Filed under: Software
Crossover for the Mac Beta
CodeWeavers has just released the beta of Crossover for the Mac. What the heck is Crossover for the Mac? It is a WINE environment that allows you to run Windows applications along side OS X applications, without the need for virtualization. This product will be a boon for those folks that only need one Windows application from time to time.
I had a chance to install this on my MacBook Pro (this works on Intel Macs only, folks), and it is obviously still a beta. I was able to install Office 2003, but Outlook refused to connect to my Exchange server, which pretty would be the only reason I would be using Crossover. However, it is still a beta so these things will happen (it also froze up a few times). You can check out more pics of Crossover in action over at Engadget.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Mark D. said 5:36PM on 8-31-2006
This was the first site I went to after installing Crossover, giving ie6 a test-run as I type this.
Aside from launch time and text anti-aliasing, I'm fairly impressed, though I haven't tried too many programs so far, the ease of installing is nice. Next up is trying to get Apple programs to run (something amusing about running iTunes for Windows through Crossover or Darwine in OS X, like a picture in a picture in a picture.)
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Eric Silverman said 5:38PM on 8-31-2006
crashed at least ten times before i could get it to do anything, but when it finally did cooperate :
works very well. i ran IE and it was useably fast
resizeing windows was tough and it didnt like my multiple monitor setup
needs work, but those seem like little fixes. im very excited for a stale release
-eric
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Mark D. said 5:40PM on 8-31-2006
Oh, forgot to add: I like the little dock-like icons situated on the Crossover icon, though I feel it's a bit odd that they disappear once fully executed.
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Luigi said 5:41PM on 8-31-2006
Its a nice concept, but it freezes a whole lot, and doesnt support much.
My 2 cores both heated up to 160 degres farinhight while using it...
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Dewey said 6:36PM on 8-31-2006
Is there anyway to install the Windows Office 2007 Beta by using Crossover? I have it on a CD, I just can't figure out how to do it if it's even possible. If so, Crossover would def. be getting my attention for a possible buy.
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Luigi said 6:54PM on 8-31-2006
Bah, after using it for a while longer, the Cpu heated to 80˚ Celcius. It was like that for maybe 25 min. Could I have done any damage to my beloved Macbook?
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Kyle Nilson said 9:11PM on 8-31-2006
I want to know if it works well with Visual Studio 2003. There aren't any good, easy to use C++ compilers out there for Mac and Xcode is confusing.
Yes, I legally own TextMate which does an excellent job for coding and making a quick compile for class, but nothing like Visual Studio.
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Jason said 9:15PM on 8-31-2006