diff --git a/apps/bsatool/bsatool.cpp b/apps/bsatool/bsatool.cpp
index c02c64356f..ad4556ddc6 100644
--- a/apps/bsatool/bsatool.cpp
+++ b/apps/bsatool/bsatool.cpp
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ namespace bpo = boost::program_options;
 struct Arguments
 {
     std::string mode;
-    std::string filename;
+    std::filesystem::path filename;
     std::string extractfile;
     std::string addfile;
     std::string outdir;
@@ -112,7 +112,7 @@ bool parseOptions (int argc, char** argv, Arguments &info)
             << desc << std::endl;
         return false;
     }
-    info.filename = variables["input-file"].as< std::vector<std::string> >()[0];
+    info.filename = variables["input-file"].as< std::vector<std::string> >()[0]; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
 
     // Default output to the working directory
     info.outdir = ".";
diff --git a/apps/bulletobjecttool/main.cpp b/apps/bulletobjecttool/main.cpp
index aad8c5e082..6f9e7ac376 100644
--- a/apps/bulletobjecttool/main.cpp
+++ b/apps/bulletobjecttool/main.cpp
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@ namespace
     namespace bpo = boost::program_options;
 
     using StringsVector = std::vector<std::string>;
+    using PathsVector = std::vector<std::filesystem::path>;
 
     bpo::options_description makeOptionsDescription()
     {
@@ -145,7 +146,7 @@ namespace
 
         const auto fsStrict = variables["fs-strict"].as<bool>();
         const auto resDir = variables["resources"].as<Files::MaybeQuotedPath>();
-        Version::Version v = Version::getOpenmwVersion(resDir.string());
+        Version::Version v = Version::getOpenmwVersion(resDir);
         Log(Debug::Info) << v.describe();
         dataDirs.insert(dataDirs.begin(), resDir / "vfs");
         const auto fileCollections = Files::Collections(dataDirs, !fsStrict);
diff --git a/apps/esmtool/arguments.hpp b/apps/esmtool/arguments.hpp
index e3be98fd2a..bc5795942f 100644
--- a/apps/esmtool/arguments.hpp
+++ b/apps/esmtool/arguments.hpp
@@ -3,7 +3,7 @@
 
 #include <vector>
 #include <optional>
-#include <string>
+#include <filesystem>
 
 #include <components/esm/format.hpp>
 
@@ -18,8 +18,8 @@ namespace EsmTool
 
         std::string mode;
         std::string encoding;
-        std::string filename;
-        std::string outname;
+        std::filesystem::path filename;
+        std::filesystem::path outname;
 
         std::vector<std::string> types;
         std::string name;
diff --git a/apps/esmtool/esmtool.cpp b/apps/esmtool/esmtool.cpp
index 381f46c3c4..a9971c1867 100644
--- a/apps/esmtool/esmtool.cpp
+++ b/apps/esmtool/esmtool.cpp
@@ -154,9 +154,9 @@ bool parseOptions (int argc, char** argv, Arguments &info)
       return false;
       }*/
 
-    info.filename = variables["input-file"].as< std::vector<std::string> >()[0];
+    info.filename = variables["input-file"].as< std::vector<std::filesystem::path> >()[0];
     if (variables["input-file"].as< std::vector<std::string> >().size() > 1)
-        info.outname = variables["input-file"].as< std::vector<std::string> >()[1];
+        info.outname = variables["input-file"].as< std::vector<std::filesystem::path> >()[1];
 
     if (const auto it = variables.find("raw"); it != variables.end())
         info.mRawFormat = ESM::parseFormat(it->second.as<std::string>());
@@ -284,9 +284,9 @@ void loadCell(const Arguments& info, ESM::Cell &cell, ESM::ESMReader &esm, ESMDa
     }
 }
 
-void printRawTes3(std::string_view path)
+void printRawTes3(const std::filesystem::path &path)
 {
-    std::cout << "TES3 RAW file listing: " << path << '\n';
+    std::cout << "TES3 RAW file listing: " << path << '\n'; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
     ESM::ESMReader esm;
     esm.openRaw(path);
     while(esm.hasMoreRecs())
@@ -310,7 +310,7 @@ void printRawTes3(std::string_view path)
 
 int loadTes3(const Arguments& info, std::unique_ptr<std::ifstream>&& stream, ESMData* data)
 {
-    std::cout << "Loading TES3 file: " << info.filename << '\n';
+    std::cout << "Loading TES3 file: " << info.filename << '\n'; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
 
     ESM::ESMReader esm;
     ToUTF8::Utf8Encoder encoder (ToUTF8::calculateEncoding(info.encoding));
@@ -419,7 +419,7 @@ int load(const Arguments& info, ESMData* data)
                 printRawTes3(info.filename);
                 break;
             case ESM::Format::Tes4:
-                std::cout << "Printing raw TES4 file is not supported: " << info.filename << "\n";
+                std::cout << "Printing raw TES4 file is not supported: " << info.filename << "\n"; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
                 break;
         }
         return 0;
@@ -490,7 +490,7 @@ int clone(const Arguments& info)
     if (i % 3 != 0)
         std::cout << '\n';
 
-    std::cout << "\nSaving records to: " << info.outname << "...\n";
+    std::cout << "\nSaving records to: " << info.outname << "...\n"; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
 
     ESM::ESMWriter esm;
     ToUTF8::Utf8Encoder encoder (ToUTF8::calculateEncoding(info.encoding));
@@ -499,7 +499,7 @@ int clone(const Arguments& info)
     esm.setVersion(ESM::VER_13);
     esm.setRecordCount (recordCount);
 
-    std::fstream save(info.outname.c_str(), std::fstream::out | std::fstream::binary);
+    std::fstream save(info.outname, std::fstream::out | std::fstream::binary);
     esm.save(save);
 
     int saved = 0;
@@ -563,14 +563,14 @@ int comp(const Arguments& info)
     ESMData dataOne;
     if (load(fileOne, &dataOne) != 0)
     {
-        std::cout << "Failed to load " << info.filename << ", aborting comparison." << std::endl;
+        std::cout << "Failed to load " << info.filename << ", aborting comparison." << std::endl; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
         return 1;
     }
 
     ESMData dataTwo;
     if (load(fileTwo, &dataTwo) != 0)
     {
-        std::cout << "Failed to load " << info.outname << ", aborting comparison." << std::endl;
+        std::cout << "Failed to load " << info.outname << ", aborting comparison." << std::endl; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
         return 1;
     }
 
diff --git a/apps/esmtool/tes4.cpp b/apps/esmtool/tes4.cpp
index 815eb6dd34..02e722631d 100644
--- a/apps/esmtool/tes4.cpp
+++ b/apps/esmtool/tes4.cpp
@@ -289,7 +289,7 @@ namespace EsmTool
 
     int loadTes4(const Arguments& info, std::unique_ptr<std::ifstream>&& stream)
     {
-        std::cout << "Loading TES4 file: " << info.filename << '\n';
+        std::cout << "Loading TES4 file: " << info.filename << '\n'; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
 
         try
         {
diff --git a/apps/launcher/datafilespage.cpp b/apps/launcher/datafilespage.cpp
index 2d52b6a066..d5f2259f2e 100644
--- a/apps/launcher/datafilespage.cpp
+++ b/apps/launcher/datafilespage.cpp
@@ -230,7 +230,7 @@ void Launcher::DataFilesPage::populateFileViews(const QString& contentModelName)
     if (!mDataLocal.isEmpty())
         directories.insert(0, mDataLocal);
 
-    const auto globalDataDir = QString(mGameSettings.getGlobalDataDir().c_str());
+    const auto globalDataDir = QString(mGameSettings.getGlobalDataDir().string().c_str()); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
     if (!globalDataDir.isEmpty())
         directories.insert(0, globalDataDir);
 
diff --git a/apps/launcher/maindialog.cpp b/apps/launcher/maindialog.cpp
index 8e5af37121..447dcb5193 100644
--- a/apps/launcher/maindialog.cpp
+++ b/apps/launcher/maindialog.cpp
@@ -155,7 +155,7 @@ Launcher::FirstRunDialogResult Launcher::MainDialog::showFirstRunDialog()
         return FirstRunDialogResultFailure;
 
     // Dialog wizard and setup will fail if the config directory does not already exist
-    QDir userConfigDir = QDir(QString::fromStdString(mCfgMgr.getUserConfigPath().string()));
+    QDir userConfigDir = QDir(QString::fromStdString(mCfgMgr.getUserConfigPath().string())); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths, in Qt 6 it's possible to convert directly from std::filesystem::path to QDir and that would solve the issue
     if ( ! userConfigDir.exists() ) {
         if ( ! userConfigDir.mkpath(".") )
         {
@@ -295,7 +295,7 @@ bool Launcher::MainDialog::setupLauncherSettings()
 
     mLauncherSettings.setMultiValueEnabled(true);
 
-    QString userPath = QString::fromUtf8(mCfgMgr.getUserConfigPath().string().c_str());
+    QString userPath = QString::fromUtf8(mCfgMgr.getUserConfigPath().string().c_str());  //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
 
     QStringList paths;
     paths.append(QString(Config::LauncherSettings::sLauncherConfigFileName));
@@ -328,9 +328,9 @@ bool Launcher::MainDialog::setupGameSettings()
 {
     mGameSettings.clear();
 
-    QString localPath = QString::fromUtf8(mCfgMgr.getLocalPath().string().c_str());
-    QString userPath = QString::fromUtf8(mCfgMgr.getUserConfigPath().string().c_str());
-    QString globalPath = QString::fromUtf8(mCfgMgr.getGlobalPath().string().c_str());
+    QString localPath = QString::fromUtf8(mCfgMgr.getLocalPath().string().c_str()); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
+    QString userPath = QString::fromUtf8(mCfgMgr.getUserConfigPath().string().c_str()); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
+    QString globalPath = QString::fromUtf8(mCfgMgr.getGlobalPath().string().c_str()); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
 
     QFile file;
 
@@ -479,7 +479,7 @@ bool Launcher::MainDialog::writeSettings()
     mSettingsPage->saveSettings();
     mAdvancedPage->saveSettings();
 
-    QString userPath = QString::fromUtf8(mCfgMgr.getUserConfigPath().string().c_str());
+    QString userPath = QString::fromUtf8(mCfgMgr.getUserConfigPath().string().c_str()); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
     QDir dir(userPath);
 
     if (!dir.exists()) {
@@ -509,13 +509,13 @@ bool Launcher::MainDialog::writeSettings()
     file.close();
 
     // Graphics settings
-    const std::string settingsPath = (mCfgMgr.getUserConfigPath() / "settings.cfg").string();
+    const auto settingsPath = mCfgMgr.getUserConfigPath() / "settings.cfg";
     try {
         Settings::Manager::saveUser(settingsPath);
     }
     catch (std::exception& e) {
         std::string msg = "<br><b>Error writing settings.cfg</b><br><br>" +
-            settingsPath + "<br><br>" + e.what();
+            settingsPath.string() + "<br><br>" + e.what(); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
         cfgError(tr("Error writing user settings file"), tr(msg.c_str()));
         return false;
     }
diff --git a/apps/launcher/settingspage.cpp b/apps/launcher/settingspage.cpp
index 96f11808f0..77d45e48ec 100644
--- a/apps/launcher/settingspage.cpp
+++ b/apps/launcher/settingspage.cpp
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ void Launcher::SettingsPage::on_importerButton_clicked()
     mMain->writeSettings();
 
     // Create the file if it doesn't already exist, else the importer will fail
-    QString path(QString::fromUtf8(mCfgMgr.getUserConfigPath().string().c_str()));
+    QString path(QString::fromUtf8(mCfgMgr.getUserConfigPath().string().c_str())); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
     path.append(QLatin1String("openmw.cfg"));
     QFile file(path);
 
diff --git a/apps/mwiniimporter/importer.cpp b/apps/mwiniimporter/importer.cpp
index 305587162b..912aa2d5ed 100644
--- a/apps/mwiniimporter/importer.cpp
+++ b/apps/mwiniimporter/importer.cpp
@@ -661,7 +661,7 @@ MwIniImporter::multistrmap MwIniImporter::loadIniFile(const std::filesystem::pat
 
     std::string section("");
     MwIniImporter::multistrmap map;
-    std::ifstream file((sfs::path(filename)));
+    std::ifstream file(filename);
     ToUTF8::Utf8Encoder encoder(mEncoding);
 
     std::string line;
@@ -721,7 +721,7 @@ MwIniImporter::multistrmap MwIniImporter::loadCfgFile(const std::filesystem::pat
     std::cout << "load cfg file: " << filename << std::endl;
 
     MwIniImporter::multistrmap map;
-    std::ifstream file((sfs::path(filename)));
+    std::ifstream file(filename);
 
     std::string line;
     while (std::getline(file, line)) {
@@ -938,13 +938,13 @@ void MwIniImporter::importGameFiles(multistrmap &cfg, const multistrmap &ini, co
     reader.setEncoder(&encoder);
     for (auto& file : contentFiles)
     {
-        reader.open(file.second.string());
+        reader.open(file.second);
         std::vector<std::string> dependencies;
         for (auto& gameFile : reader.getGameFiles())
         {
             dependencies.push_back(gameFile.name);
         }
-        unsortedFiles.emplace_back(std::filesystem::path(reader.getName()).filename().string(), dependencies);
+        unsortedFiles.emplace_back(reader.getName().filename().string(), dependencies); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
         reader.close();
     }
 
diff --git a/apps/mwiniimporter/main.cpp b/apps/mwiniimporter/main.cpp
index d6afecb1ef..2de80ffb96 100644
--- a/apps/mwiniimporter/main.cpp
+++ b/apps/mwiniimporter/main.cpp
@@ -52,8 +52,6 @@ private:
 int wmain(int argc, wchar_t *wargv[]) {
     utf8argv converter(argc, wargv);
     char **argv = converter.get();
-    // TODO(Project579): Temporarly disabled until a good solution is found (no solution might actually be needed)
-    //boost::filesystem::path::imbue(boost::locale::generator().generate(""));
 #endif
 
     try
diff --git a/apps/navmeshtool/main.cpp b/apps/navmeshtool/main.cpp
index de3ccdcf96..21751dca79 100644
--- a/apps/navmeshtool/main.cpp
+++ b/apps/navmeshtool/main.cpp
@@ -143,7 +143,7 @@ namespace NavMeshTool
 
             const auto fsStrict = variables["fs-strict"].as<bool>();
             const auto resDir = variables["resources"].as<Files::MaybeQuotedPath>();
-            Version::Version v = Version::getOpenmwVersion(resDir.string());
+            Version::Version v = Version::getOpenmwVersion(resDir);
             Log(Debug::Info) << v.describe();
             dataDirs.insert(dataDirs.begin(), resDir / "vfs");
             const auto fileCollections = Files::Collections(dataDirs, !fsStrict);
@@ -179,9 +179,9 @@ namespace NavMeshTool
             const osg::Vec3f agentHalfExtents = Settings::Manager::getVector3("default actor pathfind half extents", "Game");
             const DetourNavigator::AgentBounds agentBounds {agentCollisionShape, agentHalfExtents};
             const std::uint64_t maxDbFileSize = static_cast<std::uint64_t>(Settings::Manager::getInt64("max navmeshdb file size", "Navigator"));
-            const std::string dbPath = (config.getUserDataPath() / "navmesh.db").string();
+            const auto dbPath = config.getUserDataPath() / "navmesh.db";
 
-            DetourNavigator::NavMeshDb db(dbPath, maxDbFileSize);
+            DetourNavigator::NavMeshDb db(dbPath.string(), maxDbFileSize); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
 
             ESM::ReadersCache readers;
             EsmLoader::Query query;
diff --git a/apps/niftest/niftest.cpp b/apps/niftest/niftest.cpp
index 67d33c6b9d..60b13ae266 100644
--- a/apps/niftest/niftest.cpp
+++ b/apps/niftest/niftest.cpp
@@ -16,45 +16,45 @@
 namespace bpo = boost::program_options;
 
 ///See if the file has the named extension
-bool hasExtension(std::string filename, std::string extensionToFind)
+bool hasExtension(const std::filesystem::path& filename, const std::string& extensionToFind)
 {
-    std::string extension = filename.substr(filename.find_last_of('.')+1);
+    std::string extension = filename.extension().string(); //TODO(Project579): let's hope unicode characters are never used in these extensions on windows or this will break
     return Misc::StringUtils::ciEqual(extension, extensionToFind);
 }
 
 ///See if the file has the "nif" extension.
-bool isNIF(const std::string & filename)
+bool isNIF(const std::filesystem::path &filename)
 {
     return hasExtension(filename,"nif");
 }
 ///See if the file has the "bsa" extension.
-bool isBSA(const std::string & filename)
+bool isBSA(const std::filesystem::path &filename)
 {
     return hasExtension(filename,"bsa");
 }
 
 /// Check all the nif files in a given VFS::Archive
 /// \note Can not read a bsa file inside of a bsa file.
-void readVFS(std::unique_ptr<VFS::Archive>&& anArchive, std::string archivePath = "")
+void readVFS(std::unique_ptr<VFS::Archive>&& anArchive, const std::filesystem::path& archivePath = {})
 {
     VFS::Manager myManager(true);
     myManager.addArchive(std::move(anArchive));
     myManager.buildIndex();
 
-    for(const auto& name : myManager.getRecursiveDirectoryIterator(""))
+    for(const auto& name : myManager.getRecursiveDirectoryIterator("")) //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
     {
         try{
             if(isNIF(name))
             {
             //           std::cout << "Decoding: " << name << std::endl;
-                Nif::NIFFile temp_nif(myManager.get(name),archivePath+name);
+                Nif::NIFFile temp_nif(myManager.get(name),archivePath / name);
             }
             else if(isBSA(name))
             {
                 if(!archivePath.empty() && !isBSA(archivePath))
                 {
 //                     std::cout << "Reading BSA File: " << name << std::endl;
-                    readVFS(std::make_unique<VFS::BsaArchive>(archivePath + name), archivePath + name + "/");
+                    readVFS(std::make_unique<VFS::BsaArchive>(archivePath / name), archivePath / name);
 //                     std::cout << "Done with BSA File: " << name << std::endl;
                 }
             }
@@ -75,7 +75,7 @@ bool parseOptions (int argc, char** argv, std::vector<std::string>& files)
         "Allowed options");
     desc.add_options()
         ("help,h", "print help message.")
-        ("input-file", bpo::value< std::vector<std::string> >(), "input file")
+        ("input-file", bpo::value< std::vector<std::filesystem::path> >(), "input file")
         ;
 
     //Default option if none provided
@@ -120,30 +120,30 @@ int main(int argc, char **argv)
 
     Nif::NIFFile::setLoadUnsupportedFiles(true);
 //     std::cout << "Reading Files" << std::endl;
-    for(auto it=files.begin(); it!=files.end(); ++it)
+    for(const auto& name : files)
     {
-        std::string name = *it;
-
         try
         {
-            if(isNIF(name))
+            const std::filesystem::path path(name); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
+
+            if(isNIF(path))
             {
                 //std::cout << "Decoding: " << name << std::endl;
-                Nif::NIFFile temp_nif(Files::openConstrainedFileStream(name), name);
+                Nif::NIFFile temp_nif(Files::openConstrainedFileStream(path), path);
              }
-             else if(isBSA(name))
+             else if(isBSA(path))
              {
 //                 std::cout << "Reading BSA File: " << name << std::endl;
-                readVFS(std::make_unique<VFS::BsaArchive>(name));
+                readVFS(std::make_unique<VFS::BsaArchive>(path));
              }
-             else if(std::filesystem::is_directory(std::filesystem::path(name)))
+             else if(std::filesystem::is_directory(path))
              {
 //                 std::cout << "Reading All Files in: " << name << std::endl;
-                readVFS(std::make_unique<VFS::FileSystemArchive>(name), name);
+                readVFS(std::make_unique<VFS::FileSystemArchive>(path), path);
              }
              else
              {
-                 std::cerr << "ERROR:  \"" << name << "\" is not a nif file, bsa file, or directory!" << std::endl;
+                 std::cerr << "ERROR:  \"" << path << "\" is not a nif file, bsa file, or directory!" << std::endl;
              }
         }
         catch (std::exception& e)
diff --git a/apps/opencs/editor.cpp b/apps/opencs/editor.cpp
index ed49c5399a..9a988991f0 100644
--- a/apps/opencs/editor.cpp
+++ b/apps/opencs/editor.cpp
@@ -78,8 +78,7 @@ CS::Editor::~Editor ()
     mPidFile.close();
 
     if(mServer && std::filesystem::exists(mPid))
-        static_cast<void> ( // silence coverity warning
-        remove(mPid.string().c_str())); // ignore any error
+        std::filesystem::remove(mPid);
 }
 
 boost::program_options::variables_map CS::Editor::readConfiguration()
@@ -107,7 +106,7 @@ boost::program_options::variables_map CS::Editor::readConfiguration()
 
     mCfgMgr.readConfiguration(variables, desc, false);
     Settings::Manager::load(mCfgMgr, true);
-    setupLogging(mCfgMgr.getLogPath().string(), "OpenMW-CS");
+    setupLogging(mCfgMgr.getLogPath(), "OpenMW-CS");
 
     return variables;
 }
@@ -298,7 +297,7 @@ bool CS::Editor::makeIPCServer()
 
         mPidFile.open(mPid);
 
-        mLock = boost::interprocess::file_lock(mPid.string().c_str());
+        mLock = boost::interprocess::file_lock(mPid.c_str());
         if(!mLock.try_lock())
         {
             Log(Debug::Error) << "Error: OpenMW-CS is already running.";
@@ -374,7 +373,7 @@ int CS::Editor::run()
         ESM::ESMReader fileReader;
         ToUTF8::Utf8Encoder encoder(ToUTF8::calculateEncoding(mEncodingName));
         fileReader.setEncoder(&encoder);
-        fileReader.open(mFileToLoad.string());
+        fileReader.open(mFileToLoad);
 
         std::vector<std::filesystem::path> discoveredFiles;
 
@@ -394,7 +393,7 @@ int CS::Editor::run()
         }
         discoveredFiles.push_back(mFileToLoad);
 
-        QString extension = QString::fromStdString(mFileToLoad.extension().string()).toLower();
+        QString extension = QString::fromStdString(mFileToLoad.extension().string()).toLower(); //TODO(Project579): let's hope unicode characters are never used in these extensions on windows or this will break
         if (extension == ".esm")
         {
             mFileToLoad.replace_extension(".omwgame");
diff --git a/apps/opencs/model/doc/document.cpp b/apps/opencs/model/doc/document.cpp
index a4d47ad0f2..9a93430dc6 100644
--- a/apps/opencs/model/doc/document.cpp
+++ b/apps/opencs/model/doc/document.cpp
@@ -283,7 +283,7 @@ CSMDoc::Document::Document (const Files::ConfigurationManager& configuration,
 : mSavePath (savePath), mContentFiles (std::move(files)), mNew (new_), mData (encoding, fsStrict, dataPaths, archives, resDir),
   mTools (*this, encoding),
   mProjectPath ((configuration.getUserDataPath() / "projects") /
-  (savePath.filename().string() + ".project")),
+  (savePath.filename().u8string() + u8".project")),
   mSavingOperation (*this, mProjectPath, encoding),
   mSaving (&mSavingOperation),
   mResDir(resDir), mRunner (mProjectPath),
@@ -298,7 +298,7 @@ CSMDoc::Document::Document (const Files::ConfigurationManager& configuration,
 
         std::ofstream destination(mProjectPath, std::ios::out | std::ios::binary);
         if (!destination.is_open())
-            throw std::runtime_error("Can not create project file: " + mProjectPath.string());
+            throw std::runtime_error("Can not create project file: " + mProjectPath.string()); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
         destination.exceptions(std::ios::failbit | std::ios::badbit);
 
         if (!std::filesystem::exists (filtersPath))
@@ -306,7 +306,7 @@ CSMDoc::Document::Document (const Files::ConfigurationManager& configuration,
 
         std::ifstream source(filtersPath, std::ios::in | std::ios::binary);
         if (!source.is_open())
-            throw std::runtime_error("Can not read filters file: " + filtersPath.string());
+            throw std::runtime_error("Can not read filters file: " + filtersPath.string()); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
         source.exceptions(std::ios::failbit | std::ios::badbit);
 
         destination << source.rdbuf();
@@ -484,7 +484,7 @@ void CSMDoc::Document::startRunning (const std::string& profile,
 
     for (std::vector<std::filesystem::path>::const_iterator iter (mContentFiles.begin());
         iter!=mContentFiles.end(); ++iter)
-        contentFiles.push_back (iter->filename().string());
+        contentFiles.push_back (iter->filename().string()); //TODO(Project579): let's hope unicode characters are never used in these filenames on windows or this will break
 
     mRunner.configure (getData().getDebugProfiles().getRecord (profile).get(), contentFiles,
         startupInstruction);
diff --git a/apps/opencs/model/doc/loader.cpp b/apps/opencs/model/doc/loader.cpp
index 4563757020..70d114c47e 100644
--- a/apps/opencs/model/doc/loader.cpp
+++ b/apps/opencs/model/doc/loader.cpp
@@ -93,7 +93,7 @@ void CSMDoc::Loader::load()
             iter->second.mRecordsLeft = true;
             iter->second.mRecordsLoaded = 0;
 
-            emit nextStage (document, path.filename().string(), steps);
+            emit nextStage (document, path.filename().string(), steps); //TODO(Project579): let's hope unicode characters are never used in these filenames on windows or this will break
         }
         else if (iter->second.mFile==size) // start loading the last (project) file
         {
diff --git a/apps/opencs/model/doc/runner.cpp b/apps/opencs/model/doc/runner.cpp
index 55a8be2ae7..c1db116a52 100644
--- a/apps/opencs/model/doc/runner.cpp
+++ b/apps/opencs/model/doc/runner.cpp
@@ -83,7 +83,7 @@ void CSMDoc::Runner::start (bool delayed)
         arguments << ("--script-run="+mStartup->fileName());
 
         arguments <<
-            QString::fromUtf8 (("--data=\""+mProjectPath.parent_path().string()+"\"").c_str());
+            QString::fromUtf8 (("--data=\""+mProjectPath.parent_path().string()+"\"").c_str()); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
 
         arguments << "--replace=content";
 
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ void CSMDoc::Runner::start (bool delayed)
         }
 
         arguments
-            << QString::fromUtf8 (("--content="+mProjectPath.filename().string()).c_str());
+            << QString::fromUtf8 (("--content="+mProjectPath.filename().string()).c_str()); //TODO(Project579): let's hope unicode characters are never used in these filenames on windows or this will break
 
         mProcess.start (path, arguments);
     }
diff --git a/apps/opencs/model/doc/savingstages.cpp b/apps/opencs/model/doc/savingstages.cpp
index 7059188bac..20f3ca4ba6 100644
--- a/apps/opencs/model/doc/savingstages.cpp
+++ b/apps/opencs/model/doc/savingstages.cpp
@@ -72,7 +72,7 @@ void CSMDoc::WriteHeaderStage::perform (int stage, Messages& messages)
         for (std::vector<std::filesystem::path>::const_iterator iter (dependencies.begin());
             iter!=end; ++iter)
         {
-            std::string name = iter->filename().string();
+            std::string name = iter->filename().string(); //TODO(Project579): let's hope unicode characters are never used in these filenames on windows or this will break
             uint64_t size = std::filesystem::file_size (*iter);
 
             mState.getWriter().addMaster (name, size);
diff --git a/apps/opencs/model/doc/savingstate.cpp b/apps/opencs/model/doc/savingstate.cpp
index 8e6730d22c..e9a2b55385 100644
--- a/apps/opencs/model/doc/savingstate.cpp
+++ b/apps/opencs/model/doc/savingstate.cpp
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ void CSMDoc::SavingState::start (Document& document, bool project)
     else
         mPath = document.getSavePath();
 
