diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 8bcbc5a..777e763 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -8,6 +8,11 @@ option(TNTN_DOWNLOAD_DEPS "download dependencies during cmake configure" ON)
 
 set(CMAKE_CXX_STANDARD 14)
 
+if(MSVC)
+    if(MSVC_VERSION LESS 1910)
+        message(FATAL_ERROR "Visual Studio 2017 version 15.0 or higher is required")
+    endif()
+endif()
 
 # get the current working branch
 execute_process(
@@ -31,14 +36,19 @@ find_package(GDAL REQUIRED)
 if(NOT GDAL_FOUND)
     message(FATAL_ERROR "GDAL not found, cannot proceed")
 endif()
-if(NOT GDAL_CONFIG)
-    message(FATAL_ERROR "gdal-config command not found (not in PATH?), cannot proceed")
-endif()
 
-execute_process(
-  COMMAND ${GDAL_CONFIG} --version
-  OUTPUT_VARIABLE SYSTEM_GDAL_VERSION
-)
+if(GDAL_VERSION)
+    set(SYSTEM_GDAL_VERSION ${GDAL_VERSION})
+else()
+    if(NOT GDAL_CONFIG)
+        message(FATAL_ERROR "gdal-config command not found (not in PATH?), cannot proceed")
+    endif()
+
+    execute_process(
+      COMMAND ${GDAL_CONFIG} --version
+      OUTPUT_VARIABLE SYSTEM_GDAL_VERSION
+    )
+endif()
 
 if(SYSTEM_GDAL_VERSION VERSION_LESS "2.2")
     message(FATAL_ERROR "GDAL version \"${SYSTEM_GDAL_VERSION}\" is too old, at least 2.2 is required")
diff --git a/include/tntn/File.h b/include/tntn/File.h
index 33151c8..b48a149 100644
--- a/include/tntn/File.h
+++ b/include/tntn/File.h
@@ -6,6 +6,10 @@
 #include <string>
 #include <vector>
 
+#ifdef _MSC_VER 
+#define ftello ftell
+#endif
+
 namespace tntn {
 
 class FileLike
diff --git a/include/tntn/FileFormat.h b/include/tntn/FileFormat.h
index 6253585..3b5eea3 100644
--- a/include/tntn/FileFormat.h
+++ b/include/tntn/FileFormat.h
@@ -4,6 +4,11 @@
 #include <string.h>
 #include "tntn/MeshMode.h"
 
+#ifdef _MSC_VER 
+#define strncasecmp _strnicmp
+#define strcasecmp _stricmp
+#endif
+
 namespace tntn {
 
 class FileFormat
diff --git a/include/tntn/endianness.h b/include/tntn/endianness.h
index ab9c58a..8eadb14 100644
--- a/include/tntn/endianness.h
+++ b/include/tntn/endianness.h
@@ -8,7 +8,7 @@
 #    define TNTN_BIG_ENDIAN
 #elif defined(__BYTE_ORDER) && __BYTE_ORDER == __LITTLE_ENDIAN || defined(__LITTLE_ENDIAN__) || \
     defined(__ARMEL__) || defined(__THUMBEL__) || defined(__AARCH64EL__) || defined(_MIPSEL) || \
-    defined(__MIPSEL) || defined(__MIPSEL__)
+    defined(__MIPSEL) || defined(__MIPSEL__) || defined(_WIN32)
 #    define TNTN_LITTLE_ENDIAN
 #else
 #    error unknown architecture
diff --git a/src/benchmark_workflow.cpp b/src/benchmark_workflow.cpp
index ae34870..7a5539f 100644
--- a/src/benchmark_workflow.cpp
+++ b/src/benchmark_workflow.cpp
@@ -158,7 +158,7 @@ static bool prepare_output_directory(const fs::path& output_dir, const bool resu
         if(e)
         {
             TNTN_LOG_ERROR("unable to create output directory {} with message: {}",
-                           output_dir.c_str(),
+                           output_dir.string().c_str(),
                            e.message());
             return false;
         }
@@ -167,13 +167,13 @@ static bool prepare_output_directory(const fs::path& output_dir, const bool resu
     //make sure it is a directory
     if(!fs::is_directory(output_dir, e))
     {
-        TNTN_LOG_ERROR("output directory {} is not a directory", output_dir.c_str());
+        TNTN_LOG_ERROR("output directory {} is not a directory", output_dir.string().c_str());
         return false;
     }
     if(e)
     {
         TNTN_LOG_ERROR("filesystem error while checking output directory {} with message: {}",
-                       output_dir.c_str(),
+                       output_dir.string().c_str(),
                        e.message());
         return false;
     }
@@ -183,13 +183,13 @@ static bool prepare_output_directory(const fs::path& output_dir, const bool resu
         //make sure it is empty
         if(!fs::is_empty(output_dir, e))
         {
-            TNTN_LOG_ERROR("output directory {} is not empty", output_dir.c_str());
+            TNTN_LOG_ERROR("output directory {} is not empty", output_dir.string().c_str());
             return false;
         }
         if(e)
         {
             TNTN_LOG_ERROR("filesystem error while checking output directory {} with message: {}",
-                           output_dir.c_str(),
+                           output_dir.string().c_str(),
                            e.message());
             return false;
         }
@@ -662,13 +662,13 @@ static bool write_mesh_as_obj_and_off(const fs::path& parametrization_subdir,
 
