Running Windows Apps without Windows with CrossOver

Because it doesn't use Windows and no Windows license is required, the total cost of using CrossOver is much less than virtual machine products such as Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion. CrossOver also doesn't use the CPU bandwidth and doesn't require the large amount of RAM that virtual machine software such Parallels or VMware require.

The drawback is that CrossOver only supports a selected Windows applications, including Outlook. The company said that it would be adding support for more applications as time goes on. Some readers report that a few non-supported do run, but most do not. (See CodeWeavers list of supported applications.)

CrossOver is based on the open source WINE software that recreates Windows calls in Mac OS X. CodeWeavers is a leading contributor to WINE.

Version History

October 3, 2007 -- Yesterday, CodeWeavers released Crossover Mac 6.2, an update for the software that enables Windows applications to run in Mac OS X. The company also released Crossover Linux 6.2. Unlike virtual machine products such as Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion, CrossOver does not run Microsoft Windows. Instead, CrossOver enables Mac OS X to run selected Windows apps natively.

The new version includes some "major work" for support of Outlook, which is 50 percent faster than in version 6.1 when run on Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard, which Apple will release this month. Version 6.2 also has a number of bug fixes for Outlook support, including the fixing of time-zone issues, as well as bug fixes for other applications.

The company also said that CrossOver 6.2 is the first and only solution available that can run Valve's Team Fortress II "out of the box" in Mac OS X.

CrossOver 6.2 is available for US$60 as a download, US$70 for a CD. CodeWeavers is offering a 10 percent discount through October 31 for orders at the company website, using the "special deal" code of "zomg".

With the new version, Outlook 2003 will support RPC over HTTP, which enables users to check email from outside of office firewalls. CrossOver 6.1 also improves authentication support in Outlook 2003 and fixes bugs with Outlook. CodeWeavers said that the new version also fixes a “major bug” with running FrameMaker 7.1 (related to font issues), and that FrameMaker 7.1 is now “usable” with CrossOver 6.1.

Running PC game in CrossOver is improved with a “major update” of DirectX support, including 3D graphics. There are also a few more games supported, including the EVE Online and Call of Duty 2 (through Steam).

CodeWeavers said that for the next update, it would focus on further improvements Outlook and for Adobe applications, as well as enabling more games to run.

April 23, 2007 -- CodeWeavers has just released CrossOver 6.1.0 Beta 3, a new pre-release version of the future 6.1.0 version. CrossOver is software for Mac OS X on Intel Macs that runs Windows applications without running Windows itself.

CodeWeavers said that the new beta fixes bugs that have caused crashes in Half-Life 2 and other games, improved support for composed characters, refined the user interface, and added a software update feature.

April 13, 2007 -- CodeWeavers has just released CrossOver 6.1.0 Beta 2, a new pre-release version of the future 6.1.0 version. CrossOver is software for Mac OS X on Intel Macs that runs Windows applications without running Windows itself. (See our CrossOver special report for more about CrossOver.)

CodeWeavers said that with this release the company focused on getting better support for running Outlook 2003 (as an alternative to Entourage). In addition to bug fixes and increased stability with running Outlook 2003, the new CrossOver Beta has improvements in RPC over HTTP, which enables remote users to access Exchange Server through firewalls.

CrossOver 6.1.0 Beta 2 also includes improvements for running PC games. It improved support for DirectX 8.1 and 9.0, which the company said will allow more unsupported games to be playable in CrossOver. The company said that game rendering and performance has also improved.

Other fixes include new support for installing a set of Windows-specific TrueType fonts, fixing font problems with FrameMaker 7.1, and the ability to automatically download and install localized versions of some installers and service packs, including IE.

CrossOver 6.0 1 update addresses Outlook 2003 compatibility. March 16, 2006 -- Earlier this week, CodeWeavers released CrossOver 6.0.1 (US $60), a maintenance update to the software that enables Mac OS X users to run Windows applications without Windows. (An update was also released for the Linux version.) The update fixes bugs related to running Outlook 2003 as well as for the new Daylight Savings Time changes and other general issues.

The update is available as a download from VersionTracker. Customers can also login at the CodeWeavers home page and then click My Downloads.

CodeWeavers has said that running Outlook for Windows in Mac OS X is one of its customers most requested features for CrossOver, which first shipped for Mac OS X in January. Currently, CrossOver has better support for Outlook 2000 than for Outlook 2003.

The company said that it intents to focus on Outlook and game compatibility with its next, version 6.1, to be released" in the relatively near future." CodeWeavers said the 6.1 upgrade would contain "more substantial improvements" than the 6.0.1 release.

CodeWeaver version 6.0 was the first version for Macintosh. It first shipped in January 2007 at Macworld Expo in San Francisco.

Reader Reports

First looks at the Crossover Beta

NOTE: CrossOvers is now shipping. These comments are about the pre-release version.

September 1, 2006
A reader who wishes to remain anonymous tried the first beta and sent this report about using Internet Explorer:

I hastened to download and install CrossOver. The first application that I want to load/run on my Mac is Internet Explorer. (I wouldn't be surprised to learn that many other testers made the same choice.) Anyway, IE 6.0 is downloadable from CodeWeavers' site (IE 7.0 does not work according to them) so I install 6.0.