-    std::filesystem::path file (mPath.filename().string() + ".tmp");
+    std::filesystem::path file (mPath.filename().u8string() + u8".tmp");
 
     mTmpPath = mPath.parent_path();
 
diff --git a/apps/opencs/model/prefs/state.cpp b/apps/opencs/model/prefs/state.cpp
index 673839d47c..ae2c94b11a 100644
--- a/apps/opencs/model/prefs/state.cpp
+++ b/apps/opencs/model/prefs/state.cpp
@@ -649,7 +649,7 @@ CSMPrefs::State::~State()
 void CSMPrefs::State::save()
 {
     std::filesystem::path user = mConfigurationManager.getUserConfigPath() / mConfigFile;
-    Settings::Manager::saveUser (user.string());
+    Settings::Manager::saveUser (user);
 }
 
 CSMPrefs::State::Iterator CSMPrefs::State::begin()
diff --git a/apps/opencs/model/tools/mergestages.cpp b/apps/opencs/model/tools/mergestages.cpp
index 8a7541c0db..09a0db4078 100644
--- a/apps/opencs/model/tools/mergestages.cpp
+++ b/apps/opencs/model/tools/mergestages.cpp
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ void CSMTools::FinishMergedDocumentStage::perform (int stage, CSMDoc::Messages&
 
     ESM::ESMReader reader;
     reader.setEncoder (&mEncoder);
-    reader.open (path.string());
+    reader.open (path);
 
     CSMWorld::MetaData source;
     source.mId = "sys::meta";
diff --git a/apps/opencs/model/world/data.cpp b/apps/opencs/model/world/data.cpp
index f03aac0837..4fd3939883 100644
--- a/apps/opencs/model/world/data.cpp
+++ b/apps/opencs/model/world/data.cpp
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ CSMWorld::Data::Data (ToUTF8::FromType encoding, bool fsStrict, const Files::Pat
         defines[define.first] = define.second;
     mResourceSystem->getSceneManager()->getShaderManager().setGlobalDefines(defines);
 
-    mResourceSystem->getSceneManager()->setShaderPath((resDir / "shaders").string());
+    mResourceSystem->getSceneManager()->setShaderPath(resDir / "shaders");
 
     int index = 0;
 
@@ -969,7 +969,7 @@ int CSMWorld::Data::getTotalRecords (const std::vector<std::filesystem::path>& f
         if (!std::filesystem::exists(files[i]))
             continue;
 
-        reader->open(files[i].string());
+        reader->open(files[i]);
         records += reader->getRecordCount();
         reader->close();
     }
@@ -989,9 +989,9 @@ int CSMWorld::Data::startLoading (const std::filesystem::path& path, bool base,
     mReader = new ESM::ESMReader;
     mReader->setEncoder (&mEncoder);
     mReader->setIndex((project || !base) ? 0 : mReaderIndex++);
-    mReader->open (path.string());
+    mReader->open (path);
 
-    mContentFileNames.insert(std::make_pair(path.filename().string(), mReader->getIndex()));
+    mContentFileNames.insert(std::make_pair(path.filename().string(), mReader->getIndex())); //TODO(Project579): let's hope unicode characters are never used in these filenames on windows or this will break
 
     mBase = base;
     mProject = project;
diff --git a/apps/opencs/view/doc/adjusterwidget.cpp b/apps/opencs/view/doc/adjusterwidget.cpp
index 9ff2da125e..0e6ae73fe6 100644
--- a/apps/opencs/view/doc/adjusterwidget.cpp
+++ b/apps/opencs/view/doc/adjusterwidget.cpp
@@ -68,14 +68,14 @@ void CSVDoc::AdjusterWidget::setName (const QString& name, bool addon)
     }
     else
     {
-        std::filesystem::path path (name.toUtf8().data());
+        std::filesystem::path path (name.toUtf8().data()); //TODO(Project579): Replace with char8_t in C++20
 
-        std::string extension = Misc::StringUtils::lowerCase(path.extension().string());
+        std::string extension = Misc::StringUtils::lowerCase(path.extension().string()); //TODO(Project579): let's hope unicode characters are never used in these extensions on windows or this will break
 
         bool isLegacyPath = (extension == ".esm" ||
                              extension == ".esp");
 
-        bool isFilePathChanged = (path.parent_path().string() != mLocalData.string());
+        bool isFilePathChanged = (path.parent_path() != mLocalData);
 
         if (isLegacyPath)
             path.replace_extension (addon ? ".omwaddon" : ".omwgame");
@@ -85,7 +85,7 @@ void CSVDoc::AdjusterWidget::setName (const QString& name, bool addon)
         if (!isFilePathChanged && !isLegacyPath)
         {
             // path already points to the local data directory
-            message = QString::fromUtf8 (("Will be saved as: " + path.string()).c_str());
+            message = QString::fromUtf8 (("Will be saved as: " + path.string()).c_str());  //TODO(Project579): This is probably broken on windows with unicode paths
             mResultPath = path;
         }
         //in all other cases, ensure the path points to data-local and do an existing file check
@@ -95,7 +95,7 @@ void CSVDoc::AdjusterWidget::setName (const QString& name, bool addon)
             if (isFilePathChanged)
                 path = mLocalData / path.filename();
 
-            message = QString::fromUtf8 (("Will be saved as: " + path.string()).c_str());
+            message = QString::fromUtf8 (("Will be saved as: " + path.string()).c_str()); //TODO(Project579): This is probably broken on windows with unicode paths
             mResultPath = path;
 
             if (std::filesystem::exists (path))
diff --git a/apps/opencs/view/doc/loader.cpp b/apps/opencs/view/doc/loader.cpp
index a33aa900fe..188827db2f 100644
--- a/apps/opencs/view/doc/loader.cpp
+++ b/apps/opencs/view/doc/loader.cpp
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ void CSVDoc::LoadingDocument::closeEvent (QCloseEvent *event)
 CSVDoc::LoadingDocument::LoadingDocument (CSMDoc::Document *document)
 : mDocument (document), mTotalRecordsLabel (0), mRecordsLabel (0), mAborted (false), mMessages (nullptr), mRecords(0)
 {
-    setWindowTitle (QString::fromUtf8((std::string("Opening ") + document->getSavePath().filename().string()).c_str()));
+    setWindowTitle (QString::fromUtf8((std::string("Opening ") + document->getSavePath().filename().string()).c_str())); //TODO(Project579): let's hope unicode characters are never used in these filenames on windows or this will break
 
     setMinimumWidth (400);
 
diff --git a/apps/opencs/view/doc/view.cpp b/apps/opencs/view/doc/view.cpp
index ca32e5fc79..eaeb6d3957 100644
--- a/apps/opencs/view/doc/view.cpp
+++ b/apps/opencs/view/doc/view.cpp
@@ -387,7 +387,7 @@ void CSVDoc::View::updateTitle()
 {
     std::ostringstream stream;
 
-    stream << mDocument->getSavePath().filename().string();
+    stream << mDocument->getSavePath().filename().string(); //TODO(Project579): let's hope unicode characters are never used in these filenames on windows or this will break
 
     if (mDocument->getState() & CSMDoc::State_Modified)
             stream << " *";
@@ -747,7 +747,7 @@ void CSVDoc::View::tutorial()
 void CSVDoc::View::infoAbout()
 {
     // Get current OpenMW version
-    QString versionInfo = (Version::getOpenmwVersionDescription(mDocument->getResourceDir().string())+
+    QString versionInfo = (Version::getOpenmwVersionDescription(mDocument->getResourceDir())+
 #if defined(__x86_64__) || defined(_M_X64)
     " (64-bit)").c_str();
 #else
diff --git a/apps/opencs/view/doc/viewmanager.cpp b/apps/opencs/view/doc/viewmanager.cpp
index c1fd21d246..92144ca668 100644
--- a/apps/opencs/view/doc/viewmanager.cpp
+++ b/apps/opencs/view/doc/viewmanager.cpp
@@ -261,7 +261,7 @@ bool CSVDoc::ViewManager::showModifiedDocumentMessageBox (CSVDoc::View *view)
     QMessageBox messageBox(view);
     CSMDoc::Document *document = view->getDocument();
 
-    messageBox.setWindowTitle (QString::fromUtf8(document->getSavePath().filename().string().c_str()));
+    messageBox.setWindowTitle (QString::fromUtf8(document->getSavePath().filename().string().c_str())); //TODO(Project579): let's hope unicode characters are never used in these filenames on windows or this will break
     messageBox.setText ("The document has been modified.");
     messageBox.setInformativeText ("Do you want to save your changes?");
     messageBox.setStandardButtons (QMessageBox::Save | QMessageBox::Discard | QMessageBox::Cancel);
diff --git a/apps/opencs/view/tools/merge.cpp b/apps/opencs/view/tools/merge.cpp
index e8b963f235..0efce2aec3 100644
--- a/apps/opencs/view/tools/merge.cpp
+++ b/apps/opencs/view/tools/merge.cpp
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ void CSVTools::Merge::configure (CSMDoc::Document *document)
 
     for (std::vector<std::filesystem::path>::const_iterator iter (files.begin());
         iter!=files.end(); ++iter)
-        mFiles->addItem (QString::fromUtf8 (iter->filename().string().c_str()));
+        mFiles->addItem (QString::fromUtf8 (iter->filename().string().c_str())); //TODO(Project579): let's hope unicode characters are never used in these filenames on windows or this will break
 }
 
 void CSVTools::Merge::setLocalData (const std::filesystem::path& localData)
diff --git a/apps/openmw/engine.cpp b/apps/openmw/engine.cpp
index 07f5f77e98..22cd339b36 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/engine.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/engine.cpp
@@ -528,7 +528,7 @@ void OMW::Engine::enableFSStrict(bool fsStrict)
 void OMW::Engine::setDataDirs (const Files::PathContainer& dataDirs)
 {
     mDataDirs = dataDirs;
-    mDataDirs.insert(mDataDirs.begin(), (mResDir / "vfs"));
+    mDataDirs.insert(mDataDirs.begin(), mResDir / "vfs");
     mFileCollections = Files::Collections (mDataDirs, !mFSStrict);
 }
 
@@ -708,10 +708,10 @@ void OMW::Engine::createWindow()
 void OMW::Engine::setWindowIcon()
 {
     std::ifstream windowIconStream;
-    std::string windowIcon = (mResDir / "openmw.png").string();
+    const auto windowIcon = mResDir / "openmw.png";
     windowIconStream.open(windowIcon, std::ios_base::in | std::ios_base::binary);
     if (windowIconStream.fail())
-        Log(Debug::Error) << "Error: Failed to open " << windowIcon;
+        Log(Debug::Error) << "Error: Failed to open " << windowIcon; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
     osgDB::ReaderWriter* reader = osgDB::Registry::instance()->getReaderWriterForExtension("png");
     if (!reader)
     {
@@ -720,7 +720,7 @@ void OMW::Engine::setWindowIcon()
     }
     osgDB::ReaderWriter::ReadResult result = reader->readImage(windowIconStream);
     if (!result.success())
-        Log(Debug::Error) << "Error: Failed to read " << windowIcon << ": " << result.message() << " code " << result.status();
+        Log(Debug::Error) << "Error: Failed to read " << windowIcon << ": " << result.message() << " code " << result.status(); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
     else
     {
         osg::ref_ptr<osg::Image> image = result.getImage();
@@ -765,7 +765,7 @@ void OMW::Engine::prepareEngine()
     mScreenCaptureOperation = new SceneUtil::AsyncScreenCaptureOperation(
         mWorkQueue,
         new SceneUtil::WriteScreenshotToFileOperation(
-            mCfgMgr.getScreenshotPath().string(),
+            mCfgMgr.getScreenshotPath(),
             Settings::Manager::getString("screenshot format", "General"),
             Settings::Manager::getBool("notify on saved screenshot", "General")
                     ? std::function<void (std::string)>(ScheduleNonDialogMessageBox {})
@@ -777,35 +777,34 @@ void OMW::Engine::prepareEngine()
 
     mViewer->addEventHandler(mScreenCaptureHandler);
 
-    mLuaManager = std::make_unique<MWLua::LuaManager>(mVFS.get(), (mResDir / "lua_libs").string());
+    mLuaManager = std::make_unique<MWLua::LuaManager>(mVFS.get(), mResDir / "lua_libs");
     mEnvironment.setLuaManager(*mLuaManager);
 
     // Create input and UI first to set up a bootstrapping environment for
     // showing a loading screen and keeping the window responsive while doing so
 
-    std::string keybinderUser = (mCfgMgr.getUserConfigPath() / "input_v3.xml").string();
+    const auto keybinderUser = mCfgMgr.getUserConfigPath() / "input_v3.xml";
     bool keybinderUserExists = std::filesystem::exists(keybinderUser);
     if(!keybinderUserExists)
     {
-        std::string input2 = (mCfgMgr.getUserConfigPath() / "input_v2.xml").string();
+        const auto input2 = (mCfgMgr.getUserConfigPath() / "input_v2.xml");
         if(std::filesystem::exists(input2)) {
-            std::filesystem::copy_file(input2, keybinderUser);
-            keybinderUserExists = std::filesystem::exists(keybinderUser);
-            Log(Debug::Info) << "Loading keybindings file: " << keybinderUser;
+            keybinderUserExists = std::filesystem::copy_file(input2, keybinderUser);
+            Log(Debug::Info) << "Loading keybindings file: " << keybinderUser; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
         }
     }
     else
-        Log(Debug::Info) << "Loading keybindings file: " << keybinderUser;
+        Log(Debug::Info) << "Loading keybindings file: " << keybinderUser; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
 
-    const std::string userdefault = mCfgMgr.getUserConfigPath().string() + "/gamecontrollerdb.txt";
-    const std::string localdefault = mCfgMgr.getLocalPath().string() + "/gamecontrollerdb.txt";
-    const std::string globaldefault = mCfgMgr.getGlobalPath().string() + "/gamecontrollerdb.txt";
+    const auto userdefault = mCfgMgr.getUserConfigPath() / "gamecontrollerdb.txt";
+    const auto localdefault = mCfgMgr.getLocalPath() / "gamecontrollerdb.txt";
+    const auto globaldefault = mCfgMgr.getGlobalPath() / "gamecontrollerdb.txt";
 
-    std::string userGameControllerdb;
+    std::filesystem::path userGameControllerdb;
     if (std::filesystem::exists(userdefault))
         userGameControllerdb = userdefault;
 
-    std::string gameControllerdb;
+    std::filesystem::path gameControllerdb;
     if (std::filesystem::exists(localdefault))
         gameControllerdb = localdefault;
     else if (std::filesystem::exists(globaldefault))
@@ -813,7 +812,7 @@ void OMW::Engine::prepareEngine()
     //else if it doesn't exist, pass in an empty string
 
     // gui needs our shaders path before everything else
-    mResourceSystem->getSceneManager()->setShaderPath((mResDir / "shaders").string());
+    mResourceSystem->getSceneManager()->setShaderPath(mResDir / "shaders");
 
     osg::ref_ptr<osg::GLExtensions> exts = osg::GLExtensions::Get(0, false);
     bool shadersSupported = exts && (exts->glslLanguageVersion >= 1.2f);
@@ -831,9 +830,9 @@ void OMW::Engine::prepareEngine()
     rootNode->addChild(guiRoot);
 
     mWindowManager = std::make_unique<MWGui::WindowManager>(mWindow, mViewer, guiRoot, mResourceSystem.get(), mWorkQueue.get(),
-                mCfgMgr.getLogPath().string() + std::string("/"),
+                mCfgMgr.getLogPath(),
                 mScriptConsoleMode, mTranslationDataStorage, mEncoding,
-                Version::getOpenmwVersionDescription(mResDir.string()), shadersSupported);
+                Version::getOpenmwVersionDescription(mResDir), shadersSupported);
     mEnvironment.setWindowManager(*mWindowManager);
 
     mInputManager = std::make_unique<MWInput::InputManager>(mWindow, mViewer, mScreenCaptureHandler,
@@ -854,7 +853,7 @@ void OMW::Engine::prepareEngine()
     // Create the world
     mWorld = std::make_unique<MWWorld::World>(mViewer, rootNode, mResourceSystem.get(), mWorkQueue.get(), *mUnrefQueue,
         mFileCollections, mContentFiles, mGroundcoverFiles, mEncoder.get(), mActivationDistanceOverride, mCellName,
-        mStartupScript, mResDir.string(), mCfgMgr.getUserDataPath().string());
+        mStartupScript, mResDir, mCfgMgr.getUserDataPath());
     mWorld->setupPlayer();
     mWorld->setRandomSeed(mRandomSeed);
     mEnvironment.setWorld(*mWorld);
@@ -865,8 +864,8 @@ void OMW::Engine::prepareEngine()
 
     //Load translation data
     mTranslationDataStorage.setEncoder(mEncoder.get());
-    for (size_t i = 0; i < mContentFiles.size(); i++)
-      mTranslationDataStorage.loadTranslationData(mFileCollections, mContentFiles[i]);
+    for (auto & mContentFile : mContentFiles)
+      mTranslationDataStorage.loadTranslationData(mFileCollections, mContentFile);
 
     Compiler::registerExtensions (mExtensions);
 
@@ -910,7 +909,7 @@ void OMW::Engine::prepareEngine()
     }
 
     mLuaManager->init();
-    mLuaManager->loadPermanentStorage(mCfgMgr.getUserConfigPath().string());
+    mLuaManager->loadPermanentStorage(mCfgMgr.getUserConfigPath());
 }
 
 class OMW::Engine::LuaWorker
@@ -1014,7 +1013,7 @@ void OMW::Engine::go()
 
     Misc::Rng::init(mRandomSeed);
 
-    Settings::ShaderManager::get().load((mCfgMgr.getUserConfigPath() / "shaders.yaml").string());
+    Settings::ShaderManager::get().load(mCfgMgr.getUserConfigPath() / "shaders.yaml");
 
     MWClass::registerClasses();
 
@@ -1033,13 +1032,13 @@ void OMW::Engine::go()
     prepareEngine();
 
     std::ofstream stats;
-    if (const auto path = std::getenv("OPENMW_OSG_STATS_FILE"))
+    if (const auto path = std::getenv("OPENMW_OSG_STATS_FILE")) //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
     {
-        stats.open(path, std::ios_base::out);
+        stats.open(path, std::ios_base::out); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
         if (stats.is_open())
-            Log(Debug::Info) << "Stats will be written to: " << path;
+            Log(Debug::Info) << "Stats will be written to: " << path; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
         else
-            Log(Debug::Warning) << "Failed to open file for stats: " << path;
+            Log(Debug::Warning) << "Failed to open file for stats: " << path; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
     }
 
     // Setup profiler
@@ -1136,9 +1135,9 @@ void OMW::Engine::go()
     luaWorker.join();
 
     // Save user settings
-    Settings::Manager::saveUser((mCfgMgr.getUserConfigPath() / "settings.cfg").string());
+    Settings::Manager::saveUser(mCfgMgr.getUserConfigPath() / "settings.cfg");
     Settings::ShaderManager::get().save();
-    mLuaManager->savePermanentStorage(mCfgMgr.getUserConfigPath().string());
+    mLuaManager->savePermanentStorage(mCfgMgr.getUserConfigPath());
 
     Log(Debug::Info) << "Quitting peacefully.";
 }
@@ -1193,7 +1192,7 @@ void OMW::Engine::setScriptBlacklistUse (bool use)
     mScriptBlacklistUse = use;
 }
 
-void OMW::Engine::setSaveGameFile(const std::string &savegame)
+void OMW::Engine::setSaveGameFile(const std::filesystem::path &savegame)
 {
     mSaveGameFile = savegame;
 }
diff --git a/apps/openmw/engine.hpp b/apps/openmw/engine.hpp
index cc3f92cdd2..98d667dc43 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/engine.hpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/engine.hpp
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ namespace OMW
             bool mScriptConsoleMode;
             std::string mStartupScript;
             int mActivationDistanceOverride;
-            std::string mSaveGameFile;
+            std::filesystem::path mSaveGameFile;
             // Grab mouse?
             bool mGrab;
 
@@ -256,7 +256,7 @@ namespace OMW
             void setScriptBlacklistUse (bool use);
 
             /// Set the save game file to load after initialising the engine.
-            void setSaveGameFile(const std::string& savegame);
+            void setSaveGameFile(const std::filesystem::path &savegame);
 
             void setRandomSeed(unsigned int seed);
 
diff --git a/apps/openmw/main.cpp b/apps/openmw/main.cpp
index f13d1b39b5..c327683bee 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/main.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/main.cpp
@@ -61,7 +61,7 @@ bool parseOptions (int argc, char** argv, OMW::Engine& engine, Files::Configurat
     {
         cfgMgr.readConfiguration(variables, desc, true);
 
-        Version::Version v = Version::getOpenmwVersion(variables["resources"].as<Files::MaybeQuotedPath>().string());
+        Version::Version v = Version::getOpenmwVersion(variables["resources"].as<Files::MaybeQuotedPath>());
         getRawStdout() << v.describe() << std::endl;
         return false;
     }
@@ -69,10 +69,10 @@ bool parseOptions (int argc, char** argv, OMW::Engine& engine, Files::Configurat
     cfgMgr.readConfiguration(variables, desc);
     Settings::Manager::load(cfgMgr);
 
-    setupLogging(cfgMgr.getLogPath().string(), "OpenMW");
+    setupLogging(cfgMgr.getLogPath(), "OpenMW");
     MWGui::DebugWindow::startLogRecording();
 
-    Version::Version v = Version::getOpenmwVersion(variables["resources"].as<Files::MaybeQuotedPath>().string());
+    Version::Version v = Version::getOpenmwVersion(variables["resources"].as<Files::MaybeQuotedPath>());
     Log(Debug::Info) << v.describe();
 
     engine.setGrabMouse(!variables["no-grab"].as<bool>());
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ bool parseOptions (int argc, char** argv, OMW::Engine& engine, Files::Configurat
     engine.setWarningsMode (variables["script-warn"].as<int>());
     engine.setScriptBlacklist (variables["script-blacklist"].as<StringsVector>());
     engine.setScriptBlacklistUse (variables["script-blacklist-use"].as<bool>());
-    engine.setSaveGameFile (variables["load-savegame"].as<Files::MaybeQuotedPath>().string());
+    engine.setSaveGameFile (variables["load-savegame"].as<Files::MaybeQuotedPath>());
 
     // other settings
     Fallback::Map::init(variables["fallback"].as<FallbackMap>().mMap);
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwbase/statemanager.hpp b/apps/openmw/mwbase/statemanager.hpp
index c18db4190d..df4df0943d 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwbase/statemanager.hpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwbase/statemanager.hpp
@@ -62,12 +62,12 @@ namespace MWBase
             ///
             /// \note Slot must belong to the current character.
 
-            virtual void loadGame (const std::string& filepath) = 0;
+            virtual void loadGame (const std::filesystem::path &filepath) = 0;
             ///< Load a saved game directly from the given file path. This will search the CharacterManager
             /// for a Character containing this save file, and set this Character current if one was found.
             /// Otherwise, a new Character will be created.
 
-            virtual void loadGame (const MWState::Character *character, const std::string& filepath) = 0;
+            virtual void loadGame (const MWState::Character *character, const std::filesystem::path &filepath) = 0;
             ///< Load a saved game file belonging to the given character.
 
