diff --git a/acceptance/tests/resource/user/should_create.rb b/acceptance/tests/resource/user/should_create.rb
index 0b2b0c65f..4889c062f 100755
--- a/acceptance/tests/resource/user/should_create.rb
+++ b/acceptance/tests/resource/user/should_create.rb
@@ -1,24 +1,26 @@
-test_name "should create a user, and the default matching group"
+test_name "should create a user"
 
 name = "pl#{rand(999999).to_i}"
 
-step "ensure that the user and group #{name} do not exist"
-on agents, "if getent passwd #{name}; then userdel #{name}; fi"
-on agents, "if getent group #{name}; then groupdel #{name}; fi"
+agents.each do |agent|
+  step "ensure the user and group do not exist"
+  agent.user_absent(name)
+  agent.group_absent(name)
 
-step "ask puppet to create the user"
-on(agents, puppet_resource('user', name, 'ensure=present'))
+  step "create the user"
+  on agent, puppet_resource('user', name, 'ensure=present')
 
-step "verify that the user and group now exist"
-agents.each do |agent|
-  if agent['platform'].include? 'sles' or agent['platform'].include? 'solaris'  # no private user groups by default
-    on agent, "getent passwd #{name}"
+  step "verify the user exists"
+  agent.user_get(name)
+
+  case agent['platform']
+  when /sles/, /solaris/, /windows/
+    # no private user groups by default
   else
-    on agent, "getent passwd #{name} && getent group #{name}"
+    agent.group_get(name)
   end
-end
-
 
-step "ensure that the user and group #{name} do not exist"
-on agents, "if getent passwd #{name}; then userdel #{name}; fi"
-on agents, "if getent group #{name}; then groupdel #{name}; fi"
+  step "delete the user, and group, if any"
+  agent.user_absent(name)
+  agent.group_absent(name)
+end
diff --git a/acceptance/tests/resource/user/should_create_with_gid.rb b/acceptance/tests/resource/user/should_create_with_gid.rb
index c92d5c95d..0b9f00d64 100755
--- a/acceptance/tests/resource/user/should_create_with_gid.rb
+++ b/acceptance/tests/resource/user/should_create_with_gid.rb
@@ -1,30 +1,34 @@
 test_name "verifies that puppet resource creates a user and assigns the correct group"
 
 user = "pl#{rand(999999).to_i}"
 group = "gp#{rand(999999).to_i}"
 
 agents.each do |host|
+  if host['platform'].include?('windows')
+    skip_test "Test not supported on this platform"
+  else
     step "user should not exist"
     on host, "if getent passwd #{user}; then userdel #{user}; fi"
 
     step "group should exist"
     on host, "getent group #{group} || groupadd #{group}"
 
     step "create user with group"
     on(host, puppet_resource('user', user, 'ensure=present', "gid=#{group}"))
 
     step "verify the group exists and find the gid"
     on(host, "getent group #{group}") do
         gid = stdout.split(':')[2]
 
         step "verify that the user has that as their gid"
         on(host, "getent passwd #{user}") do
             got = stdout.split(':')[3]
             fail_test "wanted gid #{gid} but found #{got}" unless gid == got
         end
     end
 
     step "clean up after the test is done"
     on(host, puppet_resource('user', user, 'ensure=absent'))
     on(host, puppet_resource('group', group, 'ensure=absent'))
+  end
 end
diff --git a/acceptance/tests/resource/user/should_destroy.rb b/acceptance/tests/resource/user/should_destroy.rb
index 655501231..73d73dbb7 100755
--- a/acceptance/tests/resource/user/should_destroy.rb
+++ b/acceptance/tests/resource/user/should_destroy.rb
@@ -1,19 +1,14 @@
-test_name "verify that puppet resource correctly destroys users"
+test_name "should delete a user"
 
-user = "pl#{rand(999999).to_i}"
-group = user
+name = "pl#{rand(999999).to_i}"
 
-step "ensure that the user and associated group exist"
-on(agents, puppet_resource('group', group, 'ensure=present'))
-on(agents, puppet_resource('user', user, 'ensure=present', "gid=#{group}"))
+agents.each do |agent|
+  step "ensure the user is present"
+  agent.user_present(name)
 