Next thing I know, an IE icon appears in a Finder sub-folder under CrossOver in my user Applications folder. Pretty cool so far. Click the IE icon and it loads with the MSN home page! This is somewhat hopeful. Next I try to go to some pages that don't work properly in Safari. Less luck now. Status bar gauge half-fills and then nada.

Now I try a page on my own web site which doesn't load either so I remove some java scripts from the page and try again. Still no go. I consider the idea of deleting more code from the page but catch myself in time and conclude that CrossOver Mac is simply not ready for public beta testing.

September 11, 2006
Simon Visinoni found a way to fix a browser problem:

I would like to underline that I have had the same problem with surfing the web with CrossOver Beta, both with Firefox 1.5.0.6 in "Win XP bottle" mode and IE 5.0 in "Win98 bottle" mode. The problem disappeared as I killed the Microsoft Auto Update daemon in Activity Monitor (I have MS Office 2004 installed).

September 11, 2006
Another reader who wishes to remain anonymous:

Basically, just try other apps. IE would be a godsend, but on the dev list, they make it clear that they are not pursuing it with any real resolve, as there are so many GOOD web clients out for Mac.

Of course, there are lots of IE-only sites out there, so using the Codeweavers website's compatibility "request" tool, you can make your voice heard.

Anyway, just wanted to point out that everything with an installer* I've tried so far has worked to some degree, except IE, which they haven't really taken much of a swing at yet. Flash, in particular, renders extremely poorly right now. But, for non-IE apps, this is definitely beta-worthy (but, yeah, not production-ready just yet).

January 29, 2007
Dave Scott had good resulsts with apps that were supported and a few that were not:

January 29, 2007
Charles Ross tried unsuccessfully to use CrossOver with two unsupported applications:

February 5, 2007
Andrew could not run AutoCAD, but had limited results with a similar application:

April 23, 2007
Tom Terry is a fan of CrossOver and has posted a review of version 6.0, the current release version, at his blog.

Robert reviews on some of the aspects of CrossOver 6.2, the new version of the software that runs Windows applications on an Intel Mac without the need for Windows. (This makes it an inexpensive solution). Robert wrote:

Barry Smythe thinks the new CodeWeavers' CrossOver 6.2 is an improvement over the previous version:

I have found 6.2 MUCH faster opening and running Microsoft Project Pro.

CrossOver is software that runs Windows applications on an Intel Mac without the need for Windows. However, it runs a select group of Windows applications.

If you've tried CrossOver 6.2

Reader review of CrossOver 6.2

Friday, December 14, 2007

Hoby Van Hoose evaluated CodeWeavers CrossOver 6.2, the current version of the software that enables Mac OS X to run Windows applications without running Windows itself. CrossOver runs selected Windows applications, and in his review, Van Hoose describes which work and which don't. (This is also available at CodeWeavers web site.) Overall, Van Hoose is bullish on CrossOver. From his conclusion:

I really hope more people become either customers or helper coders for this project. I think this is really the best way to go regarding alternate OS compatibility on Intel Macs.

Van Hoose's full review:

Having just finally gotten a new MacBook Pro to replace the functions of both a G5 tower and a Windows mini-tower, the first Windows-app-running solution I've purchased has been CrossOver 6.2.

Some main assessments that others have noted: The programs that are run are a gamble. Most all installers run, most basic little apps run. But anything that pushes graphics or utilizes little-known parts of Windows will very often fail to even launch.

- Internet Explorer 6 runs with Flash, which is the main "work" reason I need a Windows-ish computer available. It would be great if IE 7 also ran because I'd like to include that again soon in my browser tests.

- Games are my main non-work reason for using Windows. The Half Life 2 games run pretty well and Painkiller runs even better. So far my other favorite games (Advent Rising, Beyond Good and Evil, Prince of Persia SOT) will not launch. I've even tried different bottle configurations but they're a no go.

- Some parts of support get frequent attention and others don't. The compatibility section gets almost no attention. I've submitted several apps for inclusion in the database (which for the most part, is customer-maintained, so I don't understand the slowdown) and they're still at the same cue numbers, weeks later. Customers who comment about the nightly builds though get rapid and esoteric responses to their concerns.

I really hope more people become either customers or helper coders for this project. I think this is really the best way to go regarding alternate OS compatibility on Intel Macs. The Crossover method has the potential to be the best of all worlds, given that Microsoft will never license/release their official OS codebases as libraries to be run in other systems, and given that virtual machines even WITH purchased copies of Windows running inside them still have problems talking with all the hardware. With CrossOver, there's no need to purchase or maintain Windows (money and time) and support for more apps will only increase with time. Also, unlike virtual machines, steps could be taken with CrossOver to keep Windows malware from working. In a sense, CrossOver could eventually run Windows apps better in a more secure environment than Windows itself. And I like their business model, a commercial entity that assists developing the free and open source core software. It's definitely a great way to go.

The more people that get involved, the better it will get.

Running Windows Apps on Intel Macs without Windows

Introduction

Version History

Reader Reports

Other MacWindows Departments