Altair Software and Hardware 2026 Release Notes

Hardware and Platform Support

Notice: As of October 14, 2025, Microsoft Windows 10 reached its end of support. Following Microsoft's messaging, all Altair 2026.0 applications no longer support Windows 10. Altair is providing this information to help our customers accommodate this change. Altair 2026.0 supports the Windows 11 operating system, along with our other Linux-based operating systems. Please contact your local Altair support team if you have any questions or concerns.
Operating system additions
Support for the following platforms has been added:
  • Windows 11
  • RHEL/CIQ Rocky Linux 9.4
Discontinued hardware platform support systems
Support for the following platforms has been dropped:
  • Windows 10
  • SLES 15 SP3
  • RHEL 8.4

Installation

HyperWorks 2026 suite contains independent product packages
Independent product packages give you the flexibility to download desired packages as needed. Any HyperWorks 2026 SA (standalone) update package can be installed either on top of an existing 2026 installation or it can be installed independently without the prerequisite of a 2026 base.
Important: You can no longer install a different version of an already installed product to the same location (for example, HW Desktop 2026.1 on top of HW Desktop 2026).
Installer capabilities and features
HyperWorks 2026 brings with it the robust capabilities and features of HyperWorks 2025.1 installers, as well as additional support for HotFix installers. These HotFix installers are quick patch type installers that are used to install on top of a prerequisite base installation, unlike the other full installers. These are marked with the word “hotfix” in the installer name and bring with them the quick fixes and features to better suit your needs.
Model files removed from installation package
To reduce the footprint size, the following tutorial model and demo model files are no longer included in the local installation. You can now find zipped tutorial model files and demo model files on Altair One via the Altair One Community and Altair One Marketplace sites. Altair recommends that you create an Altair One account and use it as your primary portal to access product documentation, a Knowledge Base, and customer support.
  • Tutorial Model Files
    • BasicFEA
    • HyperGraph
    • HyperLife
    • HyperLife Weld Certification
    • HyperMesh
    • HyperStudy
    • HyperView
    • HyperWorks
    • HyperWorks CFD
    • HyperWorks Collaboration Tools
    • HyperWorks Desktop
    • MotionSolve
    • MotionView
    • nanoFluidX
    • OptiStruct
    • Radioss
    • SnRD
  • Demo Model Files
    • OptiStruct > Examples
    • OptiStruct > Verification Problems
    • Radioss > Examples
    • Radioss > Verification Problems

Installation and Packaging Features

  • HyperMesh Desktop and Twin Activate join the Inspire installers and HyperMesh CFD in automatically downloading and installing the necessary components and additional add-ons. Please consult the installation guides for additional details.
  • MPI now has a common implementation among the products that use it, and is now located in the top-level “common” directory.
  • ActiveState Python was upgraded to 3.10.18.
  • Application Java Runtime was upgraded to Amazon Corretto 11.0.27.6.1.
  • FlightStream now has installers for both Linux and Windows.
  • PBS Access Embedded has been added to Desktop, Mechanical Solvers, and SimLab for remote job submission.
  • A launch script was added for HyperLife Crack Growth on Linux.
  • HyperMesh CFD now supports server-mode installation.
  • Altair Inspire was added to the Linux menu.
  • HyperStudy has been updated with a new user interface.
  • Desktop 2022.3 can be installed using the 2026 Altair HyperWorks Products Installer (main installer).
  • HyperMesh CFD was added as a new product on Windows and Linux.
  • Digital signatures have been added to more executables to improve security.
  • Installers have been improved to reduce the file footprint and improve installation performance.
  • Mechanical Solvers installation is now modular, so you can choose which solvers to install.
  • nanoFluidX was added to the CFD Solvers package on Windows and is also available on Linux.
  • File associations for HyperMesh Desktop were updated to open files in the new user interface.
  • FluxMotor was added to the Flux package on Windows.
  • newFASANT was added to the Feko package on Windows and Linux.
  • Overwrite/overlay installation is no longer supported, and the installers will prevent it from happening.

