官方安装：
freeCAD稳定版
freeCAD官方提供了几个稳定版本供开发者使用： 
Windows (XP, Vista and 7, 32 and 64bits), 
Mac OS X (Lion 10.7), 和 
Debian-based Linux systems (Debian, Ubuntu, 32 and 64bits). 以下几个链接为freeCAD的稳定版本. 也有不稳定版本： FreeCAD Files page , 提供最前沿的新功能，工具，但可能更容易崩溃或包含与早期的版本不兼容的特征。
 Windows 32/64-bit |
 Ubuntu 32/64bit |
 Mac OS X Lion 64-bit |
开发版本
如果你想安装freecad带最新的特性，并愿意接受这些版本很高的错误和崩溃性，你可以检查官方freecad文件网页FreeCAD Files page下载64位、或不稳定的版本。当然，如果你想留下更多最前沿的发展，你可以编译freecad，或使用Ubuntu每日构建的更新Ubuntu daily build updates。
对Windows用户注释
Windows安装程序也适用于旧的Windows平台，但并不是每个版本都被测试过。你需要根据你的系统选择相应的版本安装。同样，Linux系统下，选择相应的deb文件对你的Ubuntu和Debian的版本。
对Linux系统用户的注释
在最近发布的Linux系统如Debian，Ubuntu，Fedora或Arch等，freecad包含在以上系统的正式发行版软件包库中，建议你最好从那里得到freecad，确保你有一个是100%兼容你的系统版本。pivy的Python模块（通常称为Python-pivy）是由0.9或以上版本freecad需要的。如果它没在您的系统安装，您必须从这里下载它。
对Debian系统用户的注释
由于第三方的库所需的freecad与其它软件冲突，freecad包是从当前Debian稳定库去除了。你可以下载源码重新编译及安装它。
你也应该注意到，虽然Ubuntu是基于Debian的软件包，Ubuntu和Debian的PPA不兼容。
对Mac系统用户的注释
我们依靠帮助建立MAC OSX软件包的人很少，所以FreeCAD不会经常为MAC平台更新。本网站上的版本可能会稍微过时。
Ubuntu PPA 软件包
FreeCAD Launchpad team团队建立了一个PPA（私人软件包）库，可以方便地安装Ubuntu包的FreeCAD开发分支。在软件更新后被推送到Ubuntu更新管理器，这使得它的安装方式最简单，以获得最新的freecad开发包。
该freecad每日构建库PPA是每天自动生成的，可为您提供最新的freecad版。
最近提供支持的版本是:
- Ubuntu 12.04 LTS (Precise Pangolin) 32 & 64-Bit
- Ubuntu 13.10 (Saucy Salamander) 32 & 64-Bit
- Ubuntu 14.04 (Trusty Tahr) 32 & 64-Bit
从控制台增加及安装FreeCAD
在控制台输入（或者粘贴）以下命令，用于增加PPA和安装FreeCAD和文档：
sudo add-apt-repository ppa:freecad-maintainers/freecad-daily
然后:
sudo apt-get update sudo apt-get upgrade sudo apt-get install freecad freecad-doc
在图形界面下安装PPA和安装FreeCAD
在你的系统软件源下安装PPA (read What are PPAs and how do I use them? if you don‘t know how):
ppa:freecad-maintainers/freecad-daily
当一个对话框提示你更新你的软件源时，点击OK。
现在，你就能够通过Ubuntu软件中心安装FreeCAD和文档了。
Fedora 包
在Fedora中安装FreeCAD, 先确认你能够安装非自由软件库 (因为 OCC/OCE 要求认证)
yum install freecad
或通过图形界面安装。
交互式构建FreeCAD
非官方构建的FreeCAD。他们可能包括定制的部件或是某些类型的处理器的优化，或其他修改，未经过软件包的维护者判断。他们也可能是过时的，因为他们使这些包的人可能需要一段时间去了解freecad新版本。但有时也更适合于特定的操作系统。注意：最常见的Linux版本，官方的软件包通常由系统的软件包管理工具安装，所以你不需要下载和安装freecad源码。
- Official Debian package
- Official Ubuntu package
- Official OpenSuse package
- Softpedia Windows build
- Packman RPM package (for opensuse, fedora)
- Slackbuilds package (for Slackware)
- ArchLinux AUR package
- Gentoo ebuild package
- Pardus linux build script
- Unofficial but well maintained Fedora FreeCAD repository
- Unofficial Debian Wheezy package (32-Bit and 64-Bit)
FreeCAD 文档
FreeCAD的文档都是由开发者和用户交互编写的，所以建议在wiki网上看最新的内容并下载最新的版本（译者：本人先在博客网上翻译，有空再传到wiki上）:
The manual can also be displayed as one big text, so you can print it or save it as a pdf file:
The manual is also be compiled as a qt help file, so it can be browsed offline with the Qt help viewer. This is usually made at each release and is available together with FreeCAD package on most linux software repositories (on debian/ubuntu-based systems, look for freecad-doc package) and is also bundled in the windows installer. To access it, simply open the "help" menu inside FreeCAD, or use the "What‘s this?" button.
For convenience, we also provide a pdf version of this manual:
- 0.10 Manual (Pdf file)
- 0.11 Manual (Pdf file)
- 0.12 Manual (Pdf file)
- 0.13 Manual (Pdf file)
- 0.14 Manual (Pdf file)
Here you can also find a copy of the OpenCasCade 5.2 docs, in a .chm file. After 5.2, the openCasCade documentation is not available as a single file anymore, but as a heavy 180Mb package. So, since there is little change, we keep this one around for convenience:
- OpenCasCADE 5.2 documentation
FreeCAD Source package
For all other platforms you need to compile FreeCAD on your own from the Source package. You might also want to compile FreeCAD yourself if you want to optimize certain things, or customize certain parts of FreeCAD. Instructions for compiling can be found on the CompileOnWindows, CompileOnMac and CompileOnUnix pages. You can grab a zip or tar.gz file containing the latest official version here (look for the latest version for your system):
Alternatively, you can also download latest source code from the Git repositories. You‘ll get a more recent version, but it might contain bugs or even fail to compile. Instructions for accessing the Git repositories can be found here:
- FreeCAD Git repository (most active)
- FreeCAD repository on github.com
You can also download automatically a GNU tarball from the latest source code tree or any part of it by using the code browser and clicking the "Download GNU tarball" at any time. The trunk folder contains the current development version, while the branches folder contains a snapshot of all stable releases to date.
FreeCAD LibPack
To collect all the needed libraries to compile FreeCAD can be a time consuming task. So we deliver a convenient package for development on Windows (VS8) with all needed libraries. You can download the latest version of the libpack from:
For linux, you will normally find all necessary libraries in your software management system, so you should just read the CompileOnUnix page.
Additional modules and related projects
There are additional modules, addons of plugins for FreeCAD developed outside of the main FreeCAD development team. They are listed here but are not officially supported by the FreeCAD team.
- Fold module: a module for working with metal sheets (abandoned for some time, lmay not work anymore).
- Ship module, The blog of Jose Luis Cercós Pita : a module in development for ship design (since 0.13, it included in official FreeCAD sources).
- MendelMax: a macro suite for FreeCAD to generate a MendelMax machine.
- OpenPLM: an online PLM platform with FreeCAD support.
- Macros recipes: additional tools for your FreeCAD installation.
- Drawing templates: additional SVG templates for the Drawing module.
- Tumbler thumbnailer: show .FcStd files as thumbnails in Thunar and Marlin file managers.
- KDE thumbnailer: show .FcStd files as thumbnails in KDE Dolphin file manager.