OpenFOAM on Windows

OpenFOAM is written for the UNIX and GNU/Linux operating systems.  While running OpenFOAM on the Windows operating system has historically been challenging, an increasing number of options are available, particularly with more recent versions of Windows.

Option 1: Running OpenFOAM on Windows 10

The packaged distributions of OpenFOAM for Ubuntu 14.04LTS can be installed directly on Microsoft Windows 10 using Bash on Ubuntu on Windows, a full compatibility layer for running Linux applications on Windows through the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL).  Additional X server software is needed to run graphical applications, such as the version of ParaView that includes the official OpenFOAM reader module.

Option 2: Running OpenFOAM in a Virtual Machine on Windows

An alternative option for installing OpenFOAM on Windows is through a a virtual machine (or hypervisor) such as VirtualBox  which supports all versions of Windows.

Option 3: Running OpenFOAM using blueCFD-Core on Windows 7-10

blueCFD-Core is free, open source software provided by blueCAPE Lda.  It provides source code and builds of OpenFOAM for updated Windows 64 bit OS, versions 7 to 10.  The builds use a component of MinGW known as MSys2.