Mstat Software
Mstat was developed to help students analyze their data using nonparametric statistical methods. This program grew out of a graduate course, "Statistical Problems in Genetics and Molecular Biology," taught by the Department of Oncology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison over the last 30 years.
This site will have the latest version of the Mstat software package for Windows, Macintosh OSX, and Linux, available from the Download link above. Help for using Mstat is also available.
As in the past, the help files include a copy of the notes for the "Statistical Problems …" course mentioned above. These course notes have been made into a book. Both paperback and ebook versions are available, as detailed on the Help page.
Mstat on Apple M1 computers
The latest version, Mstat 7.0.1, installs and runs well on new Apple hardware containing the M1 chip. The code for Mstat 7.0.1 was compiled for Intel 64-bit chips, and runs under Rosetta 2 translation. If this is the first time you've tried to run software using Rosetta on your computer, you will be prompted to install Rosetta (see Apple support). A universal version of Mstat that runs natively on Intel or M1 hardware will likely be available around the end of 2021.
Mstat 7.0.1 released December 4, 2020
This release provides a major update to the underpinnings of Mstat, including J901 and Qt 5.12. For macOS users, the most important change is compatibility with the increased Catalina (version 10.15) security framework, with both the installer and application notarized. New features include drag-and-drop functionality in the multisample dialog boxes, and the ability to order samples in bar charts in increasing (or decreasing) magnitude. For those obsessing over diagnostic testing in this time of pandemic, methods to compute and plot Bayesian predictive values are included in the Design menu. See the Version History tab for additional, small bug fixes.
Mstat 6.6.2 released March 31, 2020
This release fixes the computation of P-values for the Wilcoxon rank sum test in cases with very small sample sizes and heavy ties.
Mstat 6.6.1 released March 4, 2020
This release fixes the update problems that were caused by moving the Mstat website to a new server, but does not provide any new features. Mstat version 7.0.1 with new features will be released later this Spring. If you are already using Mstat 6.5.1 you can continue to do so, but know that the Help > Check for updates function doesn't work.
macOS Catalina update October 21, 2019
The release of macOS Catalina (10.15) includes tightened security for apps downloaded from the internet. The macOS disk image for Mstat is now notarized by Apple to allow installation on Catalina. Some additional steps are also required to install and run Mstat on macOS Catalina. See the Download page for further information.
Mstat 6.5.1 released May 15, 2019
This new version of Mstat provides updates to the core software, using J807 and Qt 5.9.8. The plug-in module now allows loading of plug-ins during an active Mstat session, with the plug-in available only for the duration of the current session. In addition, any J script may be loaded for use in the current session. Other improvements include the ability to print the values used in X-Y band plots to the output window, and easier access to a J Terminal window during the Mstat session.
Mstat 6.4.2 released March 26, 2018
A minor bug affecting the exact permutation test was fixed. The Qt libraries were also updated to version 5.9.4
Mstat 6.4.1 released February 1, 2018
Several improvements have been made to the plotting functions in Mstat. A new plot type, the XY band plot, allows you to plot X-Y data series with the median/mean of the Y values at each X value plotted as a marker/line surrounded by a lighter color band that represents either the first-third quartile range or a specified confidence interval. In addition, dual Y-axis plots are now available so that multiple data series, with distinct Y-axis scales, can be graphed on the same plot. Various minor bugs in the plot system have also been corrected.
I've also updated the underlying engines for this software to J806 and Qt 5.9.3. As a result, the macOS version of Mstat will only run on 64-bit versions of the operating system (macOS versions 10.10 and later). A legacy version for 32-bit macOS 10.6 (Snowleopard) is available.