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<title>&title;</title>
<cvs:keyword xmlns:cvs="http://www.FreeBSD.org/XML/CVS">$FreeBSD$</cvs:keyword>
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<body class="navinclude.download">
<a name="releases"></a>
<h2><a href="&base;/releases/index.html">Release
Information</a></h2>
<p>Detailed descriptions of past, present, and future releases.
Look here first to determine what the latest version of FreeBSD
is.</p>
<a name="install"></a>
<h2><a href="&base;/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/install.html">Installing
FreeBSD</a></h2>
<p>There are many options for installing FreeBSD, including
installation from CD-ROM, DVD, USB stick or even directly using
anonymous FTP, HTTP, or NFS. Please read through the
<a href="&base;/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/install.html">installation
guide</a> before downloading the entire FreeBSD distribution.</p>
<a name="distribution"></a>
<a name="download"></a>
<h2>Download FreeBSD</h2>
<p>If you plan on getting FreeBSD via FTP or HTTP, please check
the listing of <a
href="&base;/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/mirrors-ftp.html"><strong>mirror
sites</strong></a> in the handbook to see if there is a site
closer to you.</p>
<table class="tblbasic">
<thead>
<tr style="text-align: center;">
<td colspan="2">Version & Platform</td>
<td>Distribution</td>
<td title="ISO9660 CD image"><a href="&base;/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/install-diff-media.html#install-cdrom">ISO</a></td>
<td>Release<br/>Notes</td>
<td>Hardware<br/>Notes</td>
<td>Installation<br/>Notes</td>
<td>Errata</td>
</tr>
</thead>
<tbody>
<tr>
<td colspan="2">FreeBSD &rel.current;-RELEASE</td>
<td colspan="2"></td>
<td rowspan="7"><a href="&base;/releases/&rel.current;R/relnotes.html">[View]</a></td>
<td rowspan="7"><a href="&base;/releases/&rel.current;R/hardware.html">[View]</a></td>
<td rowspan="7"><a href="&base;/releases/&rel.current;R/installation.html">[View]</a></td>
<td rowspan="7"><a href="&base;/releases/&rel.current;R/errata.html">[View]</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td>amd64<br/>(x86-64, x64)</td>
<td><a href="&url.rel;/amd64/amd64/&rel.current;-RELEASE">[Distribution]</a></td>
<td><a href="&url.rel;/amd64/amd64/ISO-IMAGES/&rel.current;/">[ISO]</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td>i386</td>
<td><a href="&url.rel;/i386/i386/&rel.current;-RELEASE">[Distribution]</a></td>
<td><a href="&url.rel;/i386/i386/ISO-IMAGES/&rel.current;/">[ISO]</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td>ia64</td>
<td><a href="&url.rel;/ia64/ia64/&rel.current;-RELEASE">[Distribution]</a></td>
<td><a href="&url.rel;/ia64/ia64/ISO-IMAGES/&rel.current;/">[ISO]</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td>powerpc</td>
<td><a href="&url.rel;/powerpc/powerpc/&rel.current;-RELEASE">[Distribution]</a></td>
<td><a href="&url.rel;/powerpc/powerpc/ISO-IMAGES/&rel.current;/">[ISO]</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td>powerpc64</td>
<td><a href="&url.rel;/powerpc/powerpc64/&rel.current;-RELEASE">[Distribution]</a></td>
<td><a href="&url.rel;/powerpc/powerpc64/ISO-IMAGES/&rel.current;/">[ISO]</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td>sparc64</td>
<td><a href="&url.rel;/sparc64/sparc64/&rel.current;-RELEASE">[Distribution]</a></td>
<td><a href="&url.rel;/sparc64/sparc64/ISO-IMAGES/&rel.current;/">[ISO]</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td colspan="2">FreeBSD &rel2.current;-RELEASE</td>
<td colspan="2"></td>
<td rowspan="5"><a href="&base;/releases/&rel2.current;R/relnotes.html">[View]</a></td>
<td rowspan="5"><a href="&base;/releases/&rel2.current;R/hardware.html">[View]</a></td>
<td rowspan="5"><a href="&base;/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/install.html">[View]</a></td>
<td rowspan="5"><a href="&base;/releases/&rel2.current;R/errata.html">[View]</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td>amd64<br/>(x86-64, x64)</td>
<td><a href="&url.rel;/amd64/&rel2.current;-RELEASE">[Distribution]</a></td>
<td><a href="&url.rel;/amd64/ISO-IMAGES/&rel2.current;/">[ISO]</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td>i386</td>
<td><a href="&url.rel;/i386/&rel2.current;-RELEASE">[Distribution]</a></td>
<td><a href="&url.rel;/i386/ISO-IMAGES/&rel2.current;/">[ISO]</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td>pc98</td>
<td><a href="&url.rel;/pc98/&rel2.current;-RELEASE">[Distribution]</a></td>
<td><a href="&url.rel;/pc98/ISO-IMAGES/&rel2.current;/">[ISO]</a></td>
</tr>
<!--
<tr>