             ///Simple saver, writes over the file if already existing
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwbase/world.hpp b/apps/openmw/mwbase/world.hpp
index e463c812c2..a99adb771e 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwbase/world.hpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwbase/world.hpp
@@ -639,7 +639,7 @@ namespace MWBase
 
             /// Export scene graph to a file and return the filename.
             /// \param ptr object to export scene graph for (if empty, export entire scene graph)
-            virtual std::string exportSceneGraph(const MWWorld::Ptr& ptr) = 0;
+            virtual std::filesystem::path exportSceneGraph(const MWWorld::Ptr& ptr) = 0;
 
             /// Preload VFX associated with this effect list
             virtual void preloadEffects(const ESM::EffectList* effectList) = 0;
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwgui/savegamedialog.cpp b/apps/openmw/mwgui/savegamedialog.cpp
index 413e677917..69082bd6bb 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwgui/savegamedialog.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwgui/savegamedialog.cpp
@@ -200,7 +200,7 @@ namespace MWGui
 
                 if (mCurrentCharacter == &*it ||
                     (!mCurrentCharacter && !mSaving && directory==Misc::StringUtils::lowerCase (
-                    it->begin()->mPath.parent_path().filename().string())))
+                    it->begin()->mPath.parent_path().filename().string()))) //TODO(Project579): let's hope unicode characters are never used in these filenames on windows or this will break
                 {
                     mCurrentCharacter = &*it;
                     selectedIndex = mCharacterSelection->getItemCount()-1;
@@ -303,7 +303,7 @@ namespace MWGui
         else
         {
             assert (mCurrentCharacter && mCurrentSlot);
-            MWBase::Environment::get().getStateManager()->loadGame (mCurrentCharacter, mCurrentSlot->mPath.string());
+            MWBase::Environment::get().getStateManager()->loadGame (mCurrentCharacter, mCurrentSlot->mPath);
         }
     }
 
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwgui/windowmanagerimp.cpp b/apps/openmw/mwgui/windowmanagerimp.cpp
index 51867fc322..8889c970c1 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwgui/windowmanagerimp.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwgui/windowmanagerimp.cpp
@@ -120,7 +120,7 @@ namespace MWGui
 {
     WindowManager::WindowManager(
             SDL_Window* window, osgViewer::Viewer* viewer, osg::Group* guiRoot, Resource::ResourceSystem* resourceSystem, SceneUtil::WorkQueue* workQueue,
-            const std::string& logpath, bool consoleOnlyScripts, Translation::Storage& translationDataStorage,
+            const std::filesystem::path& logpath, bool consoleOnlyScripts, Translation::Storage& translationDataStorage,
             ToUTF8::FromType encoding, const std::string& versionDescription, bool useShaders)
       : mOldUpdateMask(0)
       , mOldCullMask(0)
@@ -180,7 +180,7 @@ namespace MWGui
         mScalingFactor = std::clamp(Settings::Manager::getFloat("scaling factor", "GUI"), 0.5f, 8.f);
         mGuiPlatform = std::make_unique<osgMyGUI::Platform>(viewer, guiRoot, resourceSystem->getImageManager(),
             resourceSystem->getVFS(), mScalingFactor, "mygui",
-            (std::filesystem::path(logpath) / "MyGUI.log").generic_string());
+            logpath / "MyGUI.log");
 
         mGui = std::make_unique<MyGUI::Gui>();
         mGui->initialise("");
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwgui/windowmanagerimp.hpp b/apps/openmw/mwgui/windowmanagerimp.hpp
index 107bfdeb75..162f3403aa 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwgui/windowmanagerimp.hpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwgui/windowmanagerimp.hpp
@@ -37,6 +37,7 @@
 #include <MyGUI_Gui.h>
 #include <MyGUI_KeyCode.h>
 #include <MyGUI_Types.h>
+#include <filesystem>
 
 namespace MyGUI
 {
@@ -124,7 +125,7 @@ namespace MWGui
     typedef std::vector<Faction> FactionList;
 
     WindowManager(SDL_Window* window, osgViewer::Viewer* viewer, osg::Group* guiRoot, Resource::ResourceSystem* resourceSystem, SceneUtil::WorkQueue* workQueue,
-                  const std::string& logpath, bool consoleOnlyScripts, Translation::Storage& translationDataStorage,
+                  const std::filesystem::path& logpath, bool consoleOnlyScripts, Translation::Storage& translationDataStorage,
                   ToUTF8::FromType encoding, const std::string& versionDescription, bool useShaders);
     virtual ~WindowManager();
 
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwinput/bindingsmanager.cpp b/apps/openmw/mwinput/bindingsmanager.cpp
index a1b4845250..376a8a145f 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwinput/bindingsmanager.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwinput/bindingsmanager.cpp
@@ -43,8 +43,8 @@ namespace MWInput
     class InputControlSystem : public ICS::InputControlSystem
     {
     public:
-        InputControlSystem(const std::string& bindingsFile)
-            : ICS::InputControlSystem(bindingsFile, true, nullptr, nullptr, A_Last)
+        InputControlSystem(const std::filesystem::path &bindingsFile)
+            : ICS::InputControlSystem(bindingsFile.string(), true, nullptr, nullptr, A_Last) //TODO(Project579): This is probably broken on windows with unicode paths
         {
         }
     };
@@ -167,11 +167,11 @@ namespace MWInput
         bool mDetectingKeyboard;
     };
 
-    BindingsManager::BindingsManager(const std::string& userFile, bool userFileExists)
+    BindingsManager::BindingsManager(const std::filesystem::path &userFile, bool userFileExists)
         : mUserFile(userFile)
         , mDragDrop(false)
     {
-        std::string file = userFileExists ? userFile : "";
+        const auto file = userFileExists ? userFile : std::filesystem::path();
         mInputBinder = std::make_unique<InputControlSystem>(file);
         mListener = std::make_unique<BindingsListener>(mInputBinder.get(), this);
         mInputBinder->setDetectingBindingListener(mListener.get());
@@ -192,7 +192,7 @@ namespace MWInput
 
     BindingsManager::~BindingsManager()
     {
-        mInputBinder->save(mUserFile);
+        mInputBinder->save(mUserFile.string()); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
     }
 
     void BindingsManager::update(float dt)
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwinput/bindingsmanager.hpp b/apps/openmw/mwinput/bindingsmanager.hpp
index 3808a21dfd..a3b3825b99 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwinput/bindingsmanager.hpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwinput/bindingsmanager.hpp
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 #include <memory>
 #include <string>
 #include <vector>
+#include <filesystem>
 
 #include <components/sdlutil/events.hpp>
 
@@ -15,7 +16,7 @@ namespace MWInput
     class BindingsManager
     {
     public:
-        BindingsManager(const std::string& userFile, bool userFileExists);
+        BindingsManager(const std::filesystem::path &userFile, bool userFileExists);
 
         virtual ~BindingsManager();
 
@@ -70,7 +71,7 @@ namespace MWInput
         std::unique_ptr<InputControlSystem> mInputBinder;
         std::unique_ptr<BindingsListener> mListener;
 
-        std::string mUserFile;
+        std::filesystem::path mUserFile;
 
         bool mDragDrop;
     };
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwinput/controllermanager.cpp b/apps/openmw/mwinput/controllermanager.cpp
index adc62a80c5..c95a924280 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwinput/controllermanager.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwinput/controllermanager.cpp
@@ -27,8 +27,8 @@ namespace MWInput
     ControllerManager::ControllerManager(BindingsManager* bindingsManager,
             ActionManager* actionManager,
             MouseManager* mouseManager,
-            const std::string& userControllerBindingsFile,
-            const std::string& controllerBindingsFile)
+            const std::filesystem::path &userControllerBindingsFile,
+            const std::filesystem::path &controllerBindingsFile)
         : mBindingsManager(bindingsManager)
         , mActionManager(actionManager)
         , mMouseManager(mouseManager)
@@ -43,12 +43,12 @@ namespace MWInput
     {
         if (!controllerBindingsFile.empty())
         {
-            SDL_GameControllerAddMappingsFromFile(controllerBindingsFile.c_str());
+            SDL_GameControllerAddMappingsFromFile(controllerBindingsFile.string().c_str()); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
         }
 
         if (!userControllerBindingsFile.empty())
         {
-            SDL_GameControllerAddMappingsFromFile(userControllerBindingsFile.c_str());
+            SDL_GameControllerAddMappingsFromFile(userControllerBindingsFile.string().c_str()); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
         }
 
         // Open all presently connected sticks
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwinput/controllermanager.hpp b/apps/openmw/mwinput/controllermanager.hpp
index 2472128c26..ea89c8aec3 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwinput/controllermanager.hpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwinput/controllermanager.hpp
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 
 #include <components/settings/settings.hpp>
 #include <components/sdlutil/events.hpp>
+#include <filesystem>
 
 namespace MWInput
 {
@@ -18,8 +19,8 @@ namespace MWInput
         ControllerManager(BindingsManager* bindingsManager,
             ActionManager* actionManager,
             MouseManager* mouseManager,
-            const std::string& userControllerBindingsFile,
-            const std::string& controllerBindingsFile);
+            const std::filesystem::path &userControllerBindingsFile,
+            const std::filesystem::path &controllerBindingsFile);
 
         virtual ~ControllerManager() = default;
 
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwinput/inputmanagerimp.cpp b/apps/openmw/mwinput/inputmanagerimp.cpp
index 9a7b84722a..abe9996e01 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwinput/inputmanagerimp.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwinput/inputmanagerimp.cpp
@@ -28,8 +28,8 @@ namespace MWInput
             osg::ref_ptr<osgViewer::Viewer> viewer,
             osg::ref_ptr<osgViewer::ScreenCaptureHandler> screenCaptureHandler,
             osgViewer::ScreenCaptureHandler::CaptureOperation *screenCaptureOperation,
-            const std::string& userFile, bool userFileExists, const std::string& userControllerBindingsFile,
-            const std::string& controllerBindingsFile, bool grab)
+            const std::filesystem::path &userFile, bool userFileExists, const std::filesystem::path &userControllerBindingsFile,
+            const std::filesystem::path &controllerBindingsFile, bool grab)
         : mControlsDisabled(false)
         , mInputWrapper(std::make_unique<SDLUtil::InputWrapper>(window, viewer, grab))
         , mBindingsManager(std::make_unique<BindingsManager>(userFile, userFileExists))
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwinput/inputmanagerimp.hpp b/apps/openmw/mwinput/inputmanagerimp.hpp
index 738ff98bdf..d31aeff51b 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwinput/inputmanagerimp.hpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwinput/inputmanagerimp.hpp
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 
 #include <components/settings/settings.hpp>
 #include <components/sdlutil/events.hpp>
+#include <filesystem>
 
 #include "../mwbase/inputmanager.hpp"
 
@@ -52,9 +53,9 @@ namespace MWInput
             osg::ref_ptr<osgViewer::Viewer> viewer,
             osg::ref_ptr<osgViewer::ScreenCaptureHandler> screenCaptureHandler,
             osgViewer::ScreenCaptureHandler::CaptureOperation *screenCaptureOperation,
-            const std::string& userFile, bool userFileExists,
-            const std::string& userControllerBindingsFile,
-            const std::string& controllerBindingsFile, bool grab);
+            const std::filesystem::path &userFile, bool userFileExists,
+            const std::filesystem::path &userControllerBindingsFile,
+            const std::filesystem::path &controllerBindingsFile, bool grab);
 
         ~InputManager() final;
 
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwlua/luamanagerimp.cpp b/apps/openmw/mwlua/luamanagerimp.cpp
index 2864f3c6dd..2c8754375c 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwlua/luamanagerimp.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwlua/luamanagerimp.cpp
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@
 namespace MWLua
 {
 
-    LuaManager::LuaManager(const VFS::Manager* vfs, const std::string& libsDir)
+    LuaManager::LuaManager(const VFS::Manager* vfs, const std::filesystem::path &libsDir)
         : mLua(vfs, &mConfiguration)
         , mUiResourceManager(vfs)
         , mL10n(vfs, &mLua)
@@ -110,21 +110,20 @@ namespace MWLua
         return mL10n.translate(contextName, key);
     }
 
-    void LuaManager::loadPermanentStorage(const std::string& userConfigPath)
+    void LuaManager::loadPermanentStorage(const std::filesystem::path &userConfigPath)
     {
-        auto globalPath = std::filesystem::path(userConfigPath) / "global_storage.bin";
-        auto playerPath = std::filesystem::path(userConfigPath) / "player_storage.bin";
+        const auto globalPath = userConfigPath / "global_storage.bin";
+        const auto playerPath = userConfigPath / "player_storage.bin";
         if (std::filesystem::exists(globalPath))
-            mGlobalStorage.load(globalPath.string());
+            mGlobalStorage.load(globalPath);
         if (std::filesystem::exists(playerPath))
-            mPlayerStorage.load(playerPath.string());
+            mPlayerStorage.load(playerPath);
     }
 
-    void LuaManager::savePermanentStorage(const std::string& userConfigPath)
+    void LuaManager::savePermanentStorage(const std::filesystem::path &userConfigPath)
     {
-        std::filesystem::path confDir(userConfigPath);
-        mGlobalStorage.save((confDir / "global_storage.bin").string());
-        mPlayerStorage.save((confDir / "player_storage.bin").string());
+        mGlobalStorage.save(userConfigPath / "global_storage.bin");
+        mPlayerStorage.save(userConfigPath / "player_storage.bin");
     }
 
     void LuaManager::update()
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwlua/luamanagerimp.hpp b/apps/openmw/mwlua/luamanagerimp.hpp
index 40829e8958..8c4c6f4d95 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwlua/luamanagerimp.hpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwlua/luamanagerimp.hpp
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 #include <components/lua_ui/resources.hpp>
 
 #include <components/misc/color.hpp>
+#include <filesystem>
 
 #include "../mwbase/luamanager.hpp"
 
@@ -26,7 +27,7 @@ namespace MWLua
     class LuaManager : public MWBase::LuaManager
     {
     public:
-        LuaManager(const VFS::Manager* vfs, const std::string& libsDir);
+        LuaManager(const VFS::Manager* vfs, const std::filesystem::path &libsDir);
 
         // Called by engine.cpp before UI setup.
         void initL10n();
@@ -34,8 +35,8 @@ namespace MWLua
         // Called by engine.cpp when the environment is fully initialized.
         void init();
 
-        void loadPermanentStorage(const std::string& userConfigPath);
-        void savePermanentStorage(const std::string& userConfigPath);
+        void loadPermanentStorage(const std::filesystem::path &userConfigPath);
+        void savePermanentStorage(const std::filesystem::path &userConfigPath);
 
         // Called by engine.cpp every frame. For performance reasons it works in a separate
         // thread (in parallel with osg Cull). Can not use scene graph.
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwrender/postprocessor.cpp b/apps/openmw/mwrender/postprocessor.cpp
index 82cfb50a71..be84d8fdff 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwrender/postprocessor.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwrender/postprocessor.cpp
@@ -218,11 +218,11 @@ namespace MWRender
         for (const auto& name : mVFS->getRecursiveDirectoryIterator(fx::Technique::sSubdir))
         {
             std::filesystem::path path = name;
-            std::string fileExt = Misc::StringUtils::lowerCase(path.extension().string());
+            std::string fileExt = Misc::StringUtils::lowerCase(path.extension().string()); //TODO(Project579): let's hope unicode characters are never used in these extensions on windows or this will break
             if (!path.parent_path().has_parent_path() && fileExt == fx::Technique::sExt)
             {
-                auto absolutePath = std::filesystem::path(mVFS->getAbsoluteFileName(name));
-                mTechniqueFileMap[absolutePath.stem().string()] = absolutePath;
+                const auto absolutePath = mVFS->getAbsoluteFileName(name); //TODO(Project579): let's hope unicode characters are never used in these filenames on windows or this will break
+                mTechniqueFileMap[absolutePath.stem().string()] = absolutePath; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
             }
         }
     }
@@ -387,7 +387,7 @@ namespace MWRender
             std::this_thread::sleep_for(std::chrono::milliseconds(5));
 
             if (technique->compile())
-                Log(Debug::Info) << "Reloaded technique : " << mTechniqueFileMap[technique->getName()].string();
+                Log(Debug::Info) << "Reloaded technique : " << mTechniqueFileMap[technique->getName()].string(); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
 
             mReload = technique->isValid();
         }
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwrender/renderingmanager.cpp b/apps/openmw/mwrender/renderingmanager.cpp
index 4dbbb5dc91..3662e13283 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwrender/renderingmanager.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwrender/renderingmanager.cpp
@@ -369,7 +369,7 @@ namespace MWRender
     };
 
     RenderingManager::RenderingManager(osgViewer::Viewer* viewer, osg::ref_ptr<osg::Group> rootNode,
-        Resource::ResourceSystem* resourceSystem, SceneUtil::WorkQueue* workQueue, const std::string& resourcePath,
+        Resource::ResourceSystem* resourceSystem, SceneUtil::WorkQueue* workQueue, const std::filesystem::path& resourcePath,
         DetourNavigator::Navigator& navigator, const MWWorld::GroundcoverStore& groundcoverStore,
         SceneUtil::UnrefQueue& unrefQueue)
         : mSkyBlending(Settings::Manager::getBool("sky blending", "Fog"))
@@ -1526,7 +1526,7 @@ namespace MWRender
             updateProjectionMatrix();
         }
     }
-    void RenderingManager::exportSceneGraph(const MWWorld::Ptr &ptr, const std::string &filename, const std::string &format)
+    void RenderingManager::exportSceneGraph(const MWWorld::Ptr &ptr, const std::filesystem::path& filename, const std::string &format)
     {
         osg::Node* node = mViewer->getSceneData();
         if (!ptr.isEmpty())
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwrender/renderingmanager.hpp b/apps/openmw/mwrender/renderingmanager.hpp
index 68a77c39f3..2f7a1f0a51 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwrender/renderingmanager.hpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwrender/renderingmanager.hpp
@@ -102,7 +102,7 @@ namespace MWRender
     {
     public:
         RenderingManager(osgViewer::Viewer* viewer, osg::ref_ptr<osg::Group> rootNode,
-            Resource::ResourceSystem* resourceSystem, SceneUtil::WorkQueue* workQueue, const std::string& resourcePath,
+            Resource::ResourceSystem* resourceSystem, SceneUtil::WorkQueue* workQueue, const std::filesystem::path& resourcePath,
             DetourNavigator::Navigator& navigator, const MWWorld::GroundcoverStore& groundcoverStore,
             SceneUtil::UnrefQueue& unrefQueue);
         ~RenderingManager();
@@ -232,7 +232,7 @@ namespace MWRender
 
         osg::Vec3f getHalfExtents(const MWWorld::ConstPtr& object) const;
 
-        void exportSceneGraph(const MWWorld::Ptr& ptr, const std::string& filename, const std::string& format);
+        void exportSceneGraph(const MWWorld::Ptr& ptr, const std::filesystem::path& filename, const std::string& format);
 
         LandManager* getLandManager() const;
 
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwrender/water.cpp b/apps/openmw/mwrender/water.cpp
index 8de9191868..8ad7997c2e 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwrender/water.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwrender/water.cpp
@@ -238,21 +238,21 @@ private:
     float mRainIntensity;
 };
 
-osg::ref_ptr<osg::Image> readPngImage (const std::string& file)
+osg::ref_ptr<osg::Image> readPngImage (const std::filesystem::path& file)
 {
     std::ifstream inStream;
     inStream.open(file, std::ios_base::in | std::ios_base::binary);
     if (inStream.fail())
-        Log(Debug::Error) << "Error: Failed to open " << file;
+        Log(Debug::Error) << "Error: Failed to open " << file; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
     osgDB::ReaderWriter* reader = osgDB::Registry::instance()->getReaderWriterForExtension("png");
     if (!reader)
     {
-        Log(Debug::Error) << "Error: Failed to read " << file << ", no png readerwriter found";
+        Log(Debug::Error) << "Error: Failed to read " << file << ", no png readerwriter found"; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
         return osg::ref_ptr<osg::Image>();
     }
     osgDB::ReaderWriter::ReadResult result = reader->readImage(inStream);
     if (!result.success())
-        Log(Debug::Error) << "Error: Failed to read " << file << ": " << result.message() << " code " << result.status();
+        Log(Debug::Error) << "Error: Failed to read " << file << ": " << result.message() << " code " << result.status(); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
 
     return result.getImage();
 }
@@ -444,7 +444,7 @@ public:
 };
 
 Water::Water(osg::Group *parent, osg::Group* sceneRoot, Resource::ResourceSystem *resourceSystem,
-             osgUtil::IncrementalCompileOperation *ico, const std::string& resourcePath)
+             osgUtil::IncrementalCompileOperation *ico, const std::filesystem::path& resourcePath)
     : mRainIntensityUpdater(nullptr)
     , mParent(parent)
     , mSceneRoot(sceneRoot)
@@ -695,7 +695,7 @@ void Water::createShaderWaterStateSet(osg::Node* node, Reflection* reflection, R
     osg::ref_ptr<osg::Shader> fragmentShader(shaderMgr.getShader("water_fragment.glsl", defineMap, osg::Shader::FRAGMENT));
     osg::ref_ptr<osg::Program> program = shaderMgr.getProgram(vertexShader, fragmentShader);
 
-    osg::ref_ptr<osg::Texture2D> normalMap(new osg::Texture2D(readPngImage(mResourcePath + "/shaders/water_nm.png")));
+    osg::ref_ptr<osg::Texture2D> normalMap(new osg::Texture2D(readPngImage(mResourcePath / "shaders" / "water_nm.png")));
 
     if (normalMap->getImage())
         normalMap->getImage()->flipVertical();
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwrender/water.hpp b/apps/openmw/mwrender/water.hpp
index c7acbf708f..8309566031 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwrender/water.hpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwrender/water.hpp
@@ -65,7 +65,7 @@ namespace MWRender
         osg::ref_ptr<Refraction> mRefraction;
         osg::ref_ptr<Reflection> mReflection;
 
-        const std::string mResourcePath;
+        const std::filesystem::path mResourcePath;
 
         bool mEnabled;
         bool mToggled;
@@ -90,7 +90,7 @@ namespace MWRender
     public:
         Water(osg::Group* parent, osg::Group* sceneRoot,
               Resource::ResourceSystem* resourceSystem, osgUtil::IncrementalCompileOperation* ico,
-              const std::string& resourcePath);
+              const std::filesystem::path& resourcePath);
         ~Water();
 
         void setCullCallback(osg::Callback* callback);
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwscript/miscextensions.cpp b/apps/openmw/mwscript/miscextensions.cpp
index a005594490..eb82eb9d2e 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwscript/miscextensions.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwscript/miscextensions.cpp
@@ -1527,8 +1527,8 @@ namespace MWScript
                     runtime.getContext().report("Exporting the entire scene graph will result in a large file. Confirm this action using 'showscenegraph 1' or select an object instead.");
                 else
                 {
-                    const std::string& filename = MWBase::Environment::get().getWorld()->exportSceneGraph(ptr);
-                    runtime.getContext().report("Wrote '" + filename + "'");
+                    const auto filename = MWBase::Environment::get().getWorld()->exportSceneGraph(ptr);
+                    runtime.getContext().report("Wrote '" + filename.string() + "'"); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
                 }
             }
         };
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwstate/character.cpp b/apps/openmw/mwstate/character.cpp
index 0d90ab121a..136adfec89 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwstate/character.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwstate/character.cpp
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ void MWState::Character::addSlot (const std::filesystem::path& path, const std::
     slot.mTimeStamp = std::filesystem::last_write_time (path);
 
     ESM::ESMReader reader;
-    reader.open (slot.mPath.string());
+    reader.open (slot.mPath);
 
     if (reader.getRecName()!=ESM::REC_SAVE)
         return; // invalid save file -> ignore
@@ -91,13 +91,11 @@ MWState::Character::Character (std::filesystem::path saves, const std::string& g
     }
     else
     {
-        for (std::filesystem::directory_iterator iter (mPath); iter!=std::filesystem::directory_iterator(); ++iter)
+        for (const auto& iter : std::filesystem::directory_iterator (mPath))
         {
-            std::filesystem::path slotPath = *iter;
-
             try
             {
-                addSlot (slotPath, game);
+                addSlot (iter, game);
             }
             catch (...) {} // ignoring bad saved game files for now
         }
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwstate/statemanagerimp.cpp b/apps/openmw/mwstate/statemanagerimp.cpp
index 2b80063265..3142b495a4 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwstate/statemanagerimp.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwstate/statemanagerimp.cpp
@@ -305,7 +305,7 @@ void MWState::StateManager::saveGame (const std::string& description, const Slot
             throw std::runtime_error("Write operation failed (file stream)");
 
         Settings::Manager::setString ("character", "Saves",
-            slot->mPath.parent_path().filename().string());
+            slot->mPath.parent_path().filename().string()); //TODO(Project579): let's hope unicode characters are never used in these filenames on windows or this will break
 
         const auto finish = std::chrono::steady_clock::now();
 
@@ -364,15 +364,15 @@ void MWState::StateManager::quickSave (std::string name)
     saveGame(name, saveFinder.getNextQuickSaveSlot());
 }
 
-void MWState::StateManager::loadGame(const std::string& filepath)
+void MWState::StateManager::loadGame(const std::filesystem::path &filepath)
 {
     for (const auto& character : mCharacterManager)
     {
         for (const auto& slot : character)
         {
-            if (slot.mPath == std::filesystem::path(filepath))
+            if (slot.mPath == filepath)
             {
-                loadGame(&character, slot.mPath.string());
+                loadGame(&character, slot.mPath);
                 return;
             }
         }
@@ -382,13 +382,13 @@ void MWState::StateManager::loadGame(const std::string& filepath)
     loadGame(character, filepath);
 }
 
-void MWState::StateManager::loadGame (const Character *character, const std::string& filepath)
+void MWState::StateManager::loadGame (const Character *character, const std::filesystem::path &filepath)
 {
     try
     {
         cleanup();
 
-        Log(Debug::Info) << "Reading save file " << std::filesystem::path(filepath).filename().string();
+        Log(Debug::Info) << "Reading save file " << filepath.filename(); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
 
         ESM::ESMReader reader;
         reader.open (filepath);
@@ -521,7 +521,7 @@ void MWState::StateManager::loadGame (const Character *character, const std::str
 
         if (character)
             Settings::Manager::setString ("character", "Saves",
-                                      character->getPath().filename().string());
+                                      character->getPath().filename().string()); //TODO(Project579): let's hope unicode characters are never used in these filenames on windows or this will break
 
         MWBase::Environment::get().getWindowManager()->setNewGame(false);
         MWBase::Environment::get().getWorld()->saveLoaded();
@@ -593,7 +593,7 @@ void MWState::StateManager::quickLoad()
     {
         if (currentCharacter->begin() == currentCharacter->end())
             return;
-        loadGame (currentCharacter, currentCharacter->begin()->mPath.string()); //Get newest save
+        loadGame (currentCharacter, currentCharacter->begin()->mPath); //Get newest save
     }
 }
 
@@ -632,7 +632,7 @@ void MWState::StateManager::update (float duration)
             //Load last saved game for current character
 
             MWState::Slot lastSave = *curCharacter->begin();
-            loadGame(curCharacter, lastSave.mPath.string());
+            loadGame(curCharacter, lastSave.mPath);
         }
         else if(iButton==1)
         {
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwstate/statemanagerimp.hpp b/apps/openmw/mwstate/statemanagerimp.hpp
index ae1b592cfe..0097a9c490 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwstate/statemanagerimp.hpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwstate/statemanagerimp.hpp
@@ -66,12 +66,12 @@ namespace MWState
             /** Used for quickload **/
             void quickLoad() override;
 
-            void loadGame (const std::string& filepath) override;
+            void loadGame (const std::filesystem::path &filepath) override;
             ///< Load a saved game directly from the given file path. This will search the CharacterManager
             /// for a Character containing this save file, and set this Character current if one was found.
             /// Otherwise, a new Character will be created.
 
-            void loadGame (const Character *character, const std::string &filepath) override;
+            void loadGame (const Character *character, const std::filesystem::path &filepath) override;
             ///< Load a saved game file belonging to the given character.
 
