, process.stderr],
+        windowsVerbatimArguments: process.platform === 'win32',
+        detached: process.platform != 'win32'
     })
     .on('close', childClose);
     child.cmd = cmd
@@ -112,4 +129,11 @@ cmds.forEach(function (cmd) {
 });
 
 // close all children on ctrl+c
-process.on('SIGINT', close)
+process.on('SIGINT', function() {
+    if (verbose) console.log('parallelshell: recieved SIGINT');
+    close();
+});
+
+process.on('exit', function(code) {
+    if (verbose) console.log('parallelshell: exit code:', code);
+});
diff --git a/test/index.coffee b/test/index.coffee
index 02aebba..0b433a9 100644
--- a/test/index.coffee
+++ b/test/index.coffee
@@ -14,7 +14,10 @@ else
   shArg = "-c"
 
 # children
-waitingProcess = "\"node -e 'setTimeout(function(){},10000);'\""
+waitingProcess = (time=10000) ->
+  return "\"node -e 'setTimeout(function(){},#{time});'\""
+waitingFailingProcess = (time=10000) ->
+  return "\"node -e 'setTimeout(function(){ throw new Error(); },#{time});'\""
 failingProcess = "\"node -e 'throw new Error();'\""
 
 usageInfo = """
@@ -24,8 +27,6 @@ usageInfo = """
 """.split("\n")
 
 cmdWrapper = (cmd) ->
-  if process.platform != "win32"
-    cmd = "exec "+cmd
   if verbose
     console.log "Calling: "+cmd
   return cmd
@@ -33,10 +34,18 @@ cmdWrapper = (cmd) ->
 spawnParallelshell = (cmd) ->
   return spawn sh, [shArg, cmdWrapper("node ./index.js "+cmd )], {
     cwd: process.cwd
+    windowsVerbatimArguments: process.platform == 'win32'
+    detached: process.platform != 'win32'
   }
 
 killPs = (ps) ->
-  ps.kill "SIGINT"
+  if verbose
+    console.log "killing"
+  if process.platform == "win32"
+    killer = spawn sh, [shArg, "taskkill /F /T /PID "+ps.pid]
+  else
+    killer = spawn sh, [shArg, "kill -INT -"+ps.pid]
+  spyOnPs killer, 3
 
 spyOnPs = (ps, verbosity=1) ->
   if verbose >= verbosity
@@ -47,17 +56,21 @@ spyOnPs = (ps, verbosity=1) ->
     ps.stderr.on "data", (data) ->
       console.log "err: "+data
 
-testOutput = (cmd, expectedOutput) ->
+testOutput = (cmd, expectedOutput, std="out") ->
   return new Promise (resolve) ->
     ps = spawnParallelshell(cmd)
+    if std == "out"
+      std = ps.stdout
+    else
+      std = ps.stderr
     spyOnPs ps, 3
-    ps.stdout.setEncoding("utf8")
+    std.setEncoding("utf8")
     output = []
-    ps.stdout.on "data", (data) ->
+    std.on "data", (data) ->
       lines = data.split("\n")
       lines.pop() if lines[lines.length-1] == ""
       output = output.concat(lines)
-    ps.stdout.on "end", () ->
+    std.on "end", () ->
       for line,i in expectedOutput
         line.should.equal output[i]
       resolve()
@@ -75,29 +88,33 @@ describe "parallelshell", ->
       ps.exitCode.should.equal 1
       done()
 
+  it "should close with exitCode 1 on delayed child error", (done) ->
+    ps = spawnParallelshell([waitingFailingProcess(100),waitingProcess(1),waitingProcess(500)].join(" "))
+    spyOnPs ps, 2
+    ps.on "exit", () ->
+      ps.exitCode.should.equal 1
+      done()
+
   it "should run with a normal child", (done) ->
-    ps = spawnParallelshell(waitingProcess)
+    ps = spawnParallelshell(waitingProcess())
     spyOnPs ps, 1
     ps.on "close", () ->
-      ps.signalCode.should.equal "SIGINT"
       done()
-
     setTimeout (() ->
       should.not.exist(ps.signalCode)
       killPs(ps)
-    ),50
-
+    ),150
 
   it "should close sibling processes on child error", (done) ->
-    ps = spawnParallelshell([waitingProcess,failingProcess,waitingProcess].join(" "))
+    ps = spawnParallelshell([waitingProcess(),failingProcess].join(" "))
     spyOnPs ps,2
-    ps.on "close", () ->
+    ps.on "exit", () ->
       ps.exitCode.should.equal 1
       done()
 
   it "should wait for sibling processes on child error when called with -w or --wait", (done) ->
-    ps = spawnParallelshell(["-w",waitingProcess,failingProcess,waitingProcess].join(" "))
-    ps2 = spawnParallelshell(["--wait",waitingProcess,failingProcess,waitingProcess].join(" "))
+    ps = spawnParallelshell(["-w",waitingProcess(),failingProcess].join(" "))
+    ps2 = spawnParallelshell(["--wait",waitingProcess(),failingProcess].join(" "))
     spyOnPs ps,2
     spyOnPs ps2,2
     setTimeout (() ->
@@ -105,15 +122,51 @@ describe "parallelshell", ->
       should.not.exist(ps2.signalCode)
       killPs(ps)
       killPs(ps2)
-    ),50
+    ),250
     Promise.all [new Promise((resolve) -> ps.on("close",resolve)),
       new Promise (resolve) -> ps2.on("close",resolve)]
     .then -> done()
     .catch done
   it "should close on CTRL+C / SIGINT", (done) ->
-    ps = spawnParallelshell(["-w",waitingProcess,failingProcess,waitingProcess].join(" "))
+    ps = spawnParallelshell(["-w",waitingProcess()].join(" "))
     spyOnPs ps,2
     ps.on "close", () ->
-      ps.signalCode.should.equal "SIGINT"
       done()
     killPs(ps)
+  it "should work with chained commands", (done) ->
+    output = ["1","2"]
+    if process.platform == "win32"
+      output[0] += "\r"
+      output[1] += "\r"
+    testOutput("\"echo 1&& echo 2\"", output)
+    .then done
+    .catch done
+  it "should work nested", (done) ->
+    output = ["1","2"]
+    if process.platform == "win32"
+      output[0] += "\r"
+      output[1] += "\r"
+    testOutput("\"echo 1\" \"node ./index.js 'echo 2'\"", output)
+    .then done
+    .catch done
+
+  it "should work with setting ENV", (done) ->
+    output = ["test1"]
+    if process.platform == "win32"
+      setString = "set test=test1&"
+    else
+      setString = "test=test1 "
+    testOutput("\"#{setString}node -e 'console.log(process.env.test);'\"", output)
+    .then done
+    .catch done
+
+  it "should work with first", (done) ->
+    ps = spawnParallelshell(["--first",waitingProcess(10),waitingProcess(10000)].join(" "))
+    ps.on "exit", () ->
+      ps.exitCode.should.equal 0
+      done()
+
+  it "should not work with first and wait", (done) ->
+    testOutput("--wait --first", ["--wait and --first cannot be used together"], "err")
+    .then done
+    .catch done