diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/boost/1.44.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/boost/1.44.nix
new file mode 100644
index 000000000000..2b516be2cbf5
--- /dev/null
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/boost/1.44.nix
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+{ stdenv, fetchurl, icu, expat, zlib, bzip2, python
+, enableRelease ? true
+, enableDebug ? false
+, enableSingleThreaded ? false
+, enableMultiThreaded ? true
+, enableShared ? true
+, enableStatic ? false
+, enablePIC ? false
+}:
+
+let
+
+  variant = stdenv.lib.concatStringsSep ","
+    (stdenv.lib.optional enableRelease "release" ++
+     stdenv.lib.optional enableDebug "debug");
+
+  threading = stdenv.lib.concatStringsSep ","
+    (stdenv.lib.optional enableSingleThreaded "single" ++
+     stdenv.lib.optional enableMultiThreaded "multi");
+
+  link = stdenv.lib.concatStringsSep ","
+    (stdenv.lib.optional enableShared "shared" ++
+     stdenv.lib.optional enableStatic "static");
+
+  # To avoid library name collisions
+  finalLayout = if ((enableRelease && enableDebug) ||
+    (enableSingleThreaded && enableMultiThreaded) ||
+    (enableShared && enableStatic)) then
+    "tagged" else "system";
+
+  cflags = if (enablePIC) then "cflags=-fPIC cxxflags=-fPIC linkflags=-fPIC" else "";
+
+in
+
+stdenv.mkDerivation {
+  name = "boost-1.44.0";
+
+  meta = {
+    homepage = "http://boost.org/";
+    description = "Boost C++ Library Collection";
+    license = "boost-license";
+
+    maintainers = [ stdenv.lib.maintainers.simons ];
+  };
+
+  src = fetchurl {
+    url = "mirror://sourceforge/boost/boost_1_44_0.tar.bz2";
+    sha256 = "1nvq36mvzr1fr85q0jh86rk3bk65s1y55jgqgzfg3lcpkl12ihs5";
+  };
+
+  enableParallelBuilding = true;
+
+  buildInputs = [icu expat zlib bzip2 python];
+
+  configureScript = "./bootstrap.sh";
+  configureFlags = "--with-icu=${icu} --with-python=${python}/bin/python";
+
+  buildPhase = "./bjam -j$NIX_BUILD_CORES -sEXPAT_INCLUDE=${expat}/include -sEXPAT_LIBPATH=${expat}/lib --layout=${finalLayout} variant=${variant} threading=${threading} link=${link} ${cflags} install";
+
+  installPhase = ":";
+
+  patches = [
+    # Patch to get rid of following error, experienced by some packages like encfs, bitcoin:
+    #    terminate called after throwing an instance of 'std::runtime_error'
+    #    what():  locale::facet::_S_create_c_locale name not valid
+    (fetchurl { 
+       url = https://svn.boost.org/trac/boost/raw-attachment/ticket/4688/boost_filesystem.patch ;
+       sha256 = "15k91ihzs6190pnryh4cl0b3c2pjpl9d790mr14x16zq52y7px2d"; 
+     })
+  ];
+  
+  crossAttrs = rec {
+    buildInputs = [ expat.hostDrv zlib.hostDrv bzip2.hostDrv ];
+    # all buildInputs set previously fell into propagatedBuildInputs, as usual, so we have to
+    # override them.
+    propagatedBuildInputs = buildInputs;
+    # We want to substitute the contents of configureFlags, removing thus the
+    # usual --build and --host added on cross building.
+    preConfigure = ''
+      export configureFlags="--prefix=$out --without-icu"
+    '';
+    buildPhase = ''
+      set -x
+      cat << EOF > user-config.jam
+      using gcc : cross : $crossConfig-g++ ;
+      EOF
+      ./bjam -j$NIX_BUILD_CORES -sEXPAT_INCLUDE=${expat.hostDrv}/include -sEXPAT_LIBPATH=${expat.hostDrv}/lib --layout=${finalLayout} --user-config=user-config.jam toolset=gcc-cross variant=${variant} threading=${threading} link=${link} ${cflags} --without-python install
+    '';
+  };
+}
diff --git a/pkgs/development/libraries/boost/default.nix b/pkgs/development/libraries/boost/default.nix
index 2b516be2cbf5..bd3ddd2ba738 100644
--- a/pkgs/development/libraries/boost/default.nix
+++ b/pkgs/development/libraries/boost/default.nix
@@ -33,7 +33,7 @@ let
 in
 