             Character *getCurrentCharacter () override;
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwworld/esmloader.cpp b/apps/openmw/mwworld/esmloader.cpp
index 4fe1df72f8..861401d60e 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwworld/esmloader.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwworld/esmloader.cpp
@@ -22,13 +22,13 @@ void EsmLoader::load(const std::filesystem::path& filepath, int& index, Loading:
 
     reader->setEncoder(mEncoder);
     reader->setIndex(index);
-    reader->open(filepath.string());
+    reader->open(filepath);
     reader->resolveParentFileIndices(mReaders);
 
     assert(reader->getGameFiles().size() == reader->getParentFileIndices().size());
     for (std::size_t i = 0, n = reader->getParentFileIndices().size(); i < n; ++i)
         if (i == static_cast<std::size_t>(reader->getIndex()))
-            throw std::runtime_error("File " + reader->getName() + " asks for parent file "
+            throw std::runtime_error("File " + reader->getName().string() + " asks for parent file " //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
                 + reader->getGameFiles()[i].name
                 + ", but it is not available or has been loaded in the wrong order. "
                   "Please run the launcher to fix this issue.");
@@ -36,8 +36,8 @@ void EsmLoader::load(const std::filesystem::path& filepath, int& index, Loading:
     mESMVersions[index] = reader->getVer();
     mStore.load(*reader, listener, mDialogue);
 
-    if (!mMasterFileFormat.has_value() && (Misc::StringUtils::ciEndsWith(reader->getName(), ".esm")
-                                           || Misc::StringUtils::ciEndsWith(reader->getName(), ".omwgame")))
+    if (!mMasterFileFormat.has_value() && (Misc::StringUtils::ciEndsWith(reader->getName().string(), ".esm") //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
+                                           || Misc::StringUtils::ciEndsWith(reader->getName().string(), ".omwgame"))) //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
         mMasterFileFormat = reader->getFormat();
 }
 
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwworld/esmstore.cpp b/apps/openmw/mwworld/esmstore.cpp
index 9316dd6c40..d133efd2ac 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwworld/esmstore.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwworld/esmstore.cpp
@@ -321,13 +321,13 @@ ESM::LuaScriptsCfg ESMStore::getLuaScriptsCfg() const
     ESM::LuaScriptsCfg cfg;
     for (const LuaContent& c : mLuaContent)
     {
-        if (std::holds_alternative<std::string>(c))
+        if (std::holds_alternative<std::filesystem::path>(c))
         {
             // *.omwscripts are intentionally reloaded every time when `getLuaScriptsCfg` is called.
             // It is important for the `reloadlua` console command.
             try
             {
-                auto file = std::ifstream(std::get<std::string>(c));
+                auto file = std::ifstream(std::get<std::filesystem::path>(c));
                 std::string fileContent(std::istreambuf_iterator<char>(file), {});
                 LuaUtil::parseOMWScripts(cfg, fileContent);
             }
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwworld/esmstore.hpp b/apps/openmw/mwworld/esmstore.hpp
index a4fcf80303..c5a860a823 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwworld/esmstore.hpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwworld/esmstore.hpp
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 #include <stdexcept>
 #include <unordered_map>
 #include <tuple>
+#include <filesystem>
 
 #include <components/esm/luascripts.hpp>
 #include <components/esm3/loadgmst.hpp>
@@ -159,11 +160,11 @@ namespace MWWorld
 
         using LuaContent = std::variant<
             ESM::LuaScriptsCfg,  // data from an omwaddon
-            std::string>;  // path to an omwscripts file
+            std::filesystem::path>;  // path to an omwscripts file
         std::vector<LuaContent> mLuaContent;
 
     public:
-        void addOMWScripts(std::string filePath) { mLuaContent.push_back(std::move(filePath)); }
+        void addOMWScripts(std::filesystem::path filePath) { mLuaContent.push_back(std::move(filePath)); }
         ESM::LuaScriptsCfg getLuaScriptsCfg() const;
 
         /// \todo replace with SharedIterator<StoreBase>
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwworld/worldimp.cpp b/apps/openmw/mwworld/worldimp.cpp
index 1a10a53954..b0828fd69a 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwworld/worldimp.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwworld/worldimp.cpp
@@ -104,10 +104,10 @@ namespace MWWorld
 
         void load(const std::filesystem::path& filepath, int& index, Loading::Listener* listener) override
         {
-            const auto it = mLoaders.find(Misc::StringUtils::lowerCase(filepath.extension().string()));
+            const auto it = mLoaders.find(Misc::StringUtils::lowerCase(filepath.extension().string())); //TODO(Project579): let's hope unicode characters are never used in these extensions on windows or this will break
             if (it != mLoaders.end())
             {
-                const std::string filename = filepath.filename().string();
+                const std::string filename = filepath.filename().string(); //TODO(Project579): let's hope unicode characters are never used in these filenames on windows or this will break
                 Log(Debug::Info) << "Loading content file " << filename;
                 if (listener != nullptr)
                     listener->setLabel(MyGUI::TextIterator::toTagsString(filename));
@@ -116,7 +116,7 @@ namespace MWWorld
             else
             {
                 std::string msg("Cannot load file: ");
-                msg += filepath.string();
+                msg += filepath.string(); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
                 throw std::runtime_error(msg.c_str());
             }
         }
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ namespace MWWorld
         OMWScriptsLoader(ESMStore& store) : mStore(store) {}
         void load(const std::filesystem::path& filepath, int& /*index*/, Loading::Listener* /*listener*/) override
         {
-            mStore.addOMWScripts(filepath.string());
+            mStore.addOMWScripts(filepath);
         }
     };
 
@@ -156,7 +156,7 @@ namespace MWWorld
         const std::vector<std::string>& groundcoverFiles,
         ToUTF8::Utf8Encoder* encoder, int activationDistanceOverride,
         const std::string& startCell, const std::string& startupScript,
-        const std::string& resourcePath, const std::string& userDataPath)
+        const std::filesystem::path& resourcePath, const std::filesystem::path& userDataPath)
     : mResourceSystem(resourceSystem), mLocalScripts(mStore),
       mCells(mStore, mReaders), mSky(true),
       mGodMode(false), mScriptsEnabled(true), mDiscardMovements(true), mContentFiles (contentFiles),
@@ -2964,7 +2964,7 @@ namespace MWWorld
         for (const std::string &file : content)
         {
             std::filesystem::path filename(file);
-            const Files::MultiDirCollection& col = fileCollections.getCollection(filename.extension().string());
+            const Files::MultiDirCollection& col = fileCollections.getCollection(filename.extension().string()); //TODO(Project579): let's hope unicode characters are never used in these extensions on windows or this will break
             if (col.doesExist(file))
             {
                 gameContentLoader.load(col.getPath(file), idx, listener);
@@ -3694,9 +3694,9 @@ namespace MWWorld
             return mPhysics->getHalfExtents(object);
     }
 
-    std::string World::exportSceneGraph(const Ptr &ptr)
+    std::filesystem::path World::exportSceneGraph(const Ptr& ptr)
     {
-        std::string file = mUserDataPath + "/openmw.osgt";
+        auto file = mUserDataPath / "openmw.osgt";
         if (!ptr.isEmpty())
         {
             mRendering->pagingBlacklistObject(mStore.find(ptr.getCellRef().getRefId()), ptr);
diff --git a/apps/openmw/mwworld/worldimp.hpp b/apps/openmw/mwworld/worldimp.hpp
index e6085b7f79..c6bde113f4 100644
--- a/apps/openmw/mwworld/worldimp.hpp
+++ b/apps/openmw/mwworld/worldimp.hpp
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ namespace MWWorld
             bool mDiscardMovements;
             std::vector<std::string> mContentFiles;
 
-            std::string mUserDataPath;
+            std::filesystem::path mUserDataPath;
 
             osg::Vec3f mDefaultHalfExtents;
             DetourNavigator::CollisionShapeType mDefaultActorCollisionShapeType;
@@ -203,7 +203,7 @@ namespace MWWorld
                 const std::vector<std::string>& groundcoverFiles,
                 ToUTF8::Utf8Encoder* encoder, int activationDistanceOverride,
                 const std::string& startCell, const std::string& startupScript,
-                const std::string& resourcePath, const std::string& userDataPath);
+                const std::filesystem::path& resourcePath, const std::filesystem::path& userDataPath);
 
             virtual ~World();
 
@@ -730,7 +730,7 @@ namespace MWWorld
 
             /// Export scene graph to a file and return the filename.
             /// \param ptr object to export scene graph for (if empty, export entire scene graph)
-            std::string exportSceneGraph(const MWWorld::Ptr& ptr) override;
+            std::filesystem::path exportSceneGraph(const MWWorld::Ptr& ptr) override;
 
             /// Preload VFX associated with this effect list
             void preloadEffects(const ESM::EffectList* effectList) override;
diff --git a/apps/openmw_test_suite/esm3/readerscache.cpp b/apps/openmw_test_suite/esm3/readerscache.cpp
index 720b66a04f..826b803b8f 100644
--- a/apps/openmw_test_suite/esm3/readerscache.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw_test_suite/esm3/readerscache.cpp
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ namespace
         const Files::PathContainer mDataDirs {{std::string(OPENMW_DATA_DIR)}};
         const Files::Collections mFileCollections {mDataDirs, true};
         const std::string mContentFile = "template.omwgame";
-        const std::string mContentFilePath = mFileCollections.getCollection(".omwgame").getPath(mContentFile).string();
+        const std::filesystem::path mContentFilePath = mFileCollections.getCollection(".omwgame").getPath(mContentFile);
     };
 
     TEST_F(ESM3ReadersCacheWithContentFile, shouldKeepOpenReleasedOpenReader)
diff --git a/apps/openmw_test_suite/files/hash.cpp b/apps/openmw_test_suite/files/hash.cpp
index f8303ac1f3..dcace6b34e 100644
--- a/apps/openmw_test_suite/files/hash.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw_test_suite/files/hash.cpp
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ namespace
 
     TEST(FilesGetHash, shouldClearErrors)
     {
-        const std::string fileName = temporaryFilePath("fileName");
+        const auto fileName = temporaryFilePath("fileName");
         std::string content;
         std::fill_n(std::back_inserter(content), 1, 'a');
         std::istringstream stream(content);
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ namespace
 
     TEST_P(FilesGetHash, shouldReturnHashForStringStream)
     {
-        const std::string fileName = temporaryFilePath("fileName");
+        const auto fileName = temporaryFilePath("fileName");
         std::string content;
         std::fill_n(std::back_inserter(content), GetParam().mSize, 'a');
         std::istringstream stream(content);
@@ -50,10 +50,10 @@ namespace
         std::replace(fileName.begin(), fileName.end(), '/', '_');
         std::string content;
         std::fill_n(std::back_inserter(content), GetParam().mSize, 'a');
-        fileName = outputFilePath(fileName);
+        fileName = outputFilePath(fileName).string(); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
         std::fstream(fileName, std::ios_base::out | std::ios_base::binary)
             .write(content.data(), static_cast<std::streamsize>(content.size()));
-        const auto stream = Files::openConstrainedFileStream(fileName, 0, content.size());
+        const auto stream = Files::openConstrainedFileStream(fileName, 0, content.size()); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
         EXPECT_EQ(getHash(fileName, *stream), GetParam().mHash);
     }
 
diff --git a/apps/openmw_test_suite/lua/test_storage.cpp b/apps/openmw_test_suite/lua/test_storage.cpp
index c1d8cc4c4f..364cb9d3f6 100644
--- a/apps/openmw_test_suite/lua/test_storage.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw_test_suite/lua/test_storage.cpp
@@ -88,7 +88,7 @@ namespace
         mLua.safe_script("permanent:set('x', 1)");
         mLua.safe_script("temporary:set('y', 2)");
 
-        std::string tmpFile = (std::filesystem::temp_directory_path() / "test_storage.bin").string();
+        const auto tmpFile = std::filesystem::temp_directory_path() / "test_storage.bin";
         storage.save(tmpFile);
         EXPECT_EQ(get<int>(mLua, "permanent:get('x')"), 1);
         EXPECT_EQ(get<int>(mLua, "temporary:get('y')"), 2);
diff --git a/apps/openmw_test_suite/mwworld/test_store.cpp b/apps/openmw_test_suite/mwworld/test_store.cpp
index edba8b3d3a..b5fbf5a291 100644
--- a/apps/openmw_test_suite/mwworld/test_store.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw_test_suite/mwworld/test_store.cpp
@@ -41,7 +41,7 @@ struct ContentFileTest : public ::testing::Test
             ESM::ESMReader lEsm;
             lEsm.setEncoder(nullptr);
             lEsm.setIndex(index);
-            lEsm.open(mContentFile.string());
+            lEsm.open(mContentFile);
             mEsmStore.load(lEsm, &dummyListener, dialogue);
 
             ++index;
@@ -109,7 +109,7 @@ TEST_F(ContentFileTest, dialogue_merging_test)
         return;
     }
 
-    const std::string file = TestingOpenMW::outputFilePath("test_dialogue_merging.txt");
+    const auto file = TestingOpenMW::outputFilePath("test_dialogue_merging.txt");
     std::ofstream stream(file);
 
     const MWWorld::Store<ESM::Dialogue>& dialStore = mEsmStore.get<ESM::Dialogue>();
@@ -124,7 +124,7 @@ TEST_F(ContentFileTest, dialogue_merging_test)
         stream << std::endl;
     }
 
-    std::cout << "dialogue_merging_test successful, results printed to " << file << std::endl;
+    std::cout << "dialogue_merging_test successful, results printed to " << file << std::endl; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
 }
 
 // Note: here we don't test records that don't use string names (e.g. Land, Pathgrid, Cell)
@@ -189,12 +189,12 @@ TEST_F(ContentFileTest, content_diagnostics_test)
         return;
     }
 
-    const std::string file = TestingOpenMW::outputFilePath("test_content_diagnostics.txt");
+    const auto file = TestingOpenMW::outputFilePath("test_content_diagnostics.txt");
     std::ofstream stream(file);
 
     RUN_TEST_FOR_TYPES(printRecords, mEsmStore, stream);
 
-    std::cout << "diagnostics_test successful, results printed to " << file << std::endl;
+    std::cout << "diagnostics_test successful, results printed to " << file << std::endl; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
 }
 
 // TODO:
diff --git a/apps/openmw_test_suite/nifloader/testbulletnifloader.cpp b/apps/openmw_test_suite/nifloader/testbulletnifloader.cpp
index 5c368b4e7e..b2570f7704 100644
--- a/apps/openmw_test_suite/nifloader/testbulletnifloader.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw_test_suite/nifloader/testbulletnifloader.cpp
@@ -353,7 +353,7 @@ namespace
         MOCK_METHOD(std::string, getString, (uint32_t), (const, override));
         MOCK_METHOD(void, setUseSkinning, (bool), (override));
         MOCK_METHOD(bool, getUseSkinning, (), (const, override));
-        MOCK_METHOD(std::string, getFilename, (), (const, override));
+        MOCK_METHOD(std::filesystem::path, getFilename, (), (const, override));
         MOCK_METHOD(std::string, getHash, (), (const, override));
         MOCK_METHOD(unsigned int, getVersion, (), (const, override));
         MOCK_METHOD(unsigned int, getUserVersion, (), (const, override));
diff --git a/apps/openmw_test_suite/settings/parser.cpp b/apps/openmw_test_suite/settings/parser.cpp
index 7e250b43aa..33d6b24ded 100644
--- a/apps/openmw_test_suite/settings/parser.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw_test_suite/settings/parser.cpp
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ namespace
         template <typename F>
         void withSettingsFile( const std::string& content, F&& f)
         {
-            std::string path = TestingOpenMW::outputFilePath(
+            auto path = TestingOpenMW::outputFilePath(
                 std::string(UnitTest::GetInstance()->current_test_info()->name()) + ".cfg");
 
             {
diff --git a/apps/openmw_test_suite/settings/shadermanager.cpp b/apps/openmw_test_suite/settings/shadermanager.cpp
index e4f40aaa03..1ed3e7a48c 100644
--- a/apps/openmw_test_suite/settings/shadermanager.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw_test_suite/settings/shadermanager.cpp
@@ -17,7 +17,7 @@ namespace
         template <typename F>
         void withSettingsFile( const std::string& content, F&& f)
         {
-            std::string path = TestingOpenMW::outputFilePath(
+            auto path = TestingOpenMW::outputFilePath(
                 std::string(UnitTest::GetInstance()->current_test_info()->name()) + ".yaml");
 
             {
@@ -69,4 +69,4 @@ config:
             EXPECT_FALSE(ShaderManager::get().save());
         });
     }
-}
\ No newline at end of file
+}
diff --git a/apps/openmw_test_suite/shader/shadermanager.cpp b/apps/openmw_test_suite/shader/shadermanager.cpp
index 58ca3b6f3f..9e4808b073 100644
--- a/apps/openmw_test_suite/shader/shadermanager.cpp
+++ b/apps/openmw_test_suite/shader/shadermanager.cpp
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ namespace
         template <class F>
         void withShaderFile(const std::string& suffix, const std::string& content, F&& f)
         {
-            std::string path = TestingOpenMW::outputFilePath(
+            auto path = TestingOpenMW::outputFilePath(
                 std::string(UnitTest::GetInstance()->current_test_info()->name()) + suffix + ".glsl");
 
             {
@@ -47,8 +47,8 @@ namespace
     {
         const std::string content;
 
-        withShaderFile(content, [this] (const std::string& templateName) {
-            EXPECT_TRUE(mManager.getShader(templateName, {}, osg::Shader::VERTEX));
+        withShaderFile(content, [this] (const std::filesystem::path& templateName) {
+            EXPECT_TRUE(mManager.getShader(templateName.string(), {}, osg::Shader::VERTEX)); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
         });
     }
 
@@ -58,8 +58,8 @@ namespace
             "#version 120\n"
             "void main() {}\n";
 
-        withShaderFile(content, [&] (const std::string& templateName) {
-            const auto shader = mManager.getShader(templateName, mDefines, osg::Shader::VERTEX);
+        withShaderFile(content, [&] (const std::filesystem::path& templateName) {
+            const auto shader = mManager.getShader(templateName.string(), mDefines, osg::Shader::VERTEX); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
             ASSERT_TRUE(shader);
             EXPECT_EQ(shader->getShaderSource(), content);
         });
@@ -70,19 +70,19 @@ namespace
         const std::string content0 =
             "void foo() {}\n";
 
-        withShaderFile("_0", content0, [&] (const std::string& templateName0) {
+        withShaderFile("_0", content0, [&] (const std::filesystem::path& templateName0) {
             const std::string content1 =
-                "#include \"" + templateName0 + "\"\n"
+                "#include \"" + templateName0.string() + "\"\n" //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
                 "void bar() { foo() }\n";
 
-            withShaderFile("_1", content1, [&] (const std::string& templateName1) {
+            withShaderFile("_1", content1, [&] (const std::filesystem::path& templateName1) {
                 const std::string content2 =
                     "#version 120\n"
-                    "#include \"" + templateName1 + "\"\n"
+                    "#include \"" + templateName1.string() + "\"\n" //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
                     "void main() { bar() }\n";
 
-                withShaderFile(content2, [&] (const std::string& templateName2) {
-                    const auto shader = mManager.getShader(templateName2, mDefines, osg::Shader::VERTEX);
+                withShaderFile(content2, [&] (const std::filesystem::path& templateName2) {
+                    const auto shader = mManager.getShader(templateName2.string(), mDefines, osg::Shader::VERTEX); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
                     ASSERT_TRUE(shader);
                     const std::string expected =
                         "#version 120\n"
@@ -111,9 +111,9 @@ namespace
             "void main() {}\n"
         ;
 
-        withShaderFile(content, [&] (const std::string& templateName) {
+        withShaderFile(content, [&] (const std::filesystem::path& templateName) {
             mDefines["flag"] = "1";
-            const auto shader = mManager.getShader(templateName, mDefines, osg::Shader::VERTEX);
+            const auto shader = mManager.getShader(templateName.string(), mDefines, osg::Shader::VERTEX); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
             ASSERT_TRUE(shader);
             const std::string expected =
                 "#version 120\n"
@@ -133,9 +133,9 @@ namespace
             "void main() {}\n"
         ;
 
-        withShaderFile(content, [&] (const std::string& templateName) {
+        withShaderFile(content, [&] (const std::filesystem::path& templateName) {
             mDefines["list"] = "1,2,3";
-            const auto shader = mManager.getShader(templateName, mDefines, osg::Shader::VERTEX);
+            const auto shader = mManager.getShader(templateName.string(), mDefines, osg::Shader::VERTEX); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
             ASSERT_TRUE(shader);
             const std::string expected =
                 "#version 120\n"
@@ -174,9 +174,9 @@ namespace
             "}\n"
         ;
 
-        withShaderFile(content, [&] (const std::string& templateName) {
+        withShaderFile(content, [&] (const std::filesystem::path& templateName) {
             mDefines["list"] = "1,2,3";
-            const auto shader = mManager.getShader(templateName, mDefines, osg::Shader::VERTEX);
+            const auto shader = mManager.getShader(templateName.string(), mDefines, osg::Shader::VERTEX); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
             ASSERT_TRUE(shader);
             const std::string expected =
                 "#version 120\n"
@@ -222,8 +222,8 @@ namespace
             "void main() {}\n"
         ;
 
-        withShaderFile(content, [&] (const std::string& templateName) {
-            EXPECT_FALSE(mManager.getShader(templateName, mDefines, osg::Shader::VERTEX));
+        withShaderFile(content, [&] (const std::filesystem::path& templateName) {
+            EXPECT_FALSE(mManager.getShader(templateName.string(), mDefines, osg::Shader::VERTEX)); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
         });
     }
 
@@ -235,8 +235,8 @@ namespace
             "void main() {}\n"
         ;
 
-        withShaderFile(content, [&] (const std::string& templateName) {
-            EXPECT_FALSE(mManager.getShader(templateName, mDefines, osg::Shader::VERTEX));
+        withShaderFile(content, [&] (const std::filesystem::path& templateName) {
+            EXPECT_FALSE(mManager.getShader(templateName.string(), mDefines, osg::Shader::VERTEX)); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
         });
     }
 }
diff --git a/apps/openmw_test_suite/testing_util.hpp b/apps/openmw_test_suite/testing_util.hpp
index 125d2505ed..7b6b008501 100644
--- a/apps/openmw_test_suite/testing_util.hpp
+++ b/apps/openmw_test_suite/testing_util.hpp
@@ -10,16 +10,16 @@
 namespace TestingOpenMW
 {
 
-    inline std::string outputFilePath(const std::string name)
+    inline std::filesystem::path outputFilePath(const std::string name)
     {
         std::filesystem::path dir("tests_output");
         std::filesystem::create_directory(dir);
-        return (dir / name).string();
+        return dir / name;
     }
 
-    inline std::string temporaryFilePath(const std::string name)
+    inline std::filesystem::path temporaryFilePath(const std::string name)
     {
-        return (std::filesystem::temp_directory_path() / name).string();
+        return std::filesystem::temp_directory_path() / name;
     }
 
     class VFSTestFile : public VFS::File
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ namespace TestingOpenMW
             return std::make_unique<std::stringstream>(mContent, std::ios_base::in);
         }
 
-        std::string getPath() override
+        std::filesystem::path getPath() override
         {
             return "TestFile";
         }
diff --git a/apps/wizard/installationtargetpage.cpp b/apps/wizard/installationtargetpage.cpp
index f55794ccaf..0a41d57f14 100644
--- a/apps/wizard/installationtargetpage.cpp
+++ b/apps/wizard/installationtargetpage.cpp
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ Wizard::InstallationTargetPage::InstallationTargetPage(QWidget *parent, const Fi
 
 void Wizard::InstallationTargetPage::initializePage()
 {
-    QString path(QFile::decodeName(mCfgMgr.getUserDataPath().string().c_str()));
+    QString path(QFile::decodeName(mCfgMgr.getUserDataPath().string().c_str())); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
     path.append(QDir::separator() + QLatin1String("basedata"));
 
     QDir dir(path);
diff --git a/apps/wizard/mainwizard.cpp b/apps/wizard/mainwizard.cpp
index 9544ccfbee..a597b11df8 100644
--- a/apps/wizard/mainwizard.cpp
+++ b/apps/wizard/mainwizard.cpp
@@ -471,5 +471,5 @@ bool Wizard::MainWizard::findFiles(const QString &name, const QString &path)
 
 QString Wizard::MainWizard::toQString(const std::filesystem::path& path)
 {
-    return QString::fromUtf8(path.string().c_str());
+    return QString::fromUtf8(path.string().c_str()); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
 }
diff --git a/components/bsa/bsa_file.cpp b/components/bsa/bsa_file.cpp
index 9fc6448c2b..65d184cf75 100644
--- a/components/bsa/bsa_file.cpp
+++ b/components/bsa/bsa_file.cpp
@@ -37,7 +37,7 @@ using namespace Bsa;
 /// Error handling
 [[noreturn]] void BSAFile::fail(const std::string &msg)
 {
-    throw std::runtime_error("BSA Error: " + msg + "\nArchive: " + mFilename);
+    throw std::runtime_error("BSA Error: " + msg + "\nArchive: " + mFilepath.string()); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
 }
 
 //the getHash code is from bsapack from ghostwheel
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ void BSAFile::readHeader()
      */
     assert(!mIsLoaded);
 
-    std::ifstream input(std::filesystem::path(mFilename), std::ios_base::binary);
+    std::ifstream input(mFilepath, std::ios_base::binary);
 
     // Total archive size
     std::streamoff fsize = 0;
@@ -196,7 +196,7 @@ void BSAFile::readHeader()
 /// Write header information to the output sink
 void Bsa::BSAFile::writeHeader()
 {
-    std::fstream output(mFilename, std::ios::binary | std::ios::in | std::ios::out);
+    std::fstream output(mFilepath, std::ios::binary | std::ios::in | std::ios::out);
 
     uint32_t head[3];
     head[0] = 0x100;
@@ -231,17 +231,17 @@ void Bsa::BSAFile::writeHeader()
 }
 
 /// Open an archive file.
-void BSAFile::open(const std::string &file)
+void BSAFile::open(const std::filesystem::path &file)
 {
     if (mIsLoaded)
         close();
 
-    mFilename = file;
+    mFilepath = file;
     if(std::filesystem::exists(file))
         readHeader();
     else
     {
-        { std::fstream(mFilename, std::ios::binary | std::ios::out); }
+        { std::fstream(mFilepath, std::ios::binary | std::ios::out); }
         writeHeader();
         mIsLoaded = true;
     }
@@ -270,9 +270,9 @@ void Bsa::BSAFile::addFile(const std::string& filename, std::istream& file)
 
     auto newStartOfDataBuffer = 12 + (12 + 8) * (mFiles.size() + 1) + mStringBuf.size() + filename.size() + 1;
     if (mFiles.empty())
-        std::filesystem::resize_file(mFilename, newStartOfDataBuffer);
+        std::filesystem::resize_file(mFilepath, newStartOfDataBuffer);
 
-    std::fstream stream(mFilename, std::ios::binary | std::ios::in | std::ios::out);
+    std::fstream stream(mFilepath, std::ios::binary | std::ios::in | std::ios::out);
 
     FileStruct newFile;
     file.seekg(0, std::ios::end);
diff --git a/components/bsa/bsa_file.hpp b/components/bsa/bsa_file.hpp
index f6af2e3269..d01fb6d421 100644
--- a/components/bsa/bsa_file.hpp
+++ b/components/bsa/bsa_file.hpp
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 #include <cstdint>
 #include <string>
 #include <vector>
+#include <filesystem>
 
 #include <components/files/istreamptr.hpp>
 
@@ -85,7 +86,7 @@ protected:
     bool mIsLoaded;
 
     /// Used for error messages
-    std::string mFilename;
+    std::filesystem::path mFilepath;
 
     /// Error handling
     [[noreturn]] void fail(const std::string &msg);
@@ -110,7 +111,7 @@ public:
     }
 
     /// Open an archive file.
-    void open(const std::string &file);
+    void open(const std::filesystem::path &file);
 
     void close();
 
@@ -131,9 +132,9 @@ public:
     const FileList &getList() const
     { return mFiles; }
 
-    const std::string& getFilename() const
+    std::string getFilename() const
     {
-        return mFilename;
+        return mFilepath.string(); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
     }
 };
 
diff --git a/components/bsa/compressedbsafile.cpp b/components/bsa/compressedbsafile.cpp
index 2d553b0986..337570cad1 100644
--- a/components/bsa/compressedbsafile.cpp
+++ b/components/bsa/compressedbsafile.cpp
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ void CompressedBSAFile::readHeader()
 {
     assert(!mIsLoaded);
 
-    std::ifstream input(std::filesystem::path(mFilename), std::ios_base::binary);
+    std::ifstream input(mFilepath, std::ios_base::binary);
 
     // Total archive size
     std::streamoff fsize = 0;
@@ -299,17 +299,22 @@ void CompressedBSAFile::readHeader()
 
