17.03.2026

A new release of Bio7 is available.The application Bio7 is a free and open-source integrated development environment for ecological modeling, scientific image analysis and statistical analysis. Beside other programming tools it contains a feature complete development environment for R with an advanced R editor, R developer tools and interfaces to perform scientific image analysis with R and the embedded ImageJ application.

New Features:

• Bio7 3.6 is based on Eclipse 4.39 (2026-03) target
• Bundled with Java OpenJDK 25 (Adoptium)
• Bio7 is now also available as a Linux aarch built (e.g., for Rasberry PI)
• Built System is now based on Tycho Maven and the application can be built from one repository
• Built can now be automized with a CI built system
• Built is now based on a Eclipse target definition

Java

• The Java dynamic compiler now supports Java 25 compilation
• The JDK is bundled JavaScript Nashorn 15.3

ImageJ

• ImageJ plugin updated to version 1.54s13

General

• Groovy updated to version 5.01
• Updated Texclipse plugin
• Added the Eclipse TM Terminal plugin for a full terminal support
• Added a new simple API to start the TM terminal programmatically with commands
• Added a new Rserve install script
• Changed R GIS import scripts using the terra library
• Dark theme visuals improved
• Updated and added new all available Nebula SWT widgets
• Updated JOGL (Java OpenGL)
• Updated Java Libraries. Added new libraries (JOML library)
• Updated SSH Windows natives.
• Fixed several SWT Resource leaks
• Added several default update sites for popular Eclipse plugins useful for Bio7 (PyDev, WindowBuilder, EGit).
• Removed JavaFX and the JavavFX SceneBuilder plugin from the Platform

Download and Installation:

Windows

Just download the *.zip distribution file from the Bio7 Github Releases and unzip it in your preferred location (avoid spaces in path!). Bio7 comes bundled with Java Adoptium and works out of the box. R and Rserve is not bundled (since Bio7 3.6) anymore by default!

Download and install R and adjust the R path in the Bio7 preferences (optional also the default R packages path):

Menu path: Preferences->Preferences Bio7->Preferences R

Install the Rserve package in R. For the Rserve installation you can also execute a Groovy script in the R-Shell-view after the R installation (start R in the Bio7 console).

Linux

Download and extract the installation file from Bio7 Github Releases. Bio7 comes bundled with Java (Adoptium).
Please note that you have to start Bio7 with Xorg (X display server)  because of SWT_AWT which is used by ImageJ.
For Linux you have to install R  and a special compiled version of Rserve. The default OS path to R is used automatically if not set (like in Windows) in the preferences.
Simply execute an available Groovy script in the R-Shell view (see Windows notes above).
To install Rserve manually start the R console and paste the following command, see:
https://github.com/Bio7/Rserve-Cooperative/blob/master/README.md

MacOSX

Download and extract the installation file from Bio7 Github Releases.  Bio7 comes bundled with Java (Adoptium).
For MacOSX you have to install R and a special compiled version of Rserve. The default OS path to R is used automatically if not set (like in Windows) in the preferences.
Simply execute an available Groovy script in the R-Shell view (see Windows notes above).
To install Rserve manually start the R console and paste the following command, see:
https://github.com/Bio7/Rserve-Cooperative/blob/master/README.md

To start Bio7 (unsigned) on MacOSX

To start Bio7 after installation please follow this advice (sign app locally):

https://github.com/Bio7/bio7/discussions/30

Bio7 Documentation

For more information about Bio7 please consult the soon updated Bio7 User Guide.

A plethora of Bio7 videotutorials for an introduction can be found on YouTube.

Acknowledgements

Special thanks to Matthias Mailander for creating a Tycho Maven built for Bio7 which makes it possible to built Bio7 easily for different plattforms.