Running Polymeter on a Mac

There are various options, including WineBottler, Crossover, Boot Camp, Parallels, and possibly other virtualizers. This guide focuses on WineBottler because like Polymeter it's free and open-source software, and doesn't require you to buy or install Windows.

Polymeter and WineBottler

1. Download WineBottler here. It's recommended to take the Stable version, currently 1.8.6.
2. Download Polymeter, from either SourceForge or GitHub. Important: Take the Portable Application (no installer), for 32-bit Windows; it's the fourth option.
3. Run WineBottler, by double-clicking the WineBottler DMG file.
4. In WineBottler's caption bar, click "Advanced." You should see a yellow screen, the second option of which is "Program to install." To the right of that option, click "Select File." In the resulting file dialog, navigate to the Polymeter download, presumably in Downloads. Select the file Polymeter.exe and press OK.
5. Important: Select the option "This is the actual program, copy it to the App Bundle." It's the middle radio button, below "Program to install." This is critical!
6. Click "Install" and select where you want the App Bundle to go. The Desktop is a safe choice. Press OK to start building the App Bundle. Wait for it to finish.
7. To run Polymeter, double-click the Polymeter App Bundle. It loads some Wine stuff and then Polymeter's screen should appear. And that's it.

Limitations and known bugs:

1. In the Mapping bar, MIDI learn works but isn't indicated properly. The selected mapping(s) being learned should display with a green background, but instead all of the mappings display with a white background. You can still learn mappings as usual, just ignore the background color. You'll know when a mapping is learned because its input values change to match the control you moved. Remember to turn off MIDI learn when you're done!
2. In the Live view, selection isn't indicated correctly. This is another case of the first bug, related to custom draw.
3. If you add a MIDI device while Polymeter is running, the new device won't be available until you exit and restart Polymeter.
4. The Phase bar doesn't work at all. This is probably because it uses Direct2D.
5. When you stop the sequencer, the application reports MIDI error 65: "Cannot perform this operation while media data is still playing. Reset the device, or wait until the data is finished playing." The message is harmless, but notes that are playing when you stop may get stuck.
6. In the help browser, the Contents and Index tabs are empty, but the Search tab works, and all help topics are present. The same help is also available online.

It would nice to be able to use the 64-bit version of Polymeter, because it can access more memory and runs faster. Supposedly the development version of WineBottler supports 64-bit apps but your mileage may vary.