 CompressedBSAFile::FileRecord CompressedBSAFile::getFileRecord(const std::string& str) const
 {
-    // Force-convert the path into something both Windows and UNIX can handle first
-    // to make sure Boost doesn't think the entire path is the filename on Linux
+#ifdef _WIN32
+    const auto& path = str;
+#else
+    // Force-convert the path into something UNIX can handle first
+    // to make sure std::filesystem::path doesn't think the entire path is the filename on Linux
     // and subsequently purge it to determine the file folder.
     std::string path = str;
     std::replace(path.begin(), path.end(), '\\', '/');
+#endif
 
     std::filesystem::path p(path);
     std::string stem = p.stem().string();
     std::string ext = p.extension().string();
-    
-    std::string folder = p.parent_path().string();
+    p.remove_filename();
+
+    std::string folder = p.string();
     std::uint64_t folderHash = generateHash(folder, std::string());
 
     auto it = mFolders.find(folderHash);
diff --git a/components/bsa/compressedbsafile.hpp b/components/bsa/compressedbsafile.hpp
index 2c0b3c0aac..53dcf8f522 100644
--- a/components/bsa/compressedbsafile.hpp
+++ b/components/bsa/compressedbsafile.hpp
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 #include <map>
 
 #include <components/bsa/bsa_file.hpp>
+#include <filesystem>
 
 namespace Bsa
 {
@@ -82,7 +83,7 @@ namespace Bsa
         //mFiles used by OpenMW will contain uncompressed file sizes
         void convertCompressedSizesToUncompressed();
         /// \brief Normalizes given filename or folder and generates format-compatible hash. See https://en.uesp.net/wiki/Tes4Mod:Hash_Calculation.
-        static std::uint64_t generateHash(std::string stem, std::string extension) ;
+        static std::uint64_t generateHash(std::filesystem::path stem, std::string extension) ;
         Files::IStreamPtr getFile(const FileRecord& fileRecord);
     public:
         using BSAFile::open;
@@ -93,7 +94,7 @@ namespace Bsa
         virtual ~CompressedBSAFile();
 
         //checks version of BSA from file header
-        static BsaVersion detectVersion(const std::string& filePath);
+        static BsaVersion detectVersion(const std::filesystem::path &filePath);
 
         /// Read header information from the input source
         void readHeader() override;
diff --git a/components/config/gamesettings.cpp b/components/config/gamesettings.cpp
index aa63c3191e..0fe36720f5 100644
--- a/components/config/gamesettings.cpp
+++ b/components/config/gamesettings.cpp
@@ -32,7 +32,7 @@ void Config::GameSettings::validatePaths()
     mDataDirs.clear();
 
     for (auto & dataDir : dataDirs) {
-        QString path = QString::fromUtf8(dataDir.string().c_str());
+        QString path = QString::fromUtf8(dataDir.string().c_str()); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
 
         QDir dir(path);
         if (dir.exists())
@@ -57,7 +57,7 @@ void Config::GameSettings::validatePaths()
     mCfgMgr.processPaths(dataDirs, /*basePath=*/"");
 
     if (!dataDirs.empty()) {
-        QString path = QString::fromUtf8(dataDirs.front().string().c_str());
+        QString path = QString::fromUtf8(dataDirs.front().string().c_str()); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
 
         QDir dir(path);
         if (dir.exists())
@@ -65,11 +65,11 @@ void Config::GameSettings::validatePaths()
     }
 }
 
-std::string Config::GameSettings::getGlobalDataDir() const
+std::filesystem::path Config::GameSettings::getGlobalDataDir() const
 {
     // global data dir may not exists if OpenMW is not installed (ie if run from build directory)
     if (std::filesystem::exists(mCfgMgr.getGlobalDataPath()))
-        return std::filesystem::canonical(mCfgMgr.getGlobalDataPath()).string();
+        return std::filesystem::canonical(mCfgMgr.getGlobalDataPath());
     return {};
 }
 
diff --git a/components/config/gamesettings.hpp b/components/config/gamesettings.hpp
index 961af7657b..c40cc92617 100644
--- a/components/config/gamesettings.hpp
+++ b/components/config/gamesettings.hpp
@@ -54,7 +54,7 @@ namespace Config
         }
 
         QStringList getDataDirs() const;
-        std::string getGlobalDataDir() const;
+        std::filesystem::path getGlobalDataDir() const;
 
         inline void removeDataDir(const QString &dir) { if(!dir.isEmpty()) mDataDirs.removeAll(dir); }
         inline void addDataDir(const QString &dir) { if(!dir.isEmpty()) mDataDirs.append(dir); }
diff --git a/components/config/launchersettings.cpp b/components/config/launchersettings.cpp
index 11ced3c145..129d04dcc1 100644
--- a/components/config/launchersettings.cpp
+++ b/components/config/launchersettings.cpp
@@ -119,7 +119,7 @@ void Config::LauncherSettings::setContentList(const GameSettings& gameSettings)
     }
 
     // global and local data directories are not part of any profile
-    const auto globalDataDir = QString(gameSettings.getGlobalDataDir().c_str());
+    const auto globalDataDir = QString(gameSettings.getGlobalDataDir().string().c_str()); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
     const auto dataLocal = gameSettings.getDataLocal();
     dirs.removeAll(globalDataDir);
     dirs.removeAll(dataLocal);
diff --git a/components/crashcatcher/crashcatcher.cpp b/components/crashcatcher/crashcatcher.cpp
index 65924a0d62..fa45fc259b 100644
--- a/components/crashcatcher/crashcatcher.cpp
+++ b/components/crashcatcher/crashcatcher.cpp
@@ -559,7 +559,7 @@ static bool is_debugger_present()
 #endif
 }
 
-void crashCatcherInstall(int argc, char **argv, const std::string &crashLogPath)
+void crashCatcherInstall(int argc, char **argv, const std::filesystem::path &crashLogPath)
 {
     if ((argc == 2 && strcmp(argv[1], crash_switch) == 0) || !is_debugger_present())
     {
diff --git a/components/crashcatcher/crashcatcher.hpp b/components/crashcatcher/crashcatcher.hpp
index b693ccae43..b029c5460b 100644
--- a/components/crashcatcher/crashcatcher.hpp
+++ b/components/crashcatcher/crashcatcher.hpp
@@ -12,7 +12,7 @@
 constexpr char crash_switch[] = "--cc-handle-crash";
 
 #if USE_CRASH_CATCHER
-extern void crashCatcherInstall(int argc, char **argv, const std::string &crashLogPath);
+extern void crashCatcherInstall(int argc, char **argv, const std::filesystem::path &crashLogPath);
 #else
 inline void crashCatcherInstall(int, char **, const std::string &crashLogPath)
 {
diff --git a/components/crashcatcher/windows_crashcatcher.cpp b/components/crashcatcher/windows_crashcatcher.cpp
index d31fdac578..c62a066c59 100644
--- a/components/crashcatcher/windows_crashcatcher.cpp
+++ b/components/crashcatcher/windows_crashcatcher.cpp
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@
 #include "windows_crashshm.hpp"
 #include <SDL_messagebox.h>
 
+#include <components/misc/stringops.hpp>
+
 namespace Crash
 {
 
@@ -26,7 +28,7 @@ namespace Crash
 
     CrashCatcher* CrashCatcher::sInstance = nullptr;
 
-    CrashCatcher::CrashCatcher(int argc, char **argv, const std::string& crashLogPath)
+    CrashCatcher::CrashCatcher(int argc, char **argv, const std::filesystem::path& crashLogPath)
     {
         assert(sInstance == nullptr); // don't allow two instances
 
@@ -124,7 +126,7 @@ namespace Crash
         SetUnhandledExceptionFilter(vectoredExceptionHandler);
     }
 
-    void CrashCatcher::startMonitorProcess(const std::string& crashLogPath)
+    void CrashCatcher::startMonitorProcess(const std::filesystem::path& crashLogPath)
     {
         std::wstring executablePath;
         DWORD copied = 0;
@@ -135,9 +137,10 @@ namespace Crash
         executablePath.resize(copied);
 
         memset(mShm->mStartup.mLogFilePath, 0, sizeof(mShm->mStartup.mLogFilePath));
-        size_t length = crashLogPath.length();
+        const auto str = crashLogPath.u8string();
+        size_t length = str.length();
         if (length >= MAX_LONG_PATH) length = MAX_LONG_PATH - 1;
-        strncpy(mShm->mStartup.mLogFilePath, crashLogPath.c_str(), length);
+        strncpy_s(mShm->mStartup.mLogFilePath, sizeof mShm->mStartup.mLogFilePath, Misc::StringUtils::char8_to_char(str.c_str()), length); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
         mShm->mStartup.mLogFilePath[length] = '\0';
 
         // note that we don't need to lock the SHM here, the other process has not started yet
diff --git a/components/crashcatcher/windows_crashcatcher.hpp b/components/crashcatcher/windows_crashcatcher.hpp
index 1133afe69c..4379b34d71 100644
--- a/components/crashcatcher/windows_crashcatcher.hpp
+++ b/components/crashcatcher/windows_crashcatcher.hpp
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #ifndef WINDOWS_CRASHCATCHER_HPP
 #define WINDOWS_CRASHCATCHER_HPP
 
-#include <string>
+#include <filesystem>
 
 #include <components/windows.hpp>
 #include <components/crashcatcher/crashcatcher.hpp>
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ namespace Crash
     {
     public:
 
-        CrashCatcher(int argc, char **argv, const std::string& crashLogPath);
+        CrashCatcher(int argc, char **argv, const std::filesystem::path& crashLogPath);
         ~CrashCatcher();
 
     private:
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ namespace Crash
 
         void shmUnlock();
 
-        void startMonitorProcess(const std::string& crashLogPath);
+        void startMonitorProcess(const std::filesystem::path& crashLogPath);
 
         void waitMonitor();
 
diff --git a/components/debug/debugging.cpp b/components/debug/debugging.cpp
index 01dcde7bcc..e6f159bf81 100644
--- a/components/debug/debugging.cpp
+++ b/components/debug/debugging.cpp
@@ -269,7 +269,7 @@ Misc::Locked<std::ostream&> getLockedRawStderr()
 }
 
 // Redirect cout and cerr to the log file
-void setupLogging(const std::string& logDir, const std::string& appName, std::ios_base::openmode mode)
+void setupLogging(const std::filesystem::path &logDir, const std::string& appName, std::ios_base::openmode mode)
 {
 #if defined(_WIN32) && defined(_DEBUG)
     // Redirect cout and cerr to VS debug output when running in debug mode
@@ -278,7 +278,7 @@ void setupLogging(const std::string& logDir, const std::string& appName, std::io
     std::cerr.rdbuf(&sb);
 #else
     const std::string logName = Misc::StringUtils::lowerCase(appName) + ".log";
-    logfile.open(std::filesystem::path(logDir) / logName, mode);
+    logfile.open(logDir / logName, mode);
 
     coutsb.open(Debug::Tee(logfile, *rawStdout));
     cerrsb.open(Debug::Tee(logfile, *rawStderr));
@@ -311,7 +311,7 @@ int wrapApplication(int (*innerApplication)(int argc, char *argv[]), int argc, c
             if (argc == 2 && strcmp(argv[1], crash_switch) == 0)
                 mode |= std::ios::app;
 
-            setupLogging(cfgMgr.getLogPath().string(), appName, mode);
+            setupLogging(cfgMgr.getLogPath(), appName, mode);
         }
 
         if (const auto env = std::getenv("OPENMW_DISABLE_CRASH_CATCHER"); env == nullptr || std::atol(env) == 0)
diff --git a/components/debug/debugging.hpp b/components/debug/debugging.hpp
index a250c5d837..c144000d3f 100644
--- a/components/debug/debugging.hpp
+++ b/components/debug/debugging.hpp
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ std::ostream& getRawStderr();
 
 Misc::Locked<std::ostream&> getLockedRawStderr();
 
-void setupLogging(const std::string& logDir, const std::string& appName, std::ios_base::openmode = std::ios::out);
+void setupLogging(const std::filesystem::path &logDir, const std::string& appName, std::ios_base::openmode mode = std::ios::out);
 
 int wrapApplication(int (*innerApplication)(int argc, char *argv[]), int argc, char *argv[],
                     const std::string& appName, bool autoSetupLogging = true);
diff --git a/components/detournavigator/navigator.cpp b/components/detournavigator/navigator.cpp
index d40f330771..200582216d 100644
--- a/components/detournavigator/navigator.cpp
+++ b/components/detournavigator/navigator.cpp
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 
 namespace DetourNavigator
 {
-    std::unique_ptr<Navigator> makeNavigator(const Settings& settings, const std::string& userDataPath)
+    std::unique_ptr<Navigator> makeNavigator(const Settings& settings, const std::filesystem::path& userDataPath)
     {
         DetourNavigator::RecastGlobalAllocator::init();
 
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ namespace DetourNavigator
         {
             try
             {
-                db = std::make_unique<NavMeshDb>(userDataPath + "/navmesh.db", settings.mMaxDbFileSize);
+                db = std::make_unique<NavMeshDb>((userDataPath / "navmesh.db").string(), settings.mMaxDbFileSize); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
             }
             catch (const std::exception& e)
             {
diff --git a/components/detournavigator/navigator.hpp b/components/detournavigator/navigator.hpp
index f78ce30c2b..f561f38cda 100644
--- a/components/detournavigator/navigator.hpp
+++ b/components/detournavigator/navigator.hpp
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 #ifndef OPENMW_COMPONENTS_DETOURNAVIGATOR_NAVIGATOR_H
 #define OPENMW_COMPONENTS_DETOURNAVIGATOR_NAVIGATOR_H
 
+#include <filesystem>
+
 #include "objectid.hpp"
 #include "sharednavmeshcacheitem.hpp"
 #include "recastmeshtiles.hpp"
@@ -10,7 +12,6 @@
 
 #include <components/resource/bulletshape.hpp>
 
-#include <string_view>
 
 namespace ESM
 {
@@ -195,7 +196,7 @@ namespace DetourNavigator
         virtual float getMaxNavmeshAreaRealRadius() const = 0;
     };
 
-    std::unique_ptr<Navigator> makeNavigator(const Settings& settings, const std::string& userDataPath);
+    std::unique_ptr<Navigator> makeNavigator(const Settings& settings, const std::filesystem::path& userDataPath);
 
     std::unique_ptr<Navigator> makeNavigatorStub();
 }
diff --git a/components/esm/esmcommon.hpp b/components/esm/esmcommon.hpp
index 35c659fb7e..9d57a7304d 100644
--- a/components/esm/esmcommon.hpp
+++ b/components/esm/esmcommon.hpp
@@ -9,6 +9,7 @@
 #include <cassert>
 #include <limits>
 #include <type_traits>
+#include <filesystem>
 
 namespace ESM
 {
@@ -187,7 +188,7 @@ static_assert(sizeof(NAME64) == 64);
  */
 struct ESM_Context
 {
-  std::string filename;
+  std::filesystem::path filename;
   uint32_t leftRec, leftSub;
   size_t leftFile;
   NAME recName, subName;
diff --git a/components/esm3/esmreader.cpp b/components/esm3/esmreader.cpp
index 84acd193f9..5877951d43 100644
--- a/components/esm3/esmreader.cpp
+++ b/components/esm3/esmreader.cpp
@@ -73,8 +73,7 @@ void ESMReader::resolveParentFileIndices(ReadersCache& readers)
             const ESM::ReadersCache::BusyItem reader = readers.get(static_cast<std::size_t>(i));
             if (reader->getFileSize() == 0)
                 continue;  // Content file in non-ESM format
-            const std::string& candidate = reader->getName();
-            std::string fnamecandidate = std::filesystem::path(candidate).filename().string();
+            std::string fnamecandidate = reader->getName().filename().string(); //TODO(Project579): let's hope unicode characters are never used in these filenames on windows or this will break
             if (Misc::StringUtils::ciEqual(fname, fnamecandidate))
             {
                 index = i;
@@ -85,7 +84,7 @@ void ESMReader::resolveParentFileIndices(ReadersCache& readers)
     }
 }
 
-void ESMReader::openRaw(std::unique_ptr<std::istream>&& stream, std::string_view name)
+void ESMReader::openRaw(std::unique_ptr<std::istream>&& stream, const std::filesystem::path &name)
 {
     close();
     mEsm = std::move(stream);
@@ -95,12 +94,12 @@ void ESMReader::openRaw(std::unique_ptr<std::istream>&& stream, std::string_view
     mEsm->seekg(0, mEsm->beg);
 }
 
-void ESMReader::openRaw(std::string_view filename)
+void ESMReader::openRaw(const std::filesystem::path &filename)
 {
-    openRaw(Files::openBinaryInputFileStream(std::string(filename)), filename);
+    openRaw(Files::openBinaryInputFileStream(filename), filename);
 }
 
-void ESMReader::open(std::unique_ptr<std::istream>&& stream, const std::string &name)
+void ESMReader::open(std::unique_ptr<std::istream>&& stream, const std::filesystem::path &name)
 {
     openRaw(std::move(stream), name);
 
@@ -112,7 +111,7 @@ void ESMReader::open(std::unique_ptr<std::istream>&& stream, const std::string &
     mHeader.load (*this);
 }
 
-void ESMReader::open(const std::string &file)
+void ESMReader::open(const std::filesystem::path &file)
 {
     open(Files::openBinaryInputFileStream(file), file);
 }
@@ -360,7 +359,7 @@ std::string ESMReader::getString(int size)
     std::stringstream ss;
 
     ss << "ESM Error: " << msg;
-    ss << "\n  File: " << mCtx.filename;
+    ss << "\n  File: " << mCtx.filename; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
     ss << "\n  Record: " << mCtx.recName.toStringView();
     ss << "\n  Subrecord: " << mCtx.subName.toStringView();
     if (mEsm.get())
diff --git a/components/esm3/esmreader.hpp b/components/esm3/esmreader.hpp
index 5a58e9d165..521c1fc75d 100644
--- a/components/esm3/esmreader.hpp
+++ b/components/esm3/esmreader.hpp
@@ -5,6 +5,7 @@
 #include <vector>
 #include <istream>
 #include <memory>
+#include <filesystem>
 
 #include <components/to_utf8/to_utf8.hpp>
 
@@ -38,7 +39,7 @@ public:
   int getFormat() const { return mHeader.mFormat; };
   const NAME &retSubName() const { return mCtx.subName; }
   uint32_t getSubSize() const { return mCtx.leftSub; }
-  const std::string& getName() const { return mCtx.filename; };
+  const std::filesystem::path& getName() const { return mCtx.filename; };
   bool isOpen() const { return mEsm != nullptr; }
 
   /*************************************************************************
@@ -62,15 +63,15 @@ public:
 
   /// Raw opening. Opens the file and sets everything up but doesn't
   /// parse the header.
-  void openRaw(std::unique_ptr<std::istream>&& stream, std::string_view name);
+  void openRaw(std::unique_ptr<std::istream>&& stream, const std::filesystem::path &name);
 
   /// Load ES file from a new stream, parses the header. Closes the
   /// currently open file first, if any.
-  void open(std::unique_ptr<std::istream>&& stream, const std::string &name);
+  void open(std::unique_ptr<std::istream>&& stream, const std::filesystem::path &name);
 
-  void open(const std::string &file);
+  void open(const std::filesystem::path &file);
 
-  void openRaw(std::string_view filename);
+  void openRaw(const std::filesystem::path &filename);
 
   /// Get the current position in the file. Make sure that the file has been opened!
   size_t getFileOffset() const { return mEsm->tellg(); };
diff --git a/components/esm3/loadcell.cpp b/components/esm3/loadcell.cpp
index dc32ee6a43..2d92bf561e 100644
--- a/components/esm3/loadcell.cpp
+++ b/components/esm3/loadcell.cpp
@@ -131,7 +131,7 @@ namespace ESM
                     {
                         if(!overriding)
                             mWater = std::numeric_limits<float>::max();
-                        Log(Debug::Warning) << "Warning: Encountered invalid water level in cell " << mName << " defined in " << esm.getContext().filename;
+                        Log(Debug::Warning) << "Warning: Encountered invalid water level in cell " << mName << " defined in " << esm.getContext().filename; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
                     }
                     else
                         mWater = waterLevel;
diff --git a/components/esm3/readerscache.hpp b/components/esm3/readerscache.hpp
index 16511efdd7..df14bb6a8a 100644
--- a/components/esm3/readerscache.hpp
+++ b/components/esm3/readerscache.hpp
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ namespace ESM
             {
                 State mState = State::Busy;
                 ESMReader mReader;
-                std::optional<std::string> mName;
+                std::optional<std::filesystem::path> mName;
 
                 Item() = default;
             };
diff --git a/components/esm4/reader.cpp b/components/esm4/reader.cpp
index b7179ef125..4a8e908913 100644
--- a/components/esm4/reader.cpp
+++ b/components/esm4/reader.cpp
@@ -67,7 +67,7 @@ ReaderContext::ReaderContext() : modIndex(0), recHeaderSize(sizeof(RecordHeader)
     subRecordHeader.dataSize = 0;
 }
 
-Reader::Reader(Files::IStreamPtr&& esmStream, const std::string& filename)
+Reader::Reader(Files::IStreamPtr&& esmStream, const std::filesystem::path &filename)
     : mEncoder(nullptr), mFileSize(0), mStream(std::move(esmStream))
 {
     // used by ESMReader only?
@@ -150,7 +150,7 @@ void Reader::close()
     //mHeader.blank();
 }
 
-void Reader::openRaw(Files::IStreamPtr&& stream, const std::string& filename)
+void Reader::openRaw(Files::IStreamPtr&& stream, const std::filesystem::path &filename)
 {
     close();
 
@@ -163,7 +163,7 @@ void Reader::openRaw(Files::IStreamPtr&& stream, const std::string& filename)
 
 }
 
-void Reader::open(Files::IStreamPtr&& stream, const std::string &filename)
+void Reader::open(Files::IStreamPtr&& stream, const std::filesystem::path &filename)
 {
     openRaw(std::move(stream), filename);
 
@@ -199,21 +199,20 @@ void Reader::setRecHeaderSize(const std::size_t size)
     mCtx.recHeaderSize = size;
 }
 
-// FIXME: only "English" strings supported for now
 void Reader::buildLStringIndex()
 {
     if ((mHeader.mFlags & Rec_ESM) == 0 || (mHeader.mFlags & Rec_Localized) == 0)
         return;
 
-    std::filesystem::path p(mCtx.filename);
-    std::string filename = p.stem().filename().string();
+    const auto filename = mCtx.filename.stem().filename().u8string();
 
-    buildLStringIndex("Strings/" + filename + "_English.STRINGS",   Type_Strings);
-    buildLStringIndex("Strings/" + filename + "_English.ILSTRINGS", Type_ILStrings);
-    buildLStringIndex("Strings/" + filename + "_English.DLSTRINGS", Type_DLStrings);
+    static const std::filesystem::path s("Strings");
+    buildLStringIndex(s / (filename + u8"_English.STRINGS"),   Type_Strings);
+    buildLStringIndex(s / (filename + u8"_English.ILSTRINGS"), Type_ILStrings);
+    buildLStringIndex(s / (filename + u8"_English.DLSTRINGS"), Type_DLStrings);
 }
 
-void Reader::buildLStringIndex(const std::string& stringFile, LocalizedStringType stringType)
+void Reader::buildLStringIndex(const std::filesystem::path &stringFile, LocalizedStringType stringType)
 {
     std::uint32_t numEntries;
     std::uint32_t dataSize;
@@ -638,7 +637,7 @@ void Reader::adjustGRUPFormId()
     std::stringstream ss;
 
     ss << "ESM Error: " << msg;
-    ss << "\n  File: " << mCtx.filename;
+    ss << "\n  File: " << mCtx.filename.string(); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
     ss << "\n  Record: " << ESM::printName(mCtx.recordHeader.record.typeId);
     ss << "\n  Subrecord: " << ESM::printName(mCtx.subRecordHeader.typeId);
     if (mStream.get())
diff --git a/components/esm4/reader.hpp b/components/esm4/reader.hpp
index e620cae932..dea7360e3c 100644
--- a/components/esm4/reader.hpp
+++ b/components/esm4/reader.hpp
@@ -47,7 +47,7 @@ namespace ESM4 {
 
     struct ReaderContext
     {
-        std::string filename;         // in case we need to reopen to restore the context
+        std::filesystem::path filename;         // in case we need to reopen to restore the context
         std::uint32_t modIndex;         // the sequential position of this file in the load order:
         //  0x00 reserved, 0xFF in-game (see notes below)
 
@@ -113,7 +113,7 @@ namespace ESM4 {
 
         std::vector<Reader*>* mGlobalReaderList = nullptr;
 
-        void buildLStringIndex(const std::string& stringFile, LocalizedStringType stringType);
+        void buildLStringIndex(const std::filesystem::path& stringFile, LocalizedStringType stringType);
 
         inline bool hasLocalizedStrings() const { return (mHeader.mFlags & Rec_Localized) != 0; }
 
@@ -124,11 +124,11 @@ namespace ESM4 {
         //void close();
 
         // Raw opening. Opens the file and sets everything up but doesn't parse the header.
-        void openRaw(Files::IStreamPtr&& stream, const std::string& filename);
+        void openRaw(Files::IStreamPtr&& stream, const std::filesystem::path& filename);
 
         // Load ES file from a new stream, parses the header.
         // Closes the currently open file first, if any.
-        void open(Files::IStreamPtr&& stream, const std::string& filename);
+        void open(Files::IStreamPtr&& stream, const std::filesystem::path& filename);
 
         Reader() = default;
 
@@ -137,13 +137,12 @@ namespace ESM4 {
 
     public:
 
-        Reader(Files::IStreamPtr&& esmStream, const std::string& filename);
+        Reader(Files::IStreamPtr&& esmStream, const std::filesystem::path& filename);
         ~Reader();
 
-        // FIXME: should be private but ESMTool uses it
-        void openRaw(const std::string& filename);
 
-        void open(const std::string& filename);
+
+        void open(const std::filesystem::path& filename);
 
         void close();
 
@@ -158,7 +157,7 @@ namespace ESM4 {
         inline int getFormat() const { return 0; }; // prob. not relevant for ESM4
         inline const std::string getDesc() const { return mHeader.mDesc; }
 
-        inline std::string getFileName() const { return mCtx.filename; }; // not used
+        inline std::filesystem::path getFileName() const { return mCtx.filename; }; // not used
 
         inline bool hasMoreRecs() const { return (mFileSize - mCtx.fileRead) > 0; }
 
diff --git a/components/esmloader/load.cpp b/components/esmloader/load.cpp
index 8d407515f2..99d8159f04 100644
--- a/components/esmloader/load.cpp
+++ b/components/esmloader/load.cpp
@@ -228,7 +228,7 @@ namespace EsmLoader
             for (std::size_t i = 0; i < contentFiles.size(); ++i)
             {
                 const std::string &file = contentFiles[i];
-                const std::string extension = Misc::StringUtils::lowerCase(std::filesystem::path(file).extension().string());
+                const std::string extension = Misc::StringUtils::lowerCase(std::filesystem::path(file).extension().string()); //TODO(Project579): let's hope unicode characters are never used in these extensions on windows or this will break
 
                 if (supportedFormats.find(extension) == supportedFormats.end())
                 {
@@ -247,7 +247,7 @@ namespace EsmLoader
                 const ESM::ReadersCache::BusyItem reader = readers.get(i);
                 reader->setEncoder(encoder);
                 reader->setIndex(static_cast<int>(i));
-                reader->open(collection.getPath(file).string());
+                reader->open(collection.getPath(file));
                 if (query.mLoadCells)
                     reader->resolveParentFileIndices(readers);
 
diff --git a/components/files/collections.cpp b/components/files/collections.cpp
index 6146da3347..0929336075 100644
--- a/components/files/collections.cpp
+++ b/components/files/collections.cpp
@@ -36,21 +36,19 @@ namespace Files
 
     std::filesystem::path Collections::getPath(const std::string& file) const
     {
-        for (Files::PathContainer::const_iterator iter = mDirectories.begin();
-             iter != mDirectories.end(); ++iter)
+        for (const auto & mDirectorie : mDirectories)
         {
-            for (std::filesystem::directory_iterator iter2 (*iter);
-                iter2!=std::filesystem::directory_iterator(); ++iter2)
+            for (const auto& iter2 :
+                std::filesystem::directory_iterator (mDirectorie))
             {
-                std::filesystem::path path = *iter2;
-
+                const auto& path = iter2.path();
                 if (mFoldCase)
                 {
-                    if (Misc::StringUtils::ciEqual(file, path.filename().string()))
-                        return path.string();
+                    if (Misc::StringUtils::ciEqual(file, path.filename().string())) //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
+                        return path;
                 }
-                else if (path.filename().string() == file)
-                    return path.string();
+                else if (path.filename().string() == file) //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
+                    return path;
             }
         }
 
@@ -59,20 +57,19 @@ namespace Files
 
     bool Collections::doesExist(const std::string& file) const
     {
-        for (Files::PathContainer::const_iterator iter = mDirectories.begin();
-             iter != mDirectories.end(); ++iter)
+        for (const auto & mDirectorie : mDirectories)
         {
-            for (std::filesystem::directory_iterator iter2 (*iter);
-                iter2!=std::filesystem::directory_iterator(); ++iter2)
+            for (const auto& iter2 :
+                std::filesystem::directory_iterator (mDirectorie))
             {
-                std::filesystem::path path = *iter2;
+                const auto& path = iter2.path();
 
                 if (mFoldCase)
                 {
-                    if (Misc::StringUtils::ciEqual(file, path.filename().string()))
+                    if (Misc::StringUtils::ciEqual(file, path.filename().string())) //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
                         return true;
                 }
-                else if (path.filename().string() == file)
+                else if (path.filename().string() == file) //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
                     return true;
             }
         }
diff --git a/components/files/collections.hpp b/components/files/collections.hpp
index 000160bae7..69ae7d0d84 100644
--- a/components/files/collections.hpp
+++ b/components/files/collections.hpp
@@ -19,14 +19,14 @@ namespace Files
             /// leading dot and must be all lower-case.
             const MultiDirCollection& getCollection(const std::string& extension) const;
 
-            std::filesystem::path getPath(const std::string& file) const;
+            std::filesystem::path getPath(const std::string& file) const; //TODO(Project579): let's hope unicode characters are never used in these filenames on windows or this will break
             ///< Return full path (including filename) of \a file.
             ///
             /// If the file does not exist in any of the collection's
             /// directories, an exception is thrown. \a file must include the
             /// extension.
 
