GAMESS on Windows
There are three separate versions of GAMESS for Intel/Athlon computers running Windows. We recommend the first choice, because it matches our latest, well-tested Unix source code version, as well as our on-line documentation.
None of these binaries has ever been tested at Iowa State University, because we do not use Windows computers (all of our desktop machines are Apple MacIntoshes running OS X, and all of our PCs are used as RedHat workstations running the Linux source code for GAMESS). Hence we offer these versions with your understanding that these are strictly "as is", and that we are unable to answer questions about how to use GAMESS on Windows.
The versions are:
Current version of GAMESS
This is a precompiled binary running native under Windows, which was generated by compiling the current source code distribution of GAMESS under the Cygwin environment. Your computer does not need to have Cygwin installed on it in order to run the binary. All options in the current version of GAMESS are available, and this version matches our online PDF documentation. Nuno Bandeira at IST, Lisbon is kind enough to produce this GAMESS binary whenever our source codes change.
If you are adventurous enough to wish to be able to compile (and possibly modify) source code for GAMESS under Windows, please request our 32 bit Linux source code (by returning to the previous page after you read this). The Cygwin UNIX layer for 32 bit Windows allows you to run Linux programs under Windows, by providing a nearly complete Linux environment for compilation with GNU compilers, C-shell scripts, threads, etc. About the only thing missing from Cygwin relative to genuine Linux is support for SystemV memory calls, so build the DDI library with that option turned off. So, this way of compiling GAMESS for Windows requires the installation of Cygwin from the site just given. Please note that the first binary listed above is produced under Cygwin, so if the notion of installing Cygwin on your Windows computer seems intimidating, please just request the binary above. To execute the binary, you will need only a Cygwin DLL included with the binary's download package. Assuming that you do wish to build GAMESS from source code, after installing a full Cygwin environment, more help is here.
GAMESS, Vigyaan CD
A bootable CD with a ready to use GAMESS program binary is also available for PCs. This CD, from the Vigyaan project, is a live Linux CD containing all the required software to boot the computer, and run a standard, but older, version of GAMESS, Avogadro-GMS, GTK-GAMESS and other useful software. Tutorials are also available on this CD. Note, this CD does not require compilation of GAMESS. More information about the CD can be found on the Vigyaan web site. If you encounter any problems with this CD, please do not send email to Mike or our Webmaster, instead send it to Pratul Agarwal.
GAMESS for Chemoffice, by CambridgeSoft
This is a precompiled binary for Windows, which is based on a standard, but older, version of the GAMESS source code and is designed to work only with CambridgeSoft's ChemOffice program. The email containing the password will also contain a download link for the installer.
If you wish to use any of these, you must register in order to receive an E-mail containing the information necessary to download the version you prefer.