<td></td>
<td>sparc64</td>
<td><a href="&url.rel;/sparc64/&rel2.current;-RELEASE">[Distribution]</a></td>
<td><a href="&url.rel;/sparc64/ISO-IMAGES/&rel2.current;/">[ISO]</a></td>
</tr>
-->
<!--
<tr>
<td colspan="2">FreeBSD &rel3.current;-RELEASE</td>
<td colspan="2"></td>
<td rowspan="7"><a href="&base;/releases/&rel3.current;R/relnotes.html">[View]</a></td>
<td rowspan="7"><a href="&base;/releases/&rel3.current;R/hardware.html">[View]</a></td>
<td rowspan="7"><a href="&base;/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/install.html">[View]</a></td>
<td rowspan="7"><a href="&base;/releases/&rel3.current;R/errata.html">[View]</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td>amd64<br/>(x86-64, x64)</td>
<td><a href="&url.rel;/amd64/&rel3.current;-RELEASE">[Distribution]</a></td>
<td colspan="2" align="right"><a href="&url.rel;/amd64/ISO-IMAGES/&rel3.current;/">[ISO]</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td>i386</td>
<td><a href="&url.rel;/i386/&rel3.current;-RELEASE">[Distribution]</a></td>
<td colspan="2" align="right"><a href="&url.rel;/i386/ISO-IMAGES/&rel3.current;/">[ISO]</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td>pc98</td>
<td><a href="&url.rel;/pc98/&rel3.current;-RELEASE">[Distribution]</a></td>
<td colspan="2" align="right"><a href="&url.rel;/pc98/ISO-IMAGES/&rel3.current;/">[ISO]</a></td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td></td>
<td>sparc64</td>
<td><a href="&url.rel;/sparc64/&rel3.current;-RELEASE">[Distribution]</a></td>
<td colspan="2" align="right"><a href="&url.rel;/sparc64/ISO-IMAGES/&rel3.current;/">[ISO]</a></td>
</tr>
-->
</tbody>
</table>
<p><em>Note:</em> If you are in doubt of which platform /
architecture to get, you probably need <em>i386</em> if you have
an older computer, and <em>amd64</em> if you have a newer
computer.</p>
&beta.desc;
<p>If you are interested in a purely experimental
<strong>snapshot</strong> release of FreeBSD-CURRENT (AKA
&rel.head;-CURRENT), aimed at developers and bleeding-edge
testers only, then please see the <a
href="&base;/snapshots/">&os; Snapshot Releases</a> page. For
more information about past, present and future releases in
general, please visit the <a
href="&base;/releases/index.html">release information
page</a>.</p>
<h2>Purchase &os; Media</h2>
<p>FreeBSD can be acquired on CD-ROM or DVD from <a
href="http://www.freebsdmall.com/">FreeBSD Mall</a>, or
one of the other <a
href="&base;/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/handbook/mirrors.html">CD-ROM
and DVD Publishers</a>.</p>
<a name="past"></a>
<h2>Past Releases</h2>
<p>For downloading past releases, please visit the <a
href="http://ftp-archive.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD-Archive/old-releases/">FTP
archive</a>.</p>
<a name="derived"></a>
<h2>FreeBSD-derived Operating System Distributions</h2>
<p>FreeBSD is widely used as a building block for other commercial
and open-source operating systems. The projects below are
widely used and of particular interest to FreeBSD users.</p>
<ul>
<li><p><a href="http://www.freenas.org">FreeNAS</a> is an open
source storage platform based on FreeBSD and supports sharing
across Windows, Apple, and UNIX-like systems.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="http://www.pcbsd.org">PC-BSD</a> is a FreeBSD
derivative with a graphical installer and impressive desktop
tools aimed at ease of use for the casual computer
user.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="http://www.pfsense.org">pfSense</a> is a free,
open source customized distribution of FreeBSD tailored for
use as a firewall and router.</p></li>
</ul>
<a name="apps"></a>
<h2>Applications and Utility Software</h2>
<h3>The Ports Collection</h3>
<p>The FreeBSD Ports Collection is a diverse collection of utility
and application software that has been ported to FreeBSD.</p>
<ul>
<li><a href="ftp://ftp.FreeBSD.org/pub/FreeBSD/ports/">FreeBSD
Ports Collection</a></li>
<li><a href="&base;/ports/index.html">Web interface to the Ports
Collection</a></li>
<li><a href="http://www.freshports.org/">FreshPorts - a more
advanced web interface to the Ports Collection</a></li>
</ul>
<p>For information about how <em>you</em> can contribute
<em>your</em> favorite piece of software to the Ports Collection,
have a look at <em><a
href="&base;/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/books/porters-handbook/index.html">The
Porter's Handbook</a></em> and the article <em><a
href="&base;/doc/en_US.ISO8859-1/articles/contributing/index.html">Contributing
to FreeBSD</a></em>.</p>
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