-            bool doesExist(const std::string& file) const;
+            bool doesExist(const std::string& file) const; //TODO(Project579): let's hope unicode characters are never used in these filenames on windows or this will break
             ///< \return Does a file with the given name exist?
 
             const Files::PathContainer& getPaths() const;
diff --git a/components/files/configurationmanager.cpp b/components/files/configurationmanager.cpp
index 900c341edc..0fc228abee 100644
--- a/components/files/configurationmanager.cpp
+++ b/components/files/configurationmanager.cpp
@@ -155,9 +155,9 @@ void ConfigurationManager::readConfiguration(bpo::variables_map& variables,
 
     if (!quiet)
     {
-        Log(Debug::Info) << "Logs dir: " << getUserConfigPath().string();
-        Log(Debug::Info) << "User data dir: " << mUserDataPath.string();
-        Log(Debug::Info) << "Screenshots dir: " << mScreenshotPath.string();
+        Log(Debug::Info) << "Logs dir: " << getUserConfigPath().string(); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
+        Log(Debug::Info) << "User data dir: " << mUserDataPath.string(); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
+        Log(Debug::Info) << "Screenshots dir: " << mScreenshotPath.string(); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
     }
 
     mSilent = silent;
@@ -270,7 +270,7 @@ void mergeComposingVariables(bpo::variables_map& first, bpo::variables_map& seco
 
 void ConfigurationManager::processPath(std::filesystem::path& path, const std::filesystem::path& basePath) const
 {
-    std::string str = path.string();
+    std::string str = path.string(); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
 
     if (str.empty() || str[0] != '?')
     {
@@ -285,7 +285,7 @@ void ConfigurationManager::processPath(std::filesystem::path& path, const std::f
         auto tokenIt = mTokensMapping.find(str.substr(0, pos + 1));
         if (tokenIt != mTokensMapping.end())
         {
-            std::filesystem::path tempPath(((mFixedPath).*(tokenIt->second))());
+            std::filesystem::path tempPath(((mFixedPath).*(tokenIt->second))()); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
             if (pos < str.length() - 1)
             {
                 // There is something after the token, so we should
@@ -293,7 +293,7 @@ void ConfigurationManager::processPath(std::filesystem::path& path, const std::f
                 tempPath /= str.substr(pos + 1, str.length() - pos);
             }
 
-            path = tempPath;
+            path = tempPath; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
         }
         else
         {
@@ -351,7 +351,7 @@ std::optional<bpo::variables_map> ConfigurationManager::loadConfig(
     if (std::filesystem::is_regular_file(cfgFile))
     {
         if (!mSilent)
-            Log(Debug::Info) << "Loading config file: " << cfgFile.string();
+            Log(Debug::Info) << "Loading config file: " << cfgFile.string(); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
 
         std::ifstream configFileStream(cfgFile);
 
@@ -438,7 +438,7 @@ std::istream& operator>> (std::istream& istream, MaybeQuotedPath& MaybeQuotedPat
         if (istream && !istream.eof() && istream.peek() != EOF)
         {
             std::string remainder{std::istreambuf_iterator(istream), {}};
-            Log(Debug::Warning) << "Trailing data in path setting. Used '" << MaybeQuotedPath.string() << "' but '" << remainder << "' remained";
+            Log(Debug::Warning) << "Trailing data in path setting. Used '" << MaybeQuotedPath.string() << "' but '" << remainder << "' remained"; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
         }
     }
     else
diff --git a/components/files/constrainedfilestream.cpp b/components/files/constrainedfilestream.cpp
index a56ae01aa0..4ac0453139 100644
--- a/components/files/constrainedfilestream.cpp
+++ b/components/files/constrainedfilestream.cpp
@@ -1,8 +1,10 @@
+#include <filesystem>
+
 #include "constrainedfilestream.hpp"
 
 namespace Files
 {
-    IStreamPtr openConstrainedFileStream(const std::string& filename, std::size_t start, std::size_t length)
+    IStreamPtr openConstrainedFileStream(const std::filesystem::path &filename, std::size_t start, std::size_t length)
     {
         return std::make_unique<ConstrainedFileStream>(std::make_unique<ConstrainedFileStreamBuf>(filename, start, length));
     }
diff --git a/components/files/constrainedfilestream.hpp b/components/files/constrainedfilestream.hpp
index f00bd3a488..fd239b2832 100644
--- a/components/files/constrainedfilestream.hpp
+++ b/components/files/constrainedfilestream.hpp
@@ -14,7 +14,7 @@ namespace Files
 /// A file stream constrained to a specific region in the file, specified by the 'start' and 'length' parameters.
 using ConstrainedFileStream = StreamWithBuffer<ConstrainedFileStreamBuf>;
 
-IStreamPtr openConstrainedFileStream(const std::string& filename, std::size_t start = 0,
+IStreamPtr openConstrainedFileStream(const std::filesystem::path &filename, std::size_t start = 0,
     std::size_t length = std::numeric_limits<std::size_t>::max());
 
 }
diff --git a/components/files/constrainedfilestreambuf.cpp b/components/files/constrainedfilestreambuf.cpp
index f5fd8ac394..24c0a9b4d8 100644
--- a/components/files/constrainedfilestreambuf.cpp
+++ b/components/files/constrainedfilestreambuf.cpp
@@ -2,12 +2,13 @@
 
 #include <algorithm>
 #include <limits>
+#include <filesystem>
 
 namespace Files
 {
     namespace File = Platform::File;
-    
-    ConstrainedFileStreamBuf::ConstrainedFileStreamBuf(const std::string& fname, std::size_t start, std::size_t length)
+
+    ConstrainedFileStreamBuf::ConstrainedFileStreamBuf(const std::filesystem::path& fname, std::size_t start, std::size_t length)
         : mOrigin(start)
     {
         mFile = File::open(fname.c_str());
diff --git a/components/files/constrainedfilestreambuf.hpp b/components/files/constrainedfilestreambuf.hpp
index bb9d6ca89e..7ee18f082a 100644
--- a/components/files/constrainedfilestreambuf.hpp
+++ b/components/files/constrainedfilestreambuf.hpp
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ namespace Files
     class ConstrainedFileStreamBuf final : public std::streambuf
     {
     public:
-        ConstrainedFileStreamBuf(const std::string& fname, std::size_t start, std::size_t length);
+        ConstrainedFileStreamBuf(const std::filesystem::path &fname, std::size_t start, std::size_t length);
 
         int_type underflow() final;
 
diff --git a/components/files/hash.cpp b/components/files/hash.cpp
index b11ecbf838..e8d4c2a3b0 100644
--- a/components/files/hash.cpp
+++ b/components/files/hash.cpp
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 
 namespace Files
 {
-    std::array<std::uint64_t, 2> getHash(const std::string& fileName, std::istream& stream)
+    std::array<std::uint64_t, 2> getHash(const std::filesystem::path& fileName, std::istream& stream)
     {
         std::array<std::uint64_t, 2> hash {0, 0};
         try
@@ -34,7 +34,7 @@ namespace Files
         }
         catch (const std::exception& e)
         {
-            throw std::runtime_error("Error while reading \"" + fileName + "\" to get hash: " + std::string(e.what()));
+            throw std::runtime_error("Error while reading \"" + fileName.string() + "\" to get hash: " + std::string(e.what())); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
         }
         return hash;
     }
diff --git a/components/files/hash.hpp b/components/files/hash.hpp
index a39961e4d5..2f525c3222 100644
--- a/components/files/hash.hpp
+++ b/components/files/hash.hpp
@@ -4,11 +4,11 @@
 #include <array>
 #include <cstdint>
 #include <iosfwd>
-#include <string>
+#include <filesystem>
 
 namespace Files
 {
-    std::array<std::uint64_t, 2> getHash(const std::string& fileName, std::istream& stream);
+    std::array<std::uint64_t, 2> getHash(const std::filesystem::path& fileName, std::istream& stream);
 }
 
 #endif
diff --git a/components/files/linuxpath.cpp b/components/files/linuxpath.cpp
index b6833fd025..94f02f8f7c 100644
--- a/components/files/linuxpath.cpp
+++ b/components/files/linuxpath.cpp
@@ -51,9 +51,12 @@ namespace Files
 LinuxPath::LinuxPath(const std::string& application_name)
     : mName(application_name)
 {
-    std::filesystem::path localPath = getLocalPath();
-    if (chdir(localPath.string().c_str()) != 0)
-        Log(Debug::Warning) << "Error " << errno << " when changing current directory";
+    std::error_code ec;
+    current_path(getLocalPath(), ec);
+    const auto err = ec.value();
+    if (err != 0) {
+        Log(Debug::Warning) << "Error " << err << " " << std::strerror(err) << " when changing current directory";
+    }
 }
 
 std::filesystem::path LinuxPath::getUserConfigPath() const
@@ -79,18 +82,16 @@ std::filesystem::path LinuxPath::getGlobalConfigPath() const
 
 std::filesystem::path LinuxPath::getLocalPath() const
 {
-    std::filesystem::path localPath("./");
-    const char *statusPaths[] = {"/proc/self/exe", "/proc/self/file", "/proc/curproc/exe", "/proc/curproc/file"};
+    auto localPath = std::filesystem::current_path();
+    static const std::filesystem::path statusPaths[] = {"/proc/self/exe", "/proc/self/file", "/proc/curproc/exe", "/proc/curproc/file"};
 
-    for(const char *path : statusPaths)
+    for(const auto& path : statusPaths)
     {
-        std::filesystem::path statusPath(path);
-        if (!std::filesystem::exists(statusPath)) continue;
-
-        statusPath = std::filesystem::read_symlink(statusPath);
-        if (!std::filesystem::is_empty(statusPath))
+        std::error_code ec;
+        const auto binPath = read_symlink(path, ec);
+        if (ec.value() != -1)
         {
-            localPath = statusPath.parent_path() / "/";
+            localPath = binPath.parent_path();
             break;
         }
     }
diff --git a/components/files/multidircollection.cpp b/components/files/multidircollection.cpp
index 50cddcdecf..ad7b54b463 100644
--- a/components/files/multidircollection.cpp
+++ b/components/files/multidircollection.cpp
@@ -30,7 +30,7 @@ namespace Files
         {
             if (!std::filesystem::is_directory(directory))
             {
-                Log(Debug::Info) << "Skipping invalid directory: " << directory.string();
+                Log(Debug::Info) << "Skipping invalid directory: " << directory.string(); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
                 continue;
             }
 
@@ -39,10 +39,10 @@ namespace Files
             {
                 std::filesystem::path path = *dirIter;
 
-                if (!equal (extension, path.extension().string()))
+                if (!equal (extension, path.extension().string())) //TODO(Project579): let's hope unicode characters are never used in these extensions on windows or this will break
                     continue;
 
-                std::string filename = path.filename().string();
+                std::string filename = path.filename().string(); //TODO(Project579): let's hope unicode characters are never used in these filenames on windows or this will break
 
                 TIter result = mFiles.find (filename);
 
diff --git a/components/files/openfile.cpp b/components/files/openfile.cpp
index 54b0b28058..2ab4409017 100644
--- a/components/files/openfile.cpp
+++ b/components/files/openfile.cpp
@@ -9,7 +9,7 @@
 
 namespace Files
 {
-    std::unique_ptr<std::ifstream> openBinaryInputFileStream(const std::string& path)
+    std::unique_ptr<std::ifstream> openBinaryInputFileStream(const std::filesystem::path &path)
     {
 #if defined(_WIN32) || defined(__WINDOWS__)
         std::wstring wpath = boost::locale::conv::utf_to_utf<wchar_t>(path);
@@ -18,7 +18,7 @@ namespace Files
         auto stream = std::make_unique<std::ifstream>(path, std::ios::binary);
 #endif
         if (!stream->is_open())
-            throw std::runtime_error("Failed to open '" + path + "' for reading: " + std::strerror(errno));
+            throw std::runtime_error("Failed to open '" + path.string() + "' for reading: " + std::strerror(errno)); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
         stream->exceptions(std::ios::badbit);
         return stream;
     }
diff --git a/components/files/openfile.hpp b/components/files/openfile.hpp
index 3cecf7bac1..a65f0a8b18 100644
--- a/components/files/openfile.hpp
+++ b/components/files/openfile.hpp
@@ -4,10 +4,11 @@
 #include <iosfwd>
 #include <memory>
 #include <string>
+#include <filesystem>
 
 namespace Files
 {
-    std::unique_ptr<std::ifstream> openBinaryInputFileStream(const std::string& path);
+    std::unique_ptr<std::ifstream> openBinaryInputFileStream(const std::filesystem::path &path);
 }
 
 #endif
diff --git a/components/files/windowspath.cpp b/components/files/windowspath.cpp
index da26e773f6..c6a03f4263 100644
--- a/components/files/windowspath.cpp
+++ b/components/files/windowspath.cpp
@@ -19,11 +19,6 @@ namespace bconv = boost::locale::conv;
 
 #include <components/debug/debuglog.hpp>
 
-/**
- * FIXME: Someone with Windows system should check this and correct if necessary
- * FIXME: MAX_PATH is irrelevant for extended-length paths, i.e. \\?\...
- */
-
 /**
  * \namespace Files
  */
@@ -33,31 +28,21 @@ namespace Files
 WindowsPath::WindowsPath(const std::string& application_name)
     : mName(application_name)
 {
-    /*  Since on Windows boost::path.string() returns string of narrow
-        characters in local encoding, it is required to path::imbue()
-        with UTF-8 encoding (generated for empty name from boost::locale)
-        to handle Unicode in platform-agnostic way using std::string.
-
-        See boost::filesystem and boost::locale reference for details.
-    */
-    // TODO(Project579): Temporarly disabled until a good solution is found (no solution might actually be needed)
-    //boost::filesystem::path::imbue(boost::locale::generator().generate(""));
-
-    std::filesystem::path localPath = getLocalPath();
-    if (!SetCurrentDirectoryA(localPath.string().c_str()))
-        Log(Debug::Warning) << "Error " << GetLastError() << " when changing current directory";
+    std::error_code ec;
+    current_path(getLocalPath(), ec);
+    if (ec.value() != 0)
+        Log(Debug::Warning) << "Error " << ec.value() << " when changing current directory";
 }
 
 std::filesystem::path WindowsPath::getUserConfigPath() const
 {
-    std::filesystem::path userPath(".");
+    std::filesystem::path userPath = std::filesystem::current_path();
 
-    WCHAR path[MAX_PATH + 1];
-    memset(path, 0, sizeof(path));
+    WCHAR path[MAX_PATH + 1] = {};
 
     if(SUCCEEDED(SHGetFolderPathW(nullptr, CSIDL_PERSONAL | CSIDL_FLAG_CREATE, nullptr, 0, path)))
     {
-        userPath = std::filesystem::path(bconv::utf_to_utf<char>(path));
+        userPath = std::filesystem::path(path);
     }
 
     return userPath / "My Games" / mName;
@@ -71,14 +56,13 @@ std::filesystem::path WindowsPath::getUserDataPath() const
 
 std::filesystem::path WindowsPath::getGlobalConfigPath() const
 {
-    std::filesystem::path globalPath(".");
+    std::filesystem::path globalPath = std::filesystem::current_path();
 
-    WCHAR path[MAX_PATH + 1];
-    memset(path, 0, sizeof(path));
+    WCHAR path[MAX_PATH + 1] = {};
 
     if(SUCCEEDED(SHGetFolderPathW(nullptr, CSIDL_PROGRAM_FILES | CSIDL_FLAG_CREATE, nullptr, 0, path)))
     {
-        globalPath = std::filesystem::path(bconv::utf_to_utf<char>(path));
+        globalPath = std::filesystem::path(path);
     }
 
     return globalPath / mName;
@@ -86,13 +70,13 @@ std::filesystem::path WindowsPath::getGlobalConfigPath() const
 
 std::filesystem::path WindowsPath::getLocalPath() const
 {
-    std::filesystem::path localPath("./");
-    WCHAR path[MAX_PATH + 1];
-    memset(path, 0, sizeof(path));
+    std::filesystem::path localPath = std::filesystem::current_path();
+
+    WCHAR path[MAX_PATH + 1] = {};
 
     if (GetModuleFileNameW(nullptr, path, MAX_PATH + 1) > 0)
     {
-        localPath = std::filesystem::path(bconv::utf_to_utf<char>(path)).parent_path().string() + "/";
+        localPath = std::filesystem::path(path).parent_path();
     }
 
     // lookup exe path
@@ -111,20 +95,17 @@ std::filesystem::path WindowsPath::getCachePath() const
 
 std::filesystem::path WindowsPath::getInstallPath() const
 {
-    std::filesystem::path installPath();
-
-    HKEY hKey;
+    std::filesystem::path installPath{};
 
-    LPCTSTR regkey = TEXT("SOFTWARE\\Bethesda Softworks\\Morrowind");
-    if (RegOpenKeyEx(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, regkey, 0, KEY_READ | KEY_WOW64_32KEY, &hKey) == ERROR_SUCCESS)
+    if (HKEY hKey; RegOpenKeyExW(HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, L"SOFTWARE\\Bethesda Softworks\\Morrowind", 0, KEY_READ | KEY_WOW64_32KEY, &hKey) == ERROR_SUCCESS)
     {
         //Key existed, let's try to read the install dir
-        std::vector<char> buf(512);
-        int len = 512;
+        std::array<wchar_t, 512> buf{};
+        DWORD len = buf.size() * sizeof(wchar_t);
 
-        if (RegQueryValueEx(hKey, TEXT("Installed Path"), nullptr, nullptr, (LPBYTE)buf.data(), (LPDWORD)&len) == ERROR_SUCCESS)
+        if (RegQueryValueExW(hKey, L"Installed Path", nullptr, nullptr, reinterpret_cast<LPBYTE>(buf.data()), &len) == ERROR_SUCCESS)
         {
-            installPath = buf.data();
+            installPath = std::filesystem::path (buf.data());
         }
         RegCloseKey(hKey);
     }
diff --git a/components/fontloader/fontloader.cpp b/components/fontloader/fontloader.cpp
index a06429ed4b..4e5525d3a5 100644
--- a/components/fontloader/fontloader.cpp
+++ b/components/fontloader/fontloader.cpp
@@ -251,7 +251,7 @@ namespace Gui
         MyGUI::IntSize bookSize = getBookSize(layersStream.get());
         float bookScale = osgMyGUI::ScalingLayer::getScaleFactor(bookSize);
 
-        std::string oldDataPath = dataManager->getDataPath("");
+        const auto oldDataPath = dataManager->getDataPath("");
         dataManager->setResourcePath("fonts");
         std::unique_ptr<MyGUI::IDataStream> dataStream(dataManager->getData(fileName));
 
diff --git a/components/fx/technique.cpp b/components/fx/technique.cpp
index 20042bb9ae..357d8448d1 100644
--- a/components/fx/technique.cpp
+++ b/components/fx/technique.cpp
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ namespace fx
 {
     Technique::Technique(const VFS::Manager& vfs, Resource::ImageManager& imageManager, const std::string& name, int width, int height, bool ubo, bool supportsNormals)
         : mName(name)
-        , mFileName((std::filesystem::path(Technique::sSubdir) / (mName + Technique::sExt)).string())
+        , mFileName((std::filesystem::path(Technique::sSubdir) / (mName + Technique::sExt)).string()) //TODO(Project579): let's hope unicode characters are never used in these filenames on windows or this will break
         , mLastModificationTime(std::filesystem::file_time_type())
         , mWidth(width)
         , mHeight(height)
diff --git a/components/lua/luastate.cpp b/components/lua/luastate.cpp
index dbdfde5100..a78eea6dde 100644
--- a/components/lua/luastate.cpp
+++ b/components/lua/luastate.cpp
@@ -26,21 +26,20 @@ namespace LuaUtil
             throw std::runtime_error("module not found: " + std::string(packageName));
     }
 
-    static std::string packageNameToPath(std::string_view packageName, const std::vector<std::string>& searchDirs)
+    static std::filesystem::path packageNameToPath(std::string_view packageName, const std::vector<std::filesystem::path> &searchDirs)
     {
         std::string path(packageName);
         std::replace(path.begin(), path.end(), '.', '/');
         std::string pathWithInit = path + "/init.lua";
         path.append(".lua");
-        for (const std::string& dir : searchDirs)
+        for (const auto& base : searchDirs)
         {
-            std::filesystem::path base(dir);
             std::filesystem::path p1 = base / path;
             if (std::filesystem::exists(p1))
-                return p1.string();
+                return p1;
             std::filesystem::path p2 = base / pathWithInit;
             if (std::filesystem::exists(p2))
-                return p2.string();
+                return p2;
         }
         throw std::runtime_error("module not found: " + std::string(packageName));
     }
@@ -270,8 +269,8 @@ namespace LuaUtil
 
     sol::function LuaState::loadInternalLib(std::string_view libName)
     {
-        std::string path = packageNameToPath(libName, mLibSearchPaths);
-        sol::load_result res = mLua.load_file(path, sol::load_mode::text);
+        const auto path = packageNameToPath(libName, mLibSearchPaths);
+        sol::load_result res = mLua.load_file(path.string(), sol::load_mode::text); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
         if (!res.valid())
             throw std::runtime_error("Lua error: " + res.get<std::string>());
         return res;
diff --git a/components/lua/luastate.hpp b/components/lua/luastate.hpp
index 3bd27f2250..48d302d44b 100644
--- a/components/lua/luastate.hpp
+++ b/components/lua/luastate.hpp
@@ -5,6 +5,8 @@
 
 #include <sol/sol.hpp>
 
+#include <filesystem>
+
 #include "configuration.hpp"
 
 namespace VFS
@@ -80,7 +82,7 @@ namespace LuaUtil
         const ScriptsConfiguration& getConfiguration() const { return *mConf; }
 
         // Load internal Lua library. All libraries are loaded in one sandbox and shouldn't be exposed to scripts directly.
-        void addInternalLibSearchPath(const std::string& path) { mLibSearchPaths.push_back(path); }
+        void addInternalLibSearchPath(const std::filesystem::path &path) { mLibSearchPaths.push_back(path); }
         sol::function loadInternalLib(std::string_view libName);
         sol::function loadFromVFS(const std::string& path);
         sol::environment newInternalLibEnvironment();
@@ -98,7 +100,7 @@ namespace LuaUtil
         std::map<std::string, sol::bytecode> mCompiledScripts;
         std::map<std::string, sol::object> mCommonPackages;
         const VFS::Manager* mVFS;
-        std::vector<std::string> mLibSearchPaths;
+        std::vector<std::filesystem::path> mLibSearchPaths;
     };
 
     // Should be used for every call of every Lua function.
diff --git a/components/lua/storage.cpp b/components/lua/storage.cpp
index bff978b633..ffb4f8af82 100644
--- a/components/lua/storage.cpp
+++ b/components/lua/storage.cpp
@@ -155,12 +155,12 @@ namespace LuaUtil
         }
     }
 
-    void LuaStorage::load(const std::string& path)
+    void LuaStorage::load(const std::filesystem::path &path)
     {
         assert(mData.empty());  // Shouldn't be used before loading
         try
         {
-            Log(Debug::Info) << "Loading Lua storage \"" << path << "\" (" << std::filesystem::file_size(path) << " bytes)";
+            Log(Debug::Info) << "Loading Lua storage \"" << path << "\" (" << std::filesystem::file_size(path) << " bytes)"; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
             std::ifstream fin(path, std::fstream::binary);
             std::string serializedData((std::istreambuf_iterator<char>(fin)), std::istreambuf_iterator<char>());
             sol::table data = deserialize(mLua, serializedData);
@@ -177,7 +177,7 @@ namespace LuaUtil
         }
     }
 
