Installing Blender¶
Blender is released approximately every three months. You can keep up to date with the latest changes through the release notes.
Support Requirements¶
Blender is available for download on Windows, macOS, and Linux. Always check that the graphics drivers are up to date and that OpenGL is well supported. Blender has a set of minimum and recommended requirements; so make sure these are met before trying to install Blender.
Support for other hardware such as graphic tablets and 3D mice are covered later in Configuring Hardware.
Download Blender¶
Blender offers two different binary packages; you can choose from a stable release or a daily build. The first has the benefit of being more reliable, the latter provides the newest features, as they are developed, at the cost of stability.
- Latest Stable Release
This is a binary distribution of the latest version of Blender. It is considered stable and without regressions.
- Daily Builds
This is a binary distribution of Blender that is updated daily to include the newest changes in development. These versions are not as thoroughly tested as the stable release, and might break, although they are official and usually not highly experimental.
Note
Blender’s source code is available for free to either reference or to Build from Source. While normal users are not expected to compile Blender it does have advantages:
Blender is always up to date.
It allows access to any version or branch where a feature is being developed.
It can be freely customized.
The procedure for installing a binary, either the latest stable release or a daily build, is the same. Follow the steps for your operative system: