CrossOver

For other uses, see Crossover (disambiguation).

CrossOver

Developer(s)	CodeWeavers
Stable release	10.0.3 / May 2, 2011; 6 months ago (2011-05-02)
Operating system	Linux, Mac OS X
Type	Compatibility layer
License	Mixed Source (Proprietary/GPL/LGPL)
Website	www.codeweavers.com

CrossOver, known before version 6.0 as CrossOver Office, is the collective name for four commercial and proprietary programs developed by CodeWeavers that allow many Windows-based applications to run on Linux and Mac OS X using a compatibility layer. The programs include CrossOver Mac, CrossOver Linux, CrossOver Games Mac, and CrossOver Games Linux.

The programs are modified, proprietary versions of the public Wine source tree with various compatibility patches added, more user-friendly configuration tools, and commercial support. CodeWeavers employs several Wine developers and contributes code back to the free software/open-source software Wine project as per the GNU LGPL, although CrossOver is proprietary software.

Versions

CrossOver Mac

In June 2005, CodeWeavers announced a new Apple Mac OS X version of CrossOver Office called CrossOver Mac that will support Windows-to-Mac application porting on Intel-based Macs.^[1] Crossover Mac was released on January 10, 2007.^[2] With the release of Crossover Mac 7 on June 17, 2008, Crossover Mac was divided into Standard and Pro versions like Crossover Linux. The standard version includes six months of support and upgrades, while the Pro version includes one year of support and upgrades and a free copy of Crossover Games.

CrossOver Linux

The program aims to integrate properly with GNOME and KDE so that applications will run seamlessly in the Linux environment.

CrossOver Linux is offered in two versions — Standard and Professional. CrossOver Linux Professional provides enhanced deployment and management features for corporate users. The Standard version allows a single user of a single machine. The Professional version allows multiple users.

CrossOver Server

CrossOver Server allows Windows applications to run in a distributed thin-client environment under Linux and Solaris. CrossOver Server was discontinued in 2007 as many of its features now appear in CrossOver Linux Professional.

CrossOver Games

CrossOver Games, announced on 10 March 2008,^[3] is a new product that lets the users play a broad range of games, "particularly games with a lot of replayability such as MMOs like World of Warcraft and the range of games from Valve e.g., Team Fortress 2, Counter-Strike: Source, and so on". However, there are still a lot of popular games that remain unsupported. The difference with regular CrossOver is that CrossOver Games will have a shorter release cycle in order to update faster to the latest work on Wine than with regular CrossOver, which targets stability and reliability.^[4]

Supported software

Productivity

• Microsoft Office 2007, 2003, XP, 2000 and 97
• Microsoft Project
• Microsoft Internet Explorer 6
• Adobe Dreamweaver MX, Adobe Flash MX, Adobe Photoshop 7
• Quicken
• Various web browser plugins such as QuickTime and Windows Media Player

Games

• Counter-Strike
• Half-Life 2 and games based on it, such as Portal
• Prey
• World of Warcraft
• Eve Online
• Guild Wars
• Call of Duty 2
• Team Fortress 2
• Tibia (video game)

Misc

• iTunes 4.9.0
• QuickTime 7

A full list is available from CodeWeavers’ website.

CodeWeavers has also designed an interest gauging system on their Web site where one can donate money towards a particular application in order to encourage the development team to focus their attention on it and make it fully compatible.

Free download day

On October 28, 2008 as the result of the Lame Duck Challenge, Codeweavers gave all of their products away free. Codeweavers' main page was temporarily replaced due to the day's unusually high traffic.^[5] According to a CodeWeavers blog entry at least 750,000 product registrations had been given away during October 28.^[6]

See also

Free software portal

• Darwine
• TransGaming Technologies
• Cedega

References

1. ^ "CodeWeavers Expands Developer Services, Enabling Future Windows Application Porting To Mac OS" (Press release). SAINT PAUL, MN: CodeWeavers. June 22, 2005. http://www.codeweavers.com/about/general/press/?id=20050622. Retrieved 2009-01-03. 
2. ^ "CodeWeavers Releases CrossOver 6 for Mac and Linux". Slashdot. January 10, 2007. http://linux.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=07/01/10/1924235. Retrieved 2009-01-03. 
3. ^ White, Jeremy (2008-03-10). "Roadmap for 2008". Blogs. CodeWeavers. http://www.codeweavers.com/about/people/blogs/jwhite/2008/3/10/roadmap-for-2008. Retrieved 2009-01-03. 
4. ^ ""CrossOver Games" is coming!!! - Repost". http://ubuntuforums.org/showpost.php?s=e98e39d63e486e98d2ef3b7ec78f0820&p=4530091&postcount=28. Retrieved 2009-01-03. ^{[unreliable source?]}
5. ^ Vaughan-Nichols, Steven J. (October 28, 2008). "Free (as in beer) CodeWeavers CrossOver Linux and Mac". Computerworld Blogs. http://blogs.computerworld.com/free_as_in_beer_codeweavers_crossover_linux_and_mac. Retrieved 2009-01-03. 
6. ^ 2008.10.28 We Came! We Saw! We Burned to the Waterline!

External links

• Official website