-step "try and delete the user"
-on(agents, puppet_resource('user', user, 'ensure=absent'))
+  step "delete the user"
+  on agent, puppet_resource('user', name, 'ensure=absent')
 
-step "verify that the user is no longer present"
-on(agents, "getent passwd #{user}", :acceptable_exit_codes => [2]) do
-    fail_test "found the user in the output" if stdout.include? "#{user}:"
+  step "verify the user was deleted"
+  agent.user_absent(name)
 end
-
-step "remove the group as well..."
-on(agents, puppet_resource('group', group, 'ensure=absent'))
diff --git a/acceptance/tests/resource/user/should_modify.rb b/acceptance/tests/resource/user/should_modify.rb
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..24e901659
--- /dev/null
+++ b/acceptance/tests/resource/user/should_modify.rb
@@ -0,0 +1,20 @@
+test_name "should modify a user"
+
+name = "pl#{rand(999999).to_i}"
+
+agents.each do |agent|
+  step "ensure the user is present"
+  agent.user_present(name)
+
+  step "modify the user"
+  on agent, puppet_resource('user', name, ["ensure=present", "comment=comment#{name}"])
+
+  step "verify the user was modified"
+  agent.user_get(name) do |result|
+    fail_test "didn't modify the user #{name}" unless result.stdout.include? "comment#{name}"
+  end
+
+  step "delete the user"
+  agent.user_absent(name)
+  agent.group_absent(name)
+end
diff --git a/acceptance/tests/resource/user/should_modify_gid.rb b/acceptance/tests/resource/user/should_modify_gid.rb
index d8bc60fc1..4c13dc40e 100755
--- a/acceptance/tests/resource/user/should_modify_gid.rb
+++ b/acceptance/tests/resource/user/should_modify_gid.rb
@@ -1,41 +1,45 @@
 test_name "verify that we can modify the gid"
 
 user = "pl#{rand(99999).to_i}"
 group1 = "#{user}old"
 group2 = "#{user}new"
 
 agents.each do |host|
+  if host['platform'].include?('windows')
+    skip_test "Test not supported on this platform"
+  else
     step "ensure that the groups both exist"
     on(host, puppet_resource('group', group1, 'ensure=present'))
     on(host, puppet_resource('group', group2, 'ensure=present'))
 
     step "ensure the user exists and has the old group"
     on(host, puppet_resource('user', user, 'ensure=present', "gid=#{group1}"))
 
     step "verify that the user has the correct gid"
     on(host, "getent group #{group1}") do
         gid = stdout.split(':')[2]
         on(host, "getent passwd #{user}") do
             got = stdout.split(':')[3]
             fail_test "didn't have the expected old GID, but #{got}" unless got == gid
         end
     end
 
     step "modify the GID of the user"
     on(host, puppet_resource('user', user, 'ensure=present', "gid=#{group2}"))
 
 
     step "verify that the user has the updated gid"
     on(host, "getent group #{group2}") do
         gid = stdout.split(':')[2]
         on(host, "getent passwd #{user}") do
             got = stdout.split(':')[3]
             fail_test "didn't have the expected old GID, but #{got}" unless got == gid
         end
     end
 
     step "ensure that we remove the things we made"
     on(host, puppet_resource('user',  user,   'ensure=absent'))
     on(host, puppet_resource('group', group1, 'ensure=absent'))
     on(host, puppet_resource('group', group2, 'ensure=absent'))
+  end
 end
diff --git a/acceptance/tests/resource/user/should_not_create_existing.rb b/acceptance/tests/resource/user/should_not_create_existing.rb
index 2f33a94df..994832284 100755
--- a/acceptance/tests/resource/user/should_not_create_existing.rb
+++ b/acceptance/tests/resource/user/should_not_create_existing.rb
@@ -1,6 +1,8 @@
 test_name "tests that user resource will not add users that already exist."
 
