DAMBE for MAC

Please cite:

Xia X. 2018. DAMBE7: New and improved tools for data analysis in molecular biology and evolution. Molecular Biology and Evolution 35:1550–1552.

I have tested DAMBE on an M2 MAC and DAMBE runs smoothly:

1. Download DAMBEX.msi
2. Download Whisky and unzip it.
3. (Let me know if the Whisky link above becomes unavailable)
4. Move Whisky to your Applications folder
5. Double-click Whisky to open it.
6. Press the plus button in the top right-hand corner to create a "bottle" (i.e., a Windows environment) for running DAMBE
7. Give your bottle a name (e.g., DAMBE), and select the Windows version you want (Both Windows 10 or 11 are fine.)
8. Hit Create and wait for a few seconds. When your bottle is ready, it'll appear in the list on the left-hand side
9. Press the Run... button in the bottom right
10. Navigate to the DAMBE.msi file you just downloaded. Select DAMBE.msi and press Open to install DAMBE.
11. You should now see DAMBE with a green arrow above it. If you don't see it, click "Installed Programs", choose DAMBE in the list.
12. When you see "DAMBE" with a green arrow above, double-click "DAMBE" and wait for 10 seconds (only for the first time) during which there seems no response, but DAMBE will eventually start.
13. You might wish to know more about Whisky.

For older Intel-based computers running macOS from Version 10.12 to Version 14.8 (tested on Monterey and Sonoma):

Installing DAMBE by using the Porting Kit (Free):

1. Download DAMBEX.msi. Save it in an easily accessible folder (Downloads, Desktop, etc.).
2. Install Porting Kit
1. Download Porting Kit
2. Double-click Porting Kit and drag Porting Kit.app into Applications
3. Launch Porting Kit to initialize.
4. If prompted, allow installation of helper tools (Wine engines, XQuartz, fonts). You may allow Porting Kit to access your Download folder.
3. Install and run DAMBE via Porting Kit
1. Open Porting Kit. On the left panel are listed "All apps", "Installed", etc.
2. Click "Installed" → Install Unsupported App (or similar).
3. Select DAMBEX.msi that you downloaded to install.
4. Follow prompts. Enter "DAMBE" or "DAMBE7" when asked to give a name of the installation. At one point, Porting Kit will present a list of .exe files. Click DAMBE.exe and OK.
5. Porting Kit will install DAMBE. After the installation, clicking "Installed" will show an clickable icon with labelled "DAMBE" or "DAMBE7" depending on what name you have provided in the previous step.
6. Click DAMBE → the program will start.
7. Test key functions to verify proper operation.
4. Optional: Run DAMBE without opening Porting Kit
1. Right-click the installed DAMBE in Porting Kit → Export App (or Create Shortcut)
2. Place the exported .app in /Applications
3. Double-click to launch DAMBE independently of Porting Kit.