     bool rc = true;
     File f;
-    if(f.open(obj_filename.c_str(), File::OM_RWC))
+    if(f.open(obj_filename.string().c_str(), File::OM_RWC))
     {
         rc = rc && write_mesh_as_obj(f, m);
         f.close();
     }
 
-    if(f.open(off_filename.c_str(), File::OM_RWC))
+    if(f.open(off_filename.string().c_str(), File::OM_RWC))
     {
         rc = rc && write_mesh_as_off(f, m);
         f.close();
@@ -688,7 +688,7 @@ static bool write_raster_as_asc_with_prefix(const fs::path& parametrization_subd
     raster_filename = parametrization_subdir / raster_filename;
 
     File f;
-    if(!f.open(raster_filename.c_str(), File::OM_RWC))
+    if(!f.open(raster_filename.string().c_str(), File::OM_RWC))
     {
         return false;
     }
@@ -941,7 +941,7 @@ static bool run_all_dem2tin_method_benchmarks_on_single_file(
 
             //create is_done_file to signal to later resume runs
             File f;
-            f.open(is_done_file.c_str(), File::OM_RWC);
+            f.open(is_done_file.string().c_str(), File::OM_RWC);
         }
     }
     return true;
@@ -1006,7 +1006,7 @@ bool run_dem2tin_method_benchmarks(const std::string& output_dir,
     const auto benchmark_csv_filename = output_dir_p / "tin_terrain_benchmarks.csv";
     if(resume && fs::exists(benchmark_csv_filename))
     {
-        if(!csv_file->open(benchmark_csv_filename.c_str(), File::OM_RW))
+        if(!csv_file->open(benchmark_csv_filename.string().c_str(), File::OM_RW))
         {
             TNTN_LOG_ERROR("unable to open CSV output file {} for resume",
                            benchmark_csv_filename.string());
@@ -1015,7 +1015,7 @@ bool run_dem2tin_method_benchmarks(const std::string& output_dir,
     }
     else
     {
-        if(!csv_file->open(benchmark_csv_filename.c_str(), File::OM_RWC))
+        if(!csv_file->open(benchmark_csv_filename.string().c_str(), File::OM_RWC))
         {
             TNTN_LOG_ERROR("unable to create CSV output file {} for writing",
                            benchmark_csv_filename.string());
diff --git a/src/dem2tintiles_workflow.cpp b/src/dem2tintiles_workflow.cpp
index 4310145..646a213 100644
--- a/src/dem2tintiles_workflow.cpp
+++ b/src/dem2tintiles_workflow.cpp
@@ -147,7 +147,7 @@ bool create_tiles_for_zoom_level(const RasterDouble& dem,
                 auto file_path =
                     tile_dir / (std::to_string(ty) + "." + mesh_writer.file_extension());
 
-                if(!tm.dumpTile(tx, ty, zoom, file_path.c_str(), mesh_writer))
+                if(!tm.dumpTile(tx, ty, zoom, file_path.string().c_str(), mesh_writer))
                 {
                     TNTN_LOG_ERROR("error dumping tile z:{} x:{} y:{}", zoom, tx, ty);
                     return false;