diff --git a/NEWS b/NEWS
index 3ab8a802..acb38a78 100644
--- a/NEWS
+++ b/NEWS
@@ -9,6 +9,8 @@
 	  (change with userChrome.css if you don't like it until we have :colorscheme)
 	* :let mapleader=","  and <Leader> in :map support
 	* added new :let and :unlet commands
+	* :b2 now allowed, no space required before the 2 anymore
+	* :! to run commands through system()
 	* separated search and Ex command history
 	* added 'visualbellstyle' for styling/hiding the visual bell
 	* merge the existing status bar with the standard FF status bar so that
diff --git a/content/commands.js b/content/commands.js
index dfe6db40..7d2d044f 100644
--- a/content/commands.js
+++ b/content/commands.js
@@ -42,7 +42,7 @@ function Command(specs, action, extra_info) //{{{
         for (var i = 0; i < specs.length; i++)
         {
             var match;
-            if (match = specs[i].match(/(\w+)\[(\w+)\]/))
+            if (match = specs[i].match(/(\w+|!)\[(\w+)\]/))
             {
                 short_names.push(match[1]);
                 long_names.push(match[1] + match[2]);
@@ -114,7 +114,7 @@ Command.prototype.hasName = function(name)
     {
         if (this.specs[i] == name)                    // literal command name
             return true;
-        else if (this.specs[i].match(/^\w+\[\w+\]$/)) // abbreviation spec
+        else if (this.specs[i].match(/^(\w+|!)\[\w+\]$/)) // abbreviation spec
             if (matchAbbreviation(name, this.specs[i]))
                 return true;
     }
@@ -194,7 +194,7 @@ function Commands() //{{{
         }
 
         // 0 - count, 1 - cmd, 2 - special, 3 - args, 4 - heredoc tag
-        var matches = string.match(/^:*(\d+)?([a-zA-Z]+)(!)?(?:\s+(.*?)\s*)?$/);
+        var matches = string.match(/^:*(\d+)?([a-zA-Z]+|!)(!)?(?:\s*(.*?)\s*)?$/);
         if (!matches)
             return [null, null, null, null, null];
         matches.shift();
@@ -1629,6 +1629,31 @@ function Commands() //{{{
             short_help: "Set zoom value of the web page",
             help: "If <code class=\"argument\">{value}</code> can be an absolute value between 1 and 2000% or a relative value if prefixed with - or +. " +
                   "If <code class=\"argument\">{value}</code> is omitted, zoom is reset to 100%."
+        },
+        {
+            usage: ["zo[om][!] [value]", "zo[om][!] +{value} | -{value}"],
+            short_help: "Set zoom value of current web page",
+            help: "If <code class=\"argument\">{value}</code> can be an absolute value between 1 and 2000% or a relative value if prefixed with - or +. " +
+                  "If <code class=\"argument\">{value}</code> is omitted, zoom is reset to 100%.<br/>" +
+                  "Normally this command operates on the text zoom, if used with <code class=\"argument\">[!]</code> it operates on full zoom."
+        }
+    ));
+    addDefaultCommand(new Command(["!", "run"],
+        function(args, special)
+        {
+            // TODO: if special, run the last command
+            var output = vimperator.system(args)
+            if (typeof output === "string")
+                vimperator.echo(vimperator.util.escapeHTML(output));
+            else
+                // FIXME: why are we accepting only a string return value from v.system()? -- djk
+                vimperator.echoerr("Invalid system command: " + args);
+        },
+        {
+            usage: ["!{command}"],
+            short_help: "Run a command",
+            help: "Runs {command} through system() and displays its output. " +
+                  "Input redirection (< foo) not done, do not run commands which require stdin or it will hang Firefox!"
         }
     ));
     //}}}
diff --git a/content/vimperator.js b/content/vimperator.js
index d73ffe1c..f33931cb 100644
--- a/content/vimperator.js
+++ b/content/vimperator.js
@@ -629,6 +629,89 @@ const vimperator = (function() //{{{
                 .quit(nsIAppStartup.eRestart | nsIAppStartup.eAttemptQuit);
         },
 
+        run: function(program, args, blocking)
+        {
+            const WINDOWS = navigator.platform == "Win32";
+
+            var file = Components.classes["@mozilla.org/file/local;1"].
+                                  createInstance(Components.interfaces.nsILocalFile);
+            try
+            {
+                file.initWithPath(program);
+            }
+            catch (e)
+            {
+                var dirs = environment_service.get("PATH").split(WINDOWS ? ";" : ":");
+                for (var i = 0; i < dirs.length; i++)
+                {
+                    var path = dirs[i] + (WINDOWS ? "\\" : "/") + program;
+                    try
+                    {
+                        file.initWithPath(path);
+                        if (file.exists())
+                            break;
+                    }
+                    catch (e) { }
+                }
+            }
+            if (!file.exists())
+            {
+                vimperator.echoerr("command not found: " + program);
+                return -1;
+            }
+
+            var process = Components.classes["@mozilla.org/process/util;1"].
+                                     createInstance(Components.interfaces.nsIProcess);
+            process.init(file);
+             
+            var ec = process.run(blocking, args, args.length);
+            return ec;
+        },
+
+        // when https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=68702 is fixed
+        // is fixed, should use that instead of a tmpfile
+        // TODO: pass "input" as stdin
+        // TODO: add shell/shellcmdflag options to replace "sh" and "-c"
+        system: function (str, input)
+        {
+            const WINDOWS = navigator.platform == "Win32"; // FIXME: duplicated everywhere
+
+            var fileout = getTempFile();
+            if (!fileout)
+                return "";
+
+            if (WINDOWS)
+                var command = str + " > " + fileout.path;
+            else
+                var command = str + " > \"" + fileout.path.replace('"', '\\"') + "\"";
+
+            var filein = null;
+            if (input)
+            {
+                filein = getTempFile();
+                var fdin = vimperator.fopen(filein, ">");
+                fdin.write(input);
+                fdin.close();
+                command += " < \"" + filein.path.replace('"', '\\"') + "\"";
+            }
+
+            if (WINDOWS)
+                this.run("cmd.exe", ["/C", command], true);
+            else
+                this.run("sh", ["-c", command], true);
+
+            var fd = vimperator.fopen(fileout, "<");
+            if (!fd)
+                return null;
+
+            var s = fd.read();
+            fd.close();
+            fileout.remove(false);
+            if (filein)
+                filein.remove(false);
+
+            return s;
+        },
 
         // files which end in .js are sourced as pure javascript files,
         // no need (actually forbidden) to add: js <<EOF ... EOF around those files
@@ -820,7 +903,19 @@ const vimperator = (function() //{{{
             vimperator.events.destroy();
 
             window.dump("All vimperator modules destroyed\n");
-        }
+        },
+
+        sleep: function(ms)
+        {
+            var threadManager = Cc["@mozilla.org/thread-manager;1"].getService(Ci.nsIThreadManager); 
+            var mainThread = threadManager.mainThread; 
+
+            var then = new Date().getTime(), now = then; 
+            for (; now - then < ms; now = new Date().getTime()) { 
+                mainThread.processNextEvent(true); 
+            } 
+        } 
+
     } //}}}
 })(); //}}}