Resolved Issues

  • Apache Tomcat security vulnerability was addressed in the PBS Access Desktop (PAD) common installer.
  • Installers that were failing to install when the Windows Regional Format was set to Arabic or Hebrew now install successfully.
  • Running the NETSETUP client installer as a non-administrative user now works properly.
  • EDEM will no longer set file associations if you have not selected that option when using the HyperWorks Products Installer.
  • Hydra services started by Feko and Flux were not being stopped before an uninstall.
  • The installer names were being truncated on displays with scaling set to 125% or higher.
  • Installing Feko as a non-administrator no longer causes a non-fatal installation error.
  • Installing SimSolid by itself using the Altair HyperWorks Products installer (main installer) no longer causes a non-fatal installation error.
  • Installing Flux in silent mode on Linux no longer causes an unexpected terminal message.
  • HyperMesh File Preview (thumbnail) registration was not occurring for some types of installations.
  • Silent installs will no longer check for running processes using PowerShell.
  • When SimLab is uninstalled from a multi-product install, it no longer removes the common Python directory.
  • The Altair HyperWorks Products Installer (main installer) reported an incorrect amount of available disk space on Linux.
  • The most recent package was not selected in the Altair HyperWorks Products Installer (main installer) Choose Install Set panel in some cases.
  • Multiple successive spaces in the installation directory or shortcut folder caused an issue on Windows.

Known Issues

Notice: As of October 14, 2025, Microsoft Windows 10 reached its end of support. Following Microsoft's messaging, all Altair 2026.0 applications no longer support Windows 10. Altair is providing this information to help our customers accommodate this change. Altair 2026.0 supports the Windows 11 operating system, along with our other Linux-based operating systems. Please contact your local Altair support team if you have any questions or concerns.

The following known issues will be addressed in a future release as performance of the software is continuously improved:

  • On Linux, Xpress installers cannot be run from a folder or path that contains a space.
  • On Windows 11, WMIC is now an optional feature. If WMIC is not installed, in the Updates and System Information dialog, the System Information tab will not function properly and will instead display and Application Error message.
  • Silent installs on Windows will need to be run with the “-l en” argument if the Windows Regional Format is set to Arabic or Hebrew.
  • The use of commas in the install path causes multiple products to not function currently.
  • On Windows 11, the shortcut icons for server and client mode installations are blank unless remote paths in shortcut icons is enabled in the Windows group policy editor.
  • Using the Back/Previous option with an installer may not reset the installer variables correctly if changes are made and the install session is continued.
  • On Linux, installing to a directory with spaces is not supported. Additionally, if the path that the installers are run from contains a space, you will see a harmless message in the terminal window.
  • Special characters in the path to the temp location can cause the Java in the installer to not function correctly.
  • On Linux, during a console mode install, when using the response file output command -r in the Help Configuration response file may not write out correctly.
  • If there is not enough TMP/TEMP space on the main drive (for example, C: under Windows), the installer will prompt you to input a new location. Some Java TMP/TEMP space will still try to go to the main drive even when selecting this new location.
  • Click Cancel to stop an installation:
    • via the Altair HyperWorks Products Installer (main installer) does not clean up the already installed files, but does clean up the files in the TMP/TEMP folder. You will need to uninstall/delete the installed files from the chosen install folder manually if Cancel was clicked.
    • causes the Add/Remove uninstaller icon to possibly not function correctly, and then manual removal of the installed files would be necessary.
  • The HyperWorks installers do not support the use of the default InstallAnywhere installer.properties files. It is requested that a unique name is used when using a response file; for example, installer_hw2026.properties, and to use it with the -f <path_to_file>/<filename> command line option.
  • For NETSETUP client installs from a server installation of HyperWorks, a UNC path must be used to get to the server installation path through Windows Explorer or Windows Network.
  • On Linux, there is an issue with using the Altair HyperWorks Products Installer (main installer) with the IATEMPDIR variable to specify a custom temporary directory location. All sub-installers will try to use /tmp from the machine running the installers for temporary installer files.
  • The installer does not run the Linux menu installation by default; you must run the installation script.
  • When the Main Uninstaller is used, desktop shortcuts, if any, will not be removed during uninstallation.