-    void LuaStorage::save(const std::string& path) const
+    void LuaStorage::save(const std::filesystem::path &path) const
     {
         sol::table data(mLua, sol::create);
         for (const auto& [sectionName, section] : mData)
@@ -186,7 +186,7 @@ namespace LuaUtil
                 data[sectionName] = section->asTable();
         }
         std::string serializedData = serialize(data);
-        Log(Debug::Info) << "Saving Lua storage \"" << path << "\" (" << serializedData.size() << " bytes)";
+        Log(Debug::Info) << "Saving Lua storage \"" << path << "\" (" << serializedData.size() << " bytes)"; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
         std::ofstream fout(path, std::fstream::binary);
         fout.write(serializedData.data(), serializedData.size());
         fout.close();
diff --git a/components/lua/storage.hpp b/components/lua/storage.hpp
index 8ae944c5ab..f4047bd2ee 100644
--- a/components/lua/storage.hpp
+++ b/components/lua/storage.hpp
@@ -18,8 +18,8 @@ namespace LuaUtil
         explicit LuaStorage(lua_State* lua) : mLua(lua) {}
 
         void clearTemporaryAndRemoveCallbacks();
-        void load(const std::string& path);
-        void save(const std::string& path) const;
+        void load(const std::filesystem::path &path);
+        void save(const std::filesystem::path &path) const;
 
         sol::object getSection(std::string_view sectionName, bool readOnly);
         sol::object getMutableSection(std::string_view sectionName) { return getSection(sectionName, false); }
diff --git a/components/myguiplatform/myguidatamanager.cpp b/components/myguiplatform/myguidatamanager.cpp
index 80b7a096bc..3078650a47 100644
--- a/components/myguiplatform/myguidatamanager.cpp
+++ b/components/myguiplatform/myguidatamanager.cpp
@@ -26,7 +26,7 @@ namespace
 namespace osgMyGUI
 {
 
-void DataManager::setResourcePath(const std::string &path)
+void DataManager::setResourcePath(const std::filesystem::path &path)
 {
     mResourcePath = path;
 }
@@ -39,7 +39,7 @@ DataManager::DataManager(const std::string& resourcePath, const VFS::Manager* vf
 
 MyGUI::IDataStream *DataManager::getData(const std::string &name) const
 {
-    return new DataStream(mVfs->get(mResourcePath + "/" + name));
+    return new DataStream(mVfs->get(mResourcePath / name));
 }
 
 void DataManager::freeData(MyGUI::IDataStream *data)
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ void DataManager::freeData(MyGUI::IDataStream *data)
 
 bool DataManager::isDataExist(const std::string &name) const
 {
-    return mVfs->exists(mResourcePath + "/" + name);
+    return mVfs->exists(mResourcePath / name);
 }
 
 const MyGUI::VectorString &DataManager::getDataListNames(const std::string &pattern) const
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ const std::string &DataManager::getDataPath(const std::string &name) const
     if (!isDataExist(name))
         return result;
 
-    result = mResourcePath + "/" + name;
+    result = (mResourcePath / name).string(); //TODO(Project579): This is broken on windows with unicode paths
     return result;
 }
 
diff --git a/components/myguiplatform/myguidatamanager.hpp b/components/myguiplatform/myguidatamanager.hpp
index 000c3ca1dd..09a427fdac 100644
--- a/components/myguiplatform/myguidatamanager.hpp
+++ b/components/myguiplatform/myguidatamanager.hpp
@@ -4,6 +4,7 @@
 #include <MyGUI_DataManager.h>
 
 #include <string>
+#include <filesystem>
 
 namespace VFS
 {
@@ -18,7 +19,7 @@ class DataManager : public MyGUI::DataManager
 public:
     explicit DataManager(const std::string& path, const VFS::Manager* vfs);
 
-    void setResourcePath(const std::string& path);
+    void setResourcePath(const std::filesystem::path &path);
 
     /** Get data stream from specified resource name.
         @param _name Resource name (usually file name).
@@ -47,7 +48,7 @@ public:
     const std::string& getDataPath(const std::string& _name) const override;
 
 private:
-    std::string mResourcePath;
+    std::filesystem::path mResourcePath;
 
     const VFS::Manager* mVfs;
 };
diff --git a/components/myguiplatform/myguiloglistener.cpp b/components/myguiplatform/myguiloglistener.cpp
index ab5537b6b2..e22b96680a 100644
--- a/components/myguiplatform/myguiloglistener.cpp
+++ b/components/myguiplatform/myguiloglistener.cpp
@@ -8,9 +8,9 @@ namespace osgMyGUI
 {
     void CustomLogListener::open()
     {
-        mStream.open(std::filesystem::path(mFileName), std::ios_base::out);
+        mStream.open(mFileName, std::ios_base::out);
         if (!mStream.is_open())
-            Log(Debug::Error) << "Unable to create MyGUI log with path " << mFileName;
+            Log(Debug::Error) << "Unable to create MyGUI log with path " << mFileName; //TODO(Project579): This is broken on windows with unicode paths
     }
 
     void CustomLogListener::close()
diff --git a/components/myguiplatform/myguiloglistener.hpp b/components/myguiplatform/myguiloglistener.hpp
index c22b5afb02..4d6072a1d6 100644
--- a/components/myguiplatform/myguiloglistener.hpp
+++ b/components/myguiplatform/myguiloglistener.hpp
@@ -19,7 +19,7 @@ namespace osgMyGUI
     class CustomLogListener : public MyGUI::ILogListener
     {
     public:
-        CustomLogListener(const std::string &name)
+        CustomLogListener(const std::filesystem::path &name)
             : mFileName(name)
         {}
 
@@ -31,11 +31,9 @@ namespace osgMyGUI
 
         void log(const std::string& _section, MyGUI::LogLevel _level, const struct tm* _time, const std::string& _message, const char* _file, int _line) override;
 
-        const std::string& getFileName() const { return mFileName; }
-
     private:
         std::ofstream mStream;
-        std::string mFileName;
+        std::filesystem::path mFileName;
     };
 
     /// \brief Helper class holding data that required during
@@ -49,7 +47,7 @@ namespace osgMyGUI
 
     public:
 
-        LogFacility(const std::string &output, bool console)
+        LogFacility(const std::filesystem::path &output, bool console)
           : mFile(output)
         {
             mConsole.setEnabled(console);
diff --git a/components/myguiplatform/myguiplatform.cpp b/components/myguiplatform/myguiplatform.cpp
index 203de195f4..5425ddd31d 100644
--- a/components/myguiplatform/myguiplatform.cpp
+++ b/components/myguiplatform/myguiplatform.cpp
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@ namespace osgMyGUI
 {
 
 Platform::Platform(osgViewer::Viewer *viewer, osg::Group* guiRoot, Resource::ImageManager* imageManager,
-    const VFS::Manager* vfs, float uiScalingFactor, const std::string& resourcePath, const std::string& logName)
+    const VFS::Manager* vfs, float uiScalingFactor, const std::filesystem::path& resourcePath, const std::filesystem::path& logName)
     : mLogFacility(logName.empty() ? nullptr : std::make_unique<LogFacility>(logName, false))
     , mLogManager(std::make_unique<MyGUI::LogManager>())
     , mDataManager(std::make_unique<DataManager>(resourcePath, vfs))
diff --git a/components/myguiplatform/myguiplatform.hpp b/components/myguiplatform/myguiplatform.hpp
index 666dde8a84..a4812cc0b9 100644
--- a/components/myguiplatform/myguiplatform.hpp
+++ b/components/myguiplatform/myguiplatform.hpp
@@ -3,6 +3,7 @@
 
 #include <string>
 #include <memory>
+#include <filesystem>
 
 namespace osgViewer
 {
@@ -36,8 +37,8 @@ namespace osgMyGUI
     {
     public:
         Platform(osgViewer::Viewer* viewer, osg::Group* guiRoot, Resource::ImageManager* imageManager,
-            const VFS::Manager* vfs, float uiScalingFactor, const std::string& resourcePath,
-            const std::string& logName = "MyGUI.log");
+            const VFS::Manager* vfs, float uiScalingFactor, const std::filesystem::path& resourcePath,
+            const std::filesystem::path& logName = "MyGUI.log");
 
         ~Platform();
 
diff --git a/components/nif/niffile.cpp b/components/nif/niffile.cpp
index 574ba8bc2b..08d80b0f67 100644
--- a/components/nif/niffile.cpp
+++ b/components/nif/niffile.cpp
@@ -22,7 +22,7 @@ namespace Nif
 {
 
 /// Open a NIF stream. The name is used for error messages.
-NIFFile::NIFFile(Files::IStreamPtr&& stream, const std::string &name)
+NIFFile::NIFFile(Files::IStreamPtr&& stream, const std::filesystem::path &name)
     : filename(name)
 {
     parse(std::move(stream));
@@ -316,7 +316,7 @@ void NIFFile::parse(Files::IStreamPtr&& stream)
         r = entry->second();
 
         if (!supportedVersion)
-            Log(Debug::Verbose) << "NIF Debug: Reading record of type " << rec << ", index " << i << " (" << filename << ")";
+            Log(Debug::Verbose) << "NIF Debug: Reading record of type " << rec << ", index " << i << " (" << filename << ")"; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
 
         assert(r != nullptr);
         assert(r->recType != RC_MISSING);
diff --git a/components/nif/niffile.hpp b/components/nif/niffile.hpp
index 6b217df6e1..5b14ad2e46 100644
--- a/components/nif/niffile.hpp
+++ b/components/nif/niffile.hpp
@@ -31,7 +31,7 @@ struct File
 
     virtual bool getUseSkinning() const = 0;
 
-    virtual std::string getFilename() const = 0;
+    virtual std::filesystem::path getFilename() const = 0;
 
     virtual std::string getHash() const = 0;
 
@@ -50,7 +50,7 @@ class NIFFile final : public File
     unsigned int bethVer = 0;
 
     /// File name, used for error messages and opening the file
-    std::string filename;
+    std::filesystem::path filename;
     std::string hash;
 
     /// Record list
@@ -100,7 +100,7 @@ public:
     void warn(const std::string &msg) const;
 
     /// Open a NIF stream. The name is used for error messages.
-    NIFFile(Files::IStreamPtr&& stream, const std::string &name);
+    NIFFile(Files::IStreamPtr&& stream, const std::filesystem::path &name);
 
     /// Get a given record
     Record *getRecord(size_t index) const override
@@ -129,7 +129,7 @@ public:
     bool getUseSkinning() const override;
 
     /// Get the name of the file
-    std::string getFilename() const override { return filename; }
+    std::filesystem::path getFilename() const override { return filename; }
 
     std::string getHash() const override { return hash; }
 
diff --git a/components/nifbullet/bulletnifloader.cpp b/components/nifbullet/bulletnifloader.cpp
index 427d33000a..aeaf57c5f4 100644
--- a/components/nifbullet/bulletnifloader.cpp
+++ b/components/nifbullet/bulletnifloader.cpp
@@ -187,7 +187,7 @@ osg::ref_ptr<Resource::BulletShape> BulletNifLoader::load(const Nif::File& nif)
         if (node)
             roots.emplace_back(node);
     }
-    const std::string filename = nif.getFilename();
+    const std::string filename = nif.getFilename().string(); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
     mShape->mFileName = filename;
     if (roots.empty())
     {
diff --git a/components/nifosg/nifloader.cpp b/components/nifosg/nifloader.cpp
index 19a83175a3..39ccafdceb 100644
--- a/components/nifosg/nifloader.cpp
+++ b/components/nifosg/nifloader.cpp
@@ -225,12 +225,12 @@ namespace NifOsg
     {
     public:
         /// @param filename used for warning messages.
-        LoaderImpl(const std::string& filename, unsigned int ver, unsigned int userver, unsigned int bethver)
+        LoaderImpl(const std::filesystem::path& filename, unsigned int ver, unsigned int userver, unsigned int bethver)
             : mFilename(filename), mVersion(ver), mUserVersion(userver), mBethVersion(bethver)
         {
 
         }
-        std::string mFilename;
+        std::filesystem::path mFilename;
         unsigned int mVersion, mUserVersion, mBethVersion;
 
         size_t mFirstRootTextureIndex{~0u};
@@ -299,7 +299,7 @@ namespace NifOsg
                 setupController(key, callback, /*animflags*/0);
 
                 if (!target.mKeyframeControllers.emplace(strdata->string, callback).second)
-                    Log(Debug::Verbose) << "Controller " << strdata->string << " present more than once in " << nif->getFilename() << ", ignoring later version";
+                    Log(Debug::Verbose) << "Controller " << strdata->string << " present more than once in " << nif->getFilename() << ", ignoring later version"; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
             }
         }
 
@@ -485,20 +485,20 @@ namespace NifOsg
         {
             if (nifNode->recType != Nif::RC_NiTextureEffect)
             {
-                Log(Debug::Info) << "Unhandled effect " << nifNode->recName << " in " << mFilename;
+                Log(Debug::Info) << "Unhandled effect " << nifNode->recName << " in " << mFilename; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
                 return;
             }
 
             const Nif::NiTextureEffect* textureEffect = static_cast<const Nif::NiTextureEffect*>(nifNode);
             if (textureEffect->textureType != Nif::NiTextureEffect::Environment_Map)
             {
-                Log(Debug::Info) << "Unhandled NiTextureEffect type " << textureEffect->textureType << " in " << mFilename;
+                Log(Debug::Info) << "Unhandled NiTextureEffect type " << textureEffect->textureType << " in " << mFilename; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
                 return;
             }
 
             if (textureEffect->texture.empty())
             {
-                Log(Debug::Info) << "NiTextureEffect missing source texture in " << mFilename;
+                Log(Debug::Info) << "NiTextureEffect missing source texture in " << mFilename; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
                 return;
             }
 
@@ -515,7 +515,7 @@ namespace NifOsg
                 texGen->setMode(osg::TexGen::SPHERE_MAP);
                 break;
             default:
-                Log(Debug::Info) << "Unhandled NiTextureEffect coordGenType " << textureEffect->coordGenType << " in " << mFilename;
+                Log(Debug::Info) << "Unhandled NiTextureEffect coordGenType " << textureEffect->coordGenType << " in " << mFilename; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
                 return;
             }
 
@@ -875,7 +875,7 @@ namespace NifOsg
                     // These controllers are handled elsewhere
                 }
                 else
-                    Log(Debug::Info) << "Unhandled controller " << ctrl->recName << " on node " << nifNode->recIndex << " in " << mFilename;
+                    Log(Debug::Info) << "Unhandled controller " << ctrl->recName << " on node " << nifNode->recIndex << " in " << mFilename; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
             }
         }
 
@@ -915,7 +915,7 @@ namespace NifOsg
                     composite->addController(osgctrl);
                 }
                 else
-                    Log(Debug::Info) << "Unexpected material controller " << ctrl->recType << " in " << mFilename;
+                    Log(Debug::Info) << "Unexpected material controller " << ctrl->recType << " in " << mFilename; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
             }
         }
 
@@ -959,7 +959,7 @@ namespace NifOsg
                     composite->addController(callback);
                 }
                 else
-                    Log(Debug::Info) << "Unexpected texture controller " << ctrl->recName << " in " << mFilename;
+                    Log(Debug::Info) << "Unexpected texture controller " << ctrl->recName << " in " << mFilename; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
             }
         }
 
@@ -994,7 +994,7 @@ namespace NifOsg
                     // unused
                 }
                 else
-                    Log(Debug::Info) << "Unhandled particle modifier " << affectors->recName << " in " << mFilename;
+                    Log(Debug::Info) << "Unhandled particle modifier " << affectors->recName << " in " << mFilename; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
             }
             for (; !colliders.empty(); colliders = colliders->next)
             {
@@ -1009,7 +1009,7 @@ namespace NifOsg
                     program->addOperator(new SphericalCollider(sphericalcollider));
                 }
                 else
-                    Log(Debug::Info) << "Unhandled particle collider " << colliders->recName << " in " << mFilename;
+                    Log(Debug::Info) << "Unhandled particle collider " << colliders->recName << " in " << mFilename; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
             }
         }
 
@@ -1152,7 +1152,7 @@ namespace NifOsg
             }
             if (!partctrl)
             {
-                Log(Debug::Info) << "No particle controller found in " << mFilename;
+                Log(Debug::Info) << "No particle controller found in " << mFilename; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
                 return;
             }
 
@@ -1247,7 +1247,7 @@ namespace NifOsg
                 unsigned int uvSet = *it;
                 if (uvSet >= uvlist.size())
                 {
-                    Log(Debug::Verbose) << "Out of bounds UV set " << uvSet << " on shape \"" << name << "\" in " << mFilename;
+                    Log(Debug::Verbose) << "Out of bounds UV set " << uvSet << " on shape \"" << name << "\" in " << mFilename; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
                     if (uvlist.empty())
                         continue;
                     uvSet = 0;
@@ -1419,7 +1419,7 @@ namespace NifOsg
             case 9: return osg::BlendFunc::ONE_MINUS_DST_ALPHA;
             case 10: return osg::BlendFunc::SRC_ALPHA_SATURATE;
             default:
-                Log(Debug::Info) << "Unexpected blend mode: "<< mode << " in " << mFilename;
+                Log(Debug::Info) << "Unexpected blend mode: "<< mode << " in " << mFilename; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
                 return osg::BlendFunc::SRC_ALPHA;
             }
         }
@@ -1437,7 +1437,7 @@ namespace NifOsg
             case 6: return osg::AlphaFunc::GEQUAL;
             case 7: return osg::AlphaFunc::NEVER;
             default:
-                Log(Debug::Info) << "Unexpected blend mode: " << mode << " in " << mFilename;
+                Log(Debug::Info) << "Unexpected blend mode: " << mode << " in " << mFilename; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
                 return osg::AlphaFunc::LEQUAL;
             }
         }
@@ -1455,7 +1455,7 @@ namespace NifOsg
             case 6: return osg::Stencil::GEQUAL;
             case 7: return osg::Stencil::ALWAYS;
             default:
-                Log(Debug::Info) << "Unexpected stencil function: " << func << " in " << mFilename;
+                Log(Debug::Info) << "Unexpected stencil function: " << func << " in " << mFilename; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
                 return osg::Stencil::NEVER;
             }
         }
@@ -1471,7 +1471,7 @@ namespace NifOsg
             case 4: return osg::Stencil::DECR;
             case 5: return osg::Stencil::INVERT;
             default:
-                Log(Debug::Info) << "Unexpected stencil operation: " << op << " in " << mFilename;
+                Log(Debug::Info) << "Unexpected stencil operation: " << op << " in " << mFilename; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
                 return osg::Stencil::KEEP;
             }
         }
@@ -1514,7 +1514,7 @@ namespace NifOsg
                 packing = 4;
                 break;
             default:
-                Log(Debug::Info) << "Unhandled internal pixel format " << pixelData->fmt << " in " << mFilename;
+                Log(Debug::Info) << "Unhandled internal pixel format " << pixelData->fmt << " in " << mFilename; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
                 return nullptr;
             }
 
@@ -1572,7 +1572,7 @@ namespace NifOsg
             {
                 if (pixelData->palette.empty() || pixelData->bpp != 8)
                 {
-                    Log(Debug::Info) << "Palettized texture in " << mFilename << " is invalid, ignoring";
+                    Log(Debug::Info) << "Palettized texture in " << mFilename << " is invalid, ignoring"; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
                     return nullptr;
                 }
                 pixelformat = pixelData->fmt == Nif::NiPixelData::NIPXFMT_PAL8 ? GL_RGB : GL_RGBA;
@@ -1644,7 +1644,7 @@ namespace NifOsg
                             break;
                         default:
                         {
-                            Log(Debug::Info) << "Unhandled texture stage " << i << " on shape \"" << nodeName << "\" in " << mFilename;
+                            Log(Debug::Info) << "Unhandled texture stage " << i << " on shape \"" << nodeName << "\" in " << mFilename; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
                             continue;
                         }
                     }
@@ -1658,7 +1658,7 @@ namespace NifOsg
                         if(tex.texture.empty() && texprop->controller.empty())
                         {
                             if (i == 0)
-                                Log(Debug::Warning) << "Base texture is in use but empty on shape \"" << nodeName << "\" in " << mFilename;
+                                Log(Debug::Warning) << "Base texture is in use but empty on shape \"" << nodeName << "\" in " << mFilename; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
                             continue;
                         }
 
@@ -1815,7 +1815,7 @@ namespace NifOsg
                         break;
                     default:
                     {
-                        Log(Debug::Info) << "Unhandled texture stage " << i << " on shape \"" << nodeName << "\" in " << mFilename;
+                        Log(Debug::Info) << "Unhandled texture stage " << i << " on shape \"" << nodeName << "\" in " << mFilename; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
                         continue;
                     }
                 }
@@ -1859,10 +1859,10 @@ namespace NifOsg
                 case Nif::BSShaderType::ShaderType_Water:
                 case Nif::BSShaderType::ShaderType_Lighting30:
                 case Nif::BSShaderType::ShaderType_Tile:
-                    Log(Debug::Warning) << "Unhandled BSShaderType " << type << " in " << mFilename;
+                    Log(Debug::Warning) << "Unhandled BSShaderType " << type << " in " << mFilename; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
                     return std::string_view();
             }
-            Log(Debug::Warning) << "Unknown BSShaderType " << type << " in " << mFilename;
+            Log(Debug::Warning) << "Unknown BSShaderType " << type << " in " << mFilename; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
             return std::string_view();
         }
 
@@ -1891,10 +1891,10 @@ namespace NifOsg
                 case Nif::BSLightingShaderType::ShaderType_LODNoise:
                 case Nif::BSLightingShaderType::ShaderType_MultitexLandLODBlend:
                 case Nif::BSLightingShaderType::ShaderType_Dismemberment:
-                    Log(Debug::Warning) << "Unhandled BSLightingShaderType " << type << " in " << mFilename;
+                    Log(Debug::Warning) << "Unhandled BSLightingShaderType " << type << " in " << mFilename; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
                     return std::string_view();
             }
-            Log(Debug::Warning) << "Unknown BSLightingShaderType " << type << " in " << mFilename;
+            Log(Debug::Warning) << "Unknown BSLightingShaderType " << type << " in " << mFilename; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
             return std::string_view();
         }
 
@@ -2057,7 +2057,7 @@ namespace NifOsg
                 break;
             }
             default:
-                Log(Debug::Info) << "Unhandled " << property->recName << " in " << mFilename;
+                Log(Debug::Info) << "Unhandled " << property->recName << " in " << mFilename; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
                 break;
             }
         }
@@ -2304,7 +2304,7 @@ namespace NifOsg
                 else if (type == Nif::RC_NiClusterAccumulator)
                     setBin_BackToFront(stateset);
                 else
-                    Log(Debug::Error) << "Unrecognized NiAccumulator in " << mFilename;
+                    Log(Debug::Error) << "Unrecognized NiAccumulator in " << mFilename; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
             };
 
             switch (mPushedSorter->mMode)
diff --git a/components/resource/scenemanager.cpp b/components/resource/scenemanager.cpp
index bbbdde68d7..ef8d1c66e3 100644
--- a/components/resource/scenemanager.cpp
+++ b/components/resource/scenemanager.cpp
@@ -477,7 +477,7 @@ namespace Resource
         return *mShaderManager.get();
     }
 
-    void SceneManager::setShaderPath(const std::string &path)
+    void SceneManager::setShaderPath(const std::filesystem::path &path)
     {
         mShaderManager->setShaderPath(path);
     }
@@ -498,14 +498,14 @@ namespace Resource
 
         osgDB::ReaderWriter::ReadResult readImage(const std::string& filename, const osgDB::Options* options) override
         {
-            std::filesystem::path filePath(filename);
+            std::filesystem::path filePath(filename); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
             if (filePath.is_absolute())
                 // It is a hack. Needed because either OSG or libcollada-dom tries to make an absolute path from
                 // our relative VFS path by adding current working directory.
                 filePath = std::filesystem::relative(filename, osgDB::getCurrentWorkingDirectory());
             try
             {
-                return osgDB::ReaderWriter::ReadResult(mImageManager->getImage(filePath.string()),
+                return osgDB::ReaderWriter::ReadResult(mImageManager->getImage(filePath.string()), //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
                                                        osgDB::ReaderWriter::ReadResult::FILE_LOADED);
             }
             catch (std::exception& e)
diff --git a/components/resource/scenemanager.hpp b/components/resource/scenemanager.hpp
index d3ad868a99..b27b807447 100644
--- a/components/resource/scenemanager.hpp
+++ b/components/resource/scenemanager.hpp
@@ -14,6 +14,7 @@
 #include "resourcemanager.hpp"
 
 #include <components/sceneutil/lightmanager.hpp>
+#include <filesystem>
 
 namespace Resource
 {
@@ -124,7 +125,7 @@ namespace Resource
         
         void setConvertAlphaTestToAlphaToCoverage(bool convert);
 
-        void setShaderPath(const std::string& path);
+        void setShaderPath(const std::filesystem::path &path);
 
         /// Check if a given scene is loaded and if so, update its usage timestamp to prevent it from being unloaded
         bool checkLoaded(const std::string& name, double referenceTime);
diff --git a/components/sceneutil/screencapture.cpp b/components/sceneutil/screencapture.cpp
index 97a22e94aa..6adff9323d 100644
--- a/components/sceneutil/screencapture.cpp
+++ b/components/sceneutil/screencapture.cpp
@@ -61,8 +61,9 @@ namespace
 
 namespace SceneUtil
 {
-    std::string writeScreenshotToFile(const std::string& screenshotPath, const std::string& screenshotFormat,
-                                      const osg::Image& image)
+    std::filesystem::path writeScreenshotToFile(const std::filesystem::path& screenshotPath,
+                                                const std::string& screenshotFormat,
+                                                const osg::Image& image)
     {
         // Count screenshots.
         int shotCount = 0;
@@ -70,7 +71,7 @@ namespace SceneUtil
         // Find the first unused filename with a do-while
         std::ostringstream stream;
         std::string lastFileName;
-        std::string lastFilePath;
+        std::filesystem::path lastFilePath;
         do
         {
             // Reset the stream
@@ -80,12 +81,12 @@ namespace SceneUtil
             stream << "screenshot" << std::setw(3) << std::setfill('0') << shotCount++ << "." << screenshotFormat;
 
             lastFileName = stream.str();
-            lastFilePath = screenshotPath + "/" + lastFileName;
+            lastFilePath = screenshotPath / lastFileName;
 
         } while (std::filesystem::exists(lastFilePath));
 
         std::ofstream outStream;
-        outStream.open(std::filesystem::path(std::move(lastFilePath)), std::ios::binary);
+        outStream.open(lastFilePath, std::ios::binary);
 
         osgDB::ReaderWriter* readerwriter = osgDB::Registry::instance()->getReaderWriterForExtension(screenshotFormat);
         if (!readerwriter)
@@ -104,7 +105,7 @@ namespace SceneUtil
         return lastFileName;
     }
 