 stdenv.mkDerivation {
-  name = "boost-1.44.0";
+  name = "boost-1.47.0";
 
   meta = {
     homepage = "http://boost.org/";
@@ -44,8 +44,8 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   };
 
   src = fetchurl {
-    url = "mirror://sourceforge/boost/boost_1_44_0.tar.bz2";
-    sha256 = "1nvq36mvzr1fr85q0jh86rk3bk65s1y55jgqgzfg3lcpkl12ihs5";
+    url = "mirror://sourceforge/boost/boost_1_47_0.tar.bz2";
+    sha256 = "815a5d9faac4dbd523fbcf3fe1065e443c0bbf43427c44aa423422c6ec4c2e31";
   };
 
   enableParallelBuilding = true;
@@ -55,20 +55,10 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
   configureScript = "./bootstrap.sh";
   configureFlags = "--with-icu=${icu} --with-python=${python}/bin/python";
 
-  buildPhase = "./bjam -j$NIX_BUILD_CORES -sEXPAT_INCLUDE=${expat}/include -sEXPAT_LIBPATH=${expat}/lib --layout=${finalLayout} variant=${variant} threading=${threading} link=${link} ${cflags} install";
+  buildPhase = "./b2 -j$NIX_BUILD_CORES -sEXPAT_INCLUDE=${expat}/include -sEXPAT_LIBPATH=${expat}/lib --layout=${finalLayout} variant=${variant} threading=${threading} link=${link} ${cflags} install";
 
   installPhase = ":";
 
-  patches = [
-    # Patch to get rid of following error, experienced by some packages like encfs, bitcoin:
-    #    terminate called after throwing an instance of 'std::runtime_error'
-    #    what():  locale::facet::_S_create_c_locale name not valid
-    (fetchurl { 
-       url = https://svn.boost.org/trac/boost/raw-attachment/ticket/4688/boost_filesystem.patch ;
-       sha256 = "15k91ihzs6190pnryh4cl0b3c2pjpl9d790mr14x16zq52y7px2d"; 
-     })
-  ];
-  
   crossAttrs = rec {
     buildInputs = [ expat.hostDrv zlib.hostDrv bzip2.hostDrv ];
     # all buildInputs set previously fell into propagatedBuildInputs, as usual, so we have to
@@ -84,7 +74,7 @@ stdenv.mkDerivation {
       cat << EOF > user-config.jam
       using gcc : cross : $crossConfig-g++ ;
       EOF
-      ./bjam -j$NIX_BUILD_CORES -sEXPAT_INCLUDE=${expat.hostDrv}/include -sEXPAT_LIBPATH=${expat.hostDrv}/lib --layout=${finalLayout} --user-config=user-config.jam toolset=gcc-cross variant=${variant} threading=${threading} link=${link} ${cflags} --without-python install
+      ./b2 -j$NIX_BUILD_CORES -sEXPAT_INCLUDE=${expat.hostDrv}/include -sEXPAT_LIBPATH=${expat.hostDrv}/lib --layout=${finalLayout} --user-config=user-config.jam toolset=gcc-cross variant=${variant} threading=${threading} link=${link} ${cflags} --without-python install
     '';
   };
 }
diff --git a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
index b7a99ef80f4e..69cbc13f2af2 100644
--- a/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
+++ b/pkgs/top-level/all-packages.nix
@@ -2923,6 +2923,7 @@ let
   boost = callPackage ../development/libraries/boost { };
 
   boost142 = callPackage ../development/libraries/boost/1.42.nix { };
+  boost144 = callPackage ../development/libraries/boost/1.44.nix { };
   boost146 = callPackage ../development/libraries/boost/1.46.nix { };
 
   # A Boost build with all library variants enabled.  Very large (about 250 MB).