 step "verify that we don't try to create a user account that already exists"
-on(agents, puppet_resource('user', 'root', 'ensure=present')) do
-    fail_test "tried to create 'root' user" if stdout.include? 'created'
+agents.each do |agent|
+  on(agent, puppet_resource('user', agent['user'], 'ensure=present')) do
+    fail_test "tried to create '#{agent['user']}' user" if stdout.include? 'created'
+  end
 end
diff --git a/acceptance/tests/resource/user/should_not_destoy_unexisting.rb b/acceptance/tests/resource/user/should_not_destoy_unexisting.rb
index 133d51395..5e6bcd2fa 100755
--- a/acceptance/tests/resource/user/should_not_destoy_unexisting.rb
+++ b/acceptance/tests/resource/user/should_not_destoy_unexisting.rb
@@ -1,11 +1,13 @@
 test_name "ensure that puppet does not report removing a user that does not exist"
 
 name = "pl#{rand(999999).to_i}"
 
 step "verify that user #{name} does not exist"
-on agents, "getent passwd #{name}", :acceptable_exit_codes => [2]
+agents.each do |agent|
+  agent.user_absent(name)
+end
 
 step "ensure absent doesn't try and do anything"
 on(agents, puppet_resource('user', name, 'ensure=absent')) do
-    fail_test "tried to remove the user, apparently" if stdout.include? 'removed'
+  fail_test "tried to remove the user, apparently" if stdout.include? 'removed'
 end
diff --git a/acceptance/tests/resource/user/should_query.rb b/acceptance/tests/resource/user/should_query.rb
index c976c878f..de9425b8a 100755
--- a/acceptance/tests/resource/user/should_query.rb
+++ b/acceptance/tests/resource/user/should_query.rb
@@ -1,15 +1,17 @@
 test_name "test that we can query and find a user that exists."
 
 name = "pl#{rand(999999).to_i}"
 
-step "ensure that our test user exists"
-on(agents, puppet_resource('user', name, 'ensure=present'))
+agents.each do |agent|
+  step "ensure that our test user exists"
+  agent.user_present(name)
 
-step "query for the resource and verify it was found"
-on(agents, puppet_resource('user', name)) do
+  step "query for the resource and verify it was found"
+  on(agent, puppet_resource('user', name)) do
     fail_test "didn't find the user #{name}" unless stdout.include? 'present'
-end
+  end
 
-step "clean up the user and group we added"
-on(agents, puppet_resource('user', name, 'ensure=absent'))
-on(agents, puppet_resource('group', name, 'ensure=absent'))
+  step "clean up the user and group we added"
+  agent.user_absent(name)
+  agent.group_absent(name)
+end
diff --git a/acceptance/tests/resource/user/should_query_all.rb b/acceptance/tests/resource/user/should_query_all.rb
index 00d7b25c4..db7037cdd 100755
--- a/acceptance/tests/resource/user/should_query_all.rb
+++ b/acceptance/tests/resource/user/should_query_all.rb
@@ -1,30 +1,23 @@
-test_name "ensure that puppet queries the correct number of users"
+test_name "should query all users"
 
-agents.each do |host|
-    users = []
+agents.each do |agent|
+  step "query natively"
+  users = agent.user_list
 
-    step "collect the list of known users via getent"
-    on(host, "getent passwd") do
-        stdout.each_line do |line|
-            users << line.split(':')[0]
-        end
-    end
+  fail_test("No users found") unless users
 
-    step "collect the list of known users via puppet"
-    on(host, puppet_resource('user')) do
-        stdout.each_line do |line|
-            name = ( line.match(/^user \{ '([^']+)'/) or next )[1]
+  step "query with puppet"
+  on(agent, puppet_resource('user')) do
+    stdout.each_line do |line|
+      name = ( line.match(/^user \{ '([^']+)'/) or next )[1]
 
-            # OK: Was this name found in the list of users?
-            if users.member? name then
-                users.delete name
-            else
-                fail_test "user #{name} found by puppet, not by getent"
-            end
-        end
+      unless users.delete(name)
+        fail_test "user #{name} found by puppet, not natively"
+      end
     end
+  end
 
-    if users.length > 0 then
-        fail_test "#{users.length} users found with getent, not puppet: #{users.join(', ')}"
-    end
+  if users.length > 0 then
+    fail_test "#{users.length} users found natively, not puppet: #{users.join(', ')}"
+  end
 end