-    WriteScreenshotToFileOperation::WriteScreenshotToFileOperation(const std::string& screenshotPath,
+    WriteScreenshotToFileOperation::WriteScreenshotToFileOperation(const std::filesystem::path &screenshotPath,
                                                                    const std::string& screenshotFormat,
                                                                    std::function<void (std::string)> callback)
         : mScreenshotPath(screenshotPath)
@@ -115,7 +116,7 @@ namespace SceneUtil
 
     void WriteScreenshotToFileOperation::operator()(const osg::Image& image, const unsigned int /*context_id*/)
     {
-        std::string fileName;
+        std::filesystem::path fileName;
         try
         {
             fileName = writeScreenshotToFile(mScreenshotPath, mScreenshotFormat, image);
@@ -128,7 +129,7 @@ namespace SceneUtil
         if (fileName.empty())
             mCallback("Failed to save screenshot");
         else
-            mCallback(fileName + " has been saved");
+            mCallback(fileName.string() + " has been saved"); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
     }
 
     AsyncScreenCaptureOperation::AsyncScreenCaptureOperation(osg::ref_ptr<WorkQueue> queue,
diff --git a/components/sceneutil/screencapture.hpp b/components/sceneutil/screencapture.hpp
index 87e396b020..e5a8304896 100644
--- a/components/sceneutil/screencapture.hpp
+++ b/components/sceneutil/screencapture.hpp
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@
 
 #include <string>
 #include <vector>
+#include <filesystem>
 
 namespace osg
 {
@@ -19,19 +20,20 @@ namespace SceneUtil
     class WorkQueue;
     class WorkItem;
 
-    std::string writeScreenshotToFile(const std::string& screenshotPath, const std::string& screenshotFormat,
-                                      const osg::Image& image);
+    std::filesystem::path writeScreenshotToFile(const std::filesystem::path& screenshotPath,
+                                                const std::string& screenshotFormat,
+                                                const osg::Image& image);
 
     class WriteScreenshotToFileOperation : public osgViewer::ScreenCaptureHandler::CaptureOperation
     {
         public:
-            WriteScreenshotToFileOperation(const std::string& screenshotPath, const std::string& screenshotFormat,
+            WriteScreenshotToFileOperation(const std::filesystem::path &screenshotPath, const std::string& screenshotFormat,
                                            std::function<void (std::string)> callback);
 
             void operator()(const osg::Image& image, const unsigned int context_id) override;
 
         private:
-            const std::string mScreenshotPath;
+            const std::filesystem::path mScreenshotPath;
             const std::string mScreenshotFormat;
             const std::function<void (std::string)> mCallback;
     };
diff --git a/components/sceneutil/writescene.cpp b/components/sceneutil/writescene.cpp
index d243f521c0..1a605be5ae 100644
--- a/components/sceneutil/writescene.cpp
+++ b/components/sceneutil/writescene.cpp
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 
 #include "serialize.hpp"
 
-void SceneUtil::writeScene(osg::Node *node, const std::string& filename, const std::string& format)
+void SceneUtil::writeScene(osg::Node *node, const std::filesystem::path& filename, const std::string& format)
 {
     registerSerializers();
 
diff --git a/components/sceneutil/writescene.hpp b/components/sceneutil/writescene.hpp
index 307251fe80..0e1701f4ad 100644
--- a/components/sceneutil/writescene.hpp
+++ b/components/sceneutil/writescene.hpp
@@ -1,7 +1,7 @@
 #ifndef OPENMW_COMPONENTS_WRITESCENE_H
 #define OPENMW_COMPONENTS_WRITESCENE_H
 
-#include <string>
+#include <filesystem>
 
 namespace osg
 {
@@ -11,7 +11,7 @@ namespace osg
 namespace SceneUtil
 {
 
-    void writeScene(osg::Node* node, const std::string& filename, const std::string& format);
+    void writeScene(osg::Node* node, const std::filesystem::path& filename, const std::string& format);
 
 }
 
diff --git a/components/settings/parser.cpp b/components/settings/parser.cpp
index cbc51ff220..44016ad010 100644
--- a/components/settings/parser.cpp
+++ b/components/settings/parser.cpp
@@ -10,12 +10,12 @@
 
 #include <Base64.h>
 
-void Settings::SettingsFileParser::loadSettingsFile(const std::string& file, CategorySettingValueMap& settings,
+void Settings::SettingsFileParser::loadSettingsFile(const std::filesystem::path &file, CategorySettingValueMap& settings,
                                                     bool base64Encoded, bool overrideExisting)
 {
     mFile = file;
     std::ifstream fstream;
-    fstream.open(std::filesystem::path(file));
+    fstream.open(file);
     auto stream = std::ref<std::istream>(fstream);
 
     std::istringstream decodedStream;
@@ -82,7 +82,7 @@ void Settings::SettingsFileParser::loadSettingsFile(const std::string& file, Cat
     }
 }
 
-void Settings::SettingsFileParser::saveSettingsFile(const std::string& file, const CategorySettingValueMap& settings)
+void Settings::SettingsFileParser::saveSettingsFile(const std::filesystem::path &file, const CategorySettingValueMap& settings)
 {
     using CategorySettingStatusMap = std::map<CategorySetting, bool>;
 
@@ -108,8 +108,7 @@ void Settings::SettingsFileParser::saveSettingsFile(const std::string& file, con
     // as the output file if we're copying the setting from the default settings.cfg for the
     // first time.  A minor change in API to pass the source file might be in order here.
     std::ifstream istream;
-    std::filesystem::path ipath(file);
-    istream.open(ipath);
+    istream.open(file);
 
     // Create a new string stream to write the current settings to.  It's likely that the
     // input file and the output file are the same, so this stream serves as a temporary file
@@ -305,9 +304,9 @@ void Settings::SettingsFileParser::saveSettingsFile(const std::string& file, con
 
     // Now install the newly written file in the requested place.
     if (changed) {
-        Log(Debug::Info) << "Updating settings file: " << ipath;
+        Log(Debug::Info) << "Updating settings file: " << file; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
         std::ofstream ofstream;
-        ofstream.open(ipath);
+        ofstream.open(file);
         ofstream << ostream.rdbuf();
         ofstream.close();
     }
diff --git a/components/settings/parser.hpp b/components/settings/parser.hpp
index c934fbea07..a062a39fa2 100644
--- a/components/settings/parser.hpp
+++ b/components/settings/parser.hpp
@@ -4,16 +4,17 @@
 #include "categories.hpp"
 
 #include <string>
+#include <filesystem>
 
 namespace Settings
 {
     class SettingsFileParser
     {
     public:
-        void loadSettingsFile(const std::string& file, CategorySettingValueMap& settings,
-                              bool base64encoded = false, bool overrideExisting = false);
+        void loadSettingsFile(const std::filesystem::path &file, CategorySettingValueMap& settings,
+                              bool base64Encoded = false, bool overrideExisting = false);
 
-        void saveSettingsFile(const std::string& file, const CategorySettingValueMap& settings);
+        void saveSettingsFile(const std::filesystem::path &file, const CategorySettingValueMap& settings);
 
     private:
         /// Increment i until it longer points to a whitespace character
@@ -23,7 +24,7 @@ namespace Settings
 
         [[noreturn]] void fail(const std::string& message);
 
-        std::string mFile;
+        std::filesystem::path mFile;
         int mLine = 0;
     };
 }
diff --git a/components/settings/settings.cpp b/components/settings/settings.cpp
index cd4016900b..b252af2ccf 100644
--- a/components/settings/settings.cpp
+++ b/components/settings/settings.cpp
@@ -21,7 +21,7 @@ void Manager::clear()
     mChangedSettings.clear();
 }
 
-std::string Manager::load(const Files::ConfigurationManager& cfgMgr, bool loadEditorSettings)
+std::filesystem::path Manager::load(const Files::ConfigurationManager& cfgMgr, bool loadEditorSettings)
 {
     SettingsFileParser parser;
     const std::vector<std::filesystem::path>& paths = cfgMgr.getActiveConfigPaths();
@@ -44,7 +44,7 @@ std::string Manager::load(const Files::ConfigurationManager& cfgMgr, bool loadEd
     }
 
     // Create the settings manager and load default settings file.
-    const std::string defaultsBin = (paths.front() / defaultSettingsFile).string();
+    const auto defaultsBin = paths.front() / defaultSettingsFile;
     if (!std::filesystem::exists(defaultsBin))
         throw std::runtime_error ("No default settings file found! Make sure the file \"" + defaultSettingsFile + "\" was properly installed.");
     parser.loadSettingsFile(defaultsBin, mDefaultSettings, true, false);
@@ -52,20 +52,20 @@ std::string Manager::load(const Files::ConfigurationManager& cfgMgr, bool loadEd
     // Load "settings.cfg" or "openmw-cs.cfg" from every config dir except the last one as additional default settings.
     for (int i = 0; i < static_cast<int>(paths.size()) - 1; ++i)
     {
-        const std::string additionalDefaults = (paths[i] / userSettingsFile).string();
+        const auto additionalDefaults = paths[i] / userSettingsFile;
         if (std::filesystem::exists(additionalDefaults))
             parser.loadSettingsFile(additionalDefaults, mDefaultSettings, false, true);
     }
 
     // Load "settings.cfg" or "openmw-cs.cfg" from the last config dir as user settings. This path will be used to save modified settings.
-    std::string settingspath = (paths.back() / userSettingsFile).string();
+    auto settingspath = paths.back() / userSettingsFile;
     if (std::filesystem::exists(settingspath))
         parser.loadSettingsFile(settingspath, mUserSettings, false, false);
 
     return settingspath;
 }
 
-void Manager::saveUser(const std::string &file)
+void Manager::saveUser(const std::filesystem::path &file)
 {
     SettingsFileParser parser;
     parser.saveSettingsFile(file, mUserSettings);
diff --git a/components/settings/settings.hpp b/components/settings/settings.hpp
index f50449b5de..e5e841e3de 100644
--- a/components/settings/settings.hpp
+++ b/components/settings/settings.hpp
@@ -11,6 +11,7 @@
 
 #include <osg/Vec2f>
 #include <osg/Vec3f>
+#include <filesystem>
 
 namespace Files
 {
@@ -41,10 +42,10 @@ namespace Settings
         static void clear();
         ///< clears all settings and default settings
 
-        static std::string load(const Files::ConfigurationManager& cfgMgr, bool loadEditorSettings = false);
+        static std::filesystem::path load(const Files::ConfigurationManager& cfgMgr, bool loadEditorSettings = false);
         ///< load settings from all active config dirs. Returns the path of the last loaded file.
 
-        static void saveUser (const std::string& file);
+        static void saveUser (const std::filesystem::path &file);
         ///< save user settings to file
 
         static void resetPendingChanges();
diff --git a/components/settings/shadermanager.hpp b/components/settings/shadermanager.hpp
index eaf10a3a34..effedf63d2 100644
--- a/components/settings/shadermanager.hpp
+++ b/components/settings/shadermanager.hpp
@@ -104,12 +104,12 @@ namespace Settings
             return std::nullopt;
         }
 
-        bool load(const std::string& path)
+        bool load(const std::filesystem::path &path)
         {
             mData = YAML::Null;
-            mPath = std::filesystem::path(path);
+            mPath = path;
 
-            Log(Debug::Info) << "Loading shader settings file: " << mPath;
+            Log(Debug::Info) << "Loading shader settings file: " << mPath; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
 
             if (!std::filesystem::exists(mPath))
             {
@@ -123,7 +123,7 @@ namespace Settings
 
             try
             {
-                mData = YAML::LoadFile(mPath.string());
+                mData = YAML::LoadFile(mPath.string()); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
                 mData.SetStyle(YAML::EmitterStyle::Block);
 
                 if (!mData["config"])
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ namespace Settings
             out.SetMapFormat(YAML::Block);
             out << mData;
 
-            std::ofstream fout(mPath.string());
+            std::ofstream fout(mPath);
             fout << out.c_str();
 
             if (!fout)
diff --git a/components/shader/shadermanager.cpp b/components/shader/shadermanager.cpp
index 326615cc05..1e48cf337e 100644
--- a/components/shader/shadermanager.cpp
+++ b/components/shader/shadermanager.cpp
@@ -25,7 +25,7 @@ namespace Shader
 
     ShaderManager::~ShaderManager() = default;
 
-    void ShaderManager::setShaderPath(const std::string &path)
+    void ShaderManager::setShaderPath(const std::filesystem::path &path)
     {
         mPath = path;
     }
@@ -126,7 +126,7 @@ namespace Shader
             includeFstream.open(includePath);
             if (includeFstream.fail())
             {
-                Log(Debug::Error) << "Shader " << fileName << " error: Failed to open include " << includePath.string();
+                Log(Debug::Error) << "Shader " << fileName << " error: Failed to open include " << includePath.string(); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
                 return false;
             }
             int includedFileNumber = fileNumber++;
@@ -467,12 +467,12 @@ namespace Shader
 
         if (templateIt == mShaderTemplates.end())
         {
-            std::filesystem::path path = (std::filesystem::path(mPath) / templateName);
+            std::filesystem::path path = mPath / templateName;
             std::ifstream stream;
             stream.open(path);
             if (stream.fail())
             {
-                Log(Debug::Error) << "Failed to open " << path.string();
+                Log(Debug::Error) << "Failed to open " << path.string(); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
                 return nullptr;
             }
             std::stringstream buffer;
@@ -482,7 +482,7 @@ namespace Shader
             int fileNumber = 1;
             std::string source = buffer.str();
             if (!addLineDirectivesAfterConditionalBlocks(source)
-                || !parseIncludes(std::filesystem::path(mPath), source, templateName, fileNumber, {}, insertedPaths))
+                || !parseIncludes(mPath, source, templateName, fileNumber, {}, insertedPaths))
                 return nullptr;
             mHotReloadManager->templateIncludedFiles[templateName] = insertedPaths;
             templateIt = mShaderTemplates.insert(std::make_pair(templateName, source)).first;
diff --git a/components/shader/shadermanager.hpp b/components/shader/shadermanager.hpp
index 50c430637e..55bc1cb04a 100644
--- a/components/shader/shadermanager.hpp
+++ b/components/shader/shadermanager.hpp
@@ -12,6 +12,7 @@
 
 #include <osg/Shader>
 #include <osg/Program>
+#include <filesystem>
 
 namespace osgViewer {
     class Viewer;
@@ -29,7 +30,7 @@ namespace Shader
         ShaderManager();
         ~ShaderManager();
 
-        void setShaderPath(const std::string& path);
+        void setShaderPath(const std::filesystem::path &path);
 
         typedef std::map<std::string, std::string> DefineMap;
 
@@ -80,7 +81,7 @@ namespace Shader
         void getLinkedShaders(osg::ref_ptr<osg::Shader> shader, const std::vector<std::string>& linkedShaderNames, const DefineMap& defines);
         void addLinkedShaders(osg::ref_ptr<osg::Shader> shader, osg::ref_ptr<osg::Program> program);
 
-        std::string mPath;
+        std::filesystem::path mPath;
 
         DefineMap mGlobalDefines;
 
diff --git a/components/version/version.cpp b/components/version/version.cpp
index 32b8f44ae6..a280bf38d3 100644
--- a/components/version/version.cpp
+++ b/components/version/version.cpp
@@ -6,11 +6,9 @@
 namespace Version
 {
 
-Version getOpenmwVersion(const std::string &resourcePath)
+Version getOpenmwVersion(const std::filesystem::path &resourcePath)
 {
-    std::filesystem::path path (resourcePath + "/version");
-
-    std::ifstream stream (path);
+    std::ifstream stream (resourcePath / "version");
 
     Version v;
     std::getline(stream, v.mVersion);
@@ -31,7 +29,7 @@ std::string Version::describe()
     return str;
 }
 
-std::string getOpenmwVersionDescription(const std::string &resourcePath)
+std::string getOpenmwVersionDescription(const std::filesystem::path &resourcePath)
 {
     Version v = getOpenmwVersion(resourcePath);
     return v.describe();
diff --git a/components/version/version.hpp b/components/version/version.hpp
index 7371e786e0..0248f869a9 100644
--- a/components/version/version.hpp
+++ b/components/version/version.hpp
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 #define VERSION_HPP
 
 #include <string>
+#include <filesystem>
 
 namespace Version
 {
@@ -16,10 +17,10 @@ namespace Version
     };
 
     /// Read OpenMW version from the version file located in resourcePath.
-    Version getOpenmwVersion(const std::string& resourcePath);
+    Version getOpenmwVersion(const std::filesystem::path &resourcePath);
 
     /// Helper function to getOpenmwVersion and describe() it
-    std::string getOpenmwVersionDescription(const std::string& resourcePath);
+    std::string getOpenmwVersionDescription(const std::filesystem::path &resourcePath);
 
 }
 
diff --git a/components/vfs/archive.hpp b/components/vfs/archive.hpp
index 22df09e06c..26db7b8535 100644
--- a/components/vfs/archive.hpp
+++ b/components/vfs/archive.hpp
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ namespace VFS
 
         virtual Files::IStreamPtr open() = 0;
 
-        virtual std::string getPath() = 0;
+        virtual std::filesystem::path getPath() = 0;
     };
 
     class Archive
diff --git a/components/vfs/bsaarchive.cpp b/components/vfs/bsaarchive.cpp
index c0db4c071c..f2c09cf848 100644
--- a/components/vfs/bsaarchive.cpp
+++ b/components/vfs/bsaarchive.cpp
@@ -7,7 +7,7 @@
 namespace VFS
 {
 
-BsaArchive::BsaArchive(const std::string &filename)
+BsaArchive::BsaArchive(const std::filesystem::path &filename)
 {
     mFile = std::make_unique<Bsa::BSAFile>();
     mFile->open(filename);
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ Files::IStreamPtr BsaArchiveFile::open()
     return mFile->getFile(mInfo);
 }
 
-CompressedBsaArchive::CompressedBsaArchive(const std::string &filename)
+CompressedBsaArchive::CompressedBsaArchive(const std::filesystem::path &filename)
     : Archive()
 {
     mCompressedFile = std::make_unique<Bsa::CompressedBSAFile>();
diff --git a/components/vfs/bsaarchive.hpp b/components/vfs/bsaarchive.hpp
index a52104efd7..23811c045b 100644
--- a/components/vfs/bsaarchive.hpp
+++ b/components/vfs/bsaarchive.hpp
@@ -15,7 +15,7 @@ namespace VFS
 
         Files::IStreamPtr open() override;
 
-        std::string getPath() override { return mInfo->name(); }
+        std::filesystem::path getPath() override { return mInfo->name(); }
 
         const Bsa::BSAFile::FileStruct* mInfo;
         Bsa::BSAFile* mFile;
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@ namespace VFS
 
         Files::IStreamPtr open() override;
 
-        std::string getPath() override { return mInfo->name(); }
+        std::filesystem::path getPath() override { return mInfo->name(); }
 
         const Bsa::BSAFile::FileStruct* mInfo;
         Bsa::CompressedBSAFile* mCompressedFile;
@@ -38,7 +38,7 @@ namespace VFS
     class BsaArchive : public Archive
     {
     public:
-        BsaArchive(const std::string& filename);
+        BsaArchive(const std::filesystem::path &filename);
         BsaArchive();
         virtual ~BsaArchive();
         void listResources(std::map<std::string, File*>& out, char (*normalize_function) (char)) override;
@@ -53,7 +53,7 @@ namespace VFS
     class CompressedBsaArchive : public Archive
     {
     public:
-        CompressedBsaArchive(const std::string& filename);
+        CompressedBsaArchive(const std::filesystem::path &filename);
         virtual ~CompressedBsaArchive() {}
         void listResources(std::map<std::string, File*>& out, char (*normalize_function) (char)) override;
         bool contains(const std::string& file, char (*normalize_function) (char)) const override;
diff --git a/components/vfs/filesystemarchive.cpp b/components/vfs/filesystemarchive.cpp
index 7b57c93944..f6b01a89c4 100644
--- a/components/vfs/filesystemarchive.cpp
+++ b/components/vfs/filesystemarchive.cpp
@@ -10,7 +10,7 @@
 namespace VFS
 {
 
-    FileSystemArchive::FileSystemArchive(const std::string &path)
+    FileSystemArchive::FileSystemArchive(const std::filesystem::path &path)
         : mBuiltIndex(false)
         , mPath(path)
     {
@@ -21,31 +21,30 @@ namespace VFS
     {
         if (!mBuiltIndex)
         {
-            typedef std::filesystem::recursive_directory_iterator directory_iterator;
+            const auto str = mPath.string(); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
+            size_t prefix = str.size ();
 
-            directory_iterator end;
-
-            size_t prefix = mPath.size ();
-
-            if (mPath.size () > 0 && mPath [prefix - 1] != '\\' && mPath [prefix - 1] != '/')
+            if (!mPath.empty() && str [prefix - 1] != '\\' && str [prefix - 1] != '/')
                 ++prefix;
 
-            for (directory_iterator i (std::filesystem::u8path(mPath)); i != end; ++i)
+            for (const auto& i :
+                    std::filesystem::recursive_directory_iterator(mPath))
             {
-                if(std::filesystem::is_directory (*i))
+                if(std::filesystem::is_directory (i))
                     continue;
 
-                auto proper = i->path ().u8string ();
+                const auto& path = i.path ();
+                const auto& proper = path.string (); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
 
-                FileSystemArchiveFile file(std::string((char*)proper.c_str(), proper.size()));
+                FileSystemArchiveFile file(path);
 
                 std::string searchable;
 
-                std::transform(proper.begin() + prefix, proper.end(), std::back_inserter(searchable), normalize_function);
+                std::transform(std::next(proper.begin(), static_cast<std::string::difference_type>(prefix)), proper.end(), std::back_inserter(searchable), normalize_function);
 
                 const auto inserted = mIndex.insert(std::make_pair(searchable, file));
                 if (!inserted.second)
-                    Log(Debug::Warning) << "Warning: found duplicate file for '" << std::string((char*)proper.c_str(), proper.size()) << "', please check your file system for two files with the same name in different cases.";
+                    Log(Debug::Warning) << "Warning: found duplicate file for '" << proper << "', please check your file system for two files with the same name in different cases."; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
                 else
                     out[inserted.first->first] = &inserted.first->second;
             }
@@ -67,12 +66,12 @@ namespace VFS
 
     std::string FileSystemArchive::getDescription() const
     {
-        return std::string{"DIR: "} + mPath;
+        return std::string{"DIR: "} + mPath.string(); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
     }
 
     // ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 
-    FileSystemArchiveFile::FileSystemArchiveFile(const std::string &path)
+    FileSystemArchiveFile::FileSystemArchiveFile(const std::filesystem::path &path)
         : mPath(path)
     {
     }
diff --git a/components/vfs/filesystemarchive.hpp b/components/vfs/filesystemarchive.hpp
index 2c50e5300b..678eb19f95 100644
--- a/components/vfs/filesystemarchive.hpp
+++ b/components/vfs/filesystemarchive.hpp
@@ -1,6 +1,7 @@
 #ifndef OPENMW_COMPONENTS_RESOURCE_FILESYSTEMARCHIVE_H
 #define OPENMW_COMPONENTS_RESOURCE_FILESYSTEMARCHIVE_H
 
+#include <filesystem>
 #include "archive.hpp"
 
 #include <string>
@@ -11,21 +12,21 @@ namespace VFS
     class FileSystemArchiveFile : public File
     {
     public:
-        FileSystemArchiveFile(const std::string& path);
+        FileSystemArchiveFile(const std::filesystem::path &path);
 
         Files::IStreamPtr open() override;
 
-        std::string getPath() override { return mPath; }
+        std::filesystem::path getPath() override { return mPath; }
 
     private:
-        std::string mPath;
+        std::filesystem::path mPath;
 
     };
 
     class FileSystemArchive : public Archive
     {
     public:
-        FileSystemArchive(const std::string& path);
+        FileSystemArchive(const std::filesystem::path &path);
 
         void listResources(std::map<std::string, File*>& out, char (*normalize_function) (char)) override;
 
@@ -38,7 +39,7 @@ namespace VFS
         index mIndex;
 
         bool mBuiltIndex;
-        std::string mPath;
+        std::filesystem::path mPath;
 
     };
 
diff --git a/components/vfs/manager.cpp b/components/vfs/manager.cpp
index c8434fd9fd..8f3963f3f7 100644
--- a/components/vfs/manager.cpp
+++ b/components/vfs/manager.cpp
@@ -56,7 +56,7 @@ namespace VFS
         mIndex.clear();
 
         for (const auto& archive : mArchives)
-            archive->listResources(mIndex, mStrict ? &strict_normalize_char : &nonstrict_normalize_char);
+            archive->listResources(mIndex, mStrict ? &strict_normalize_char : &nonstrict_normalize_char); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
     }
 
     Files::IStreamPtr Manager::get(std::string_view name) const
@@ -102,15 +102,15 @@ namespace VFS
         return {};
     }
 
-    std::string Manager::getAbsoluteFileName(std::string_view name) const
+    std::filesystem::path Manager::getAbsoluteFileName(const std::filesystem::path &name) const
     {
-        std::string normalized(name);
-        normalize_path(normalized, mStrict);
+        std::string normalized(name); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
+        normalize_path(normalized, mStrict); //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
 
-        std::map<std::string, File*>::const_iterator found = mIndex.find(normalized);
+        const auto found = mIndex.find(normalized);
         if (found == mIndex.end())
             throw std::runtime_error("Resource '" + normalized + "' not found");
-        return found->second->getPath();
+        return found->second->getPath();//TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
     }
 
     namespace
diff --git a/components/vfs/manager.hpp b/components/vfs/manager.hpp
index ab42a643a5..8f8f6e450f 100644
--- a/components/vfs/manager.hpp
+++ b/components/vfs/manager.hpp
@@ -94,7 +94,7 @@ namespace VFS
         /// Retrieve the absolute path to the file
         /// @note Throws an exception if the file can not be found.
         /// @note May be called from any thread once the index has been built.
-        std::string getAbsoluteFileName(std::string_view name) const;
+        std::filesystem::path getAbsoluteFileName(const std::filesystem::path &name) const;
 
     private:
         bool mStrict;
diff --git a/components/vfs/registerarchives.cpp b/components/vfs/registerarchives.cpp
index 80f4561136..dd8287818e 100644
--- a/components/vfs/registerarchives.cpp
+++ b/components/vfs/registerarchives.cpp
@@ -22,8 +22,8 @@ namespace VFS
             if (collections.doesExist(*archive))
             {
                 // Last BSA has the highest priority
-                const std::string archivePath = collections.getPath(*archive).string();
-                Log(Debug::Info) << "Adding BSA archive " << archivePath;
+                const auto archivePath = collections.getPath(*archive);
+                Log(Debug::Info) << "Adding BSA archive " << archivePath; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
                 Bsa::BsaVersion bsaVersion = Bsa::CompressedBSAFile::detectVersion(archivePath);
 
                 if (bsaVersion == Bsa::BSAVER_COMPRESSED)
@@ -49,7 +49,7 @@ namespace VFS
                     vfs->addArchive(std::make_unique<FileSystemArchive>(dataDir));
                 }
                 else
-                    Log(Debug::Info) << "Ignoring duplicate data directory " << dataDir;
+                    Log(Debug::Info) << "Ignoring duplicate data directory " << dataDir; //TODO(Project579): This will probably break in windows with unicode paths
             }
         }