On Linux when you store settings, they're usually stored in a INI text file. On OSX when you store settings, they're usually stored in a XML text file. Is there any way to make my windows build use one of those methods for manipulating settings instead of the awful registry?

On OSX when you go open up a QFileDialog::getOpenFileName the directory it starts in is set to the last directory you visited. Is there anyway to make my windows build behave like this? Preferably combining that with the text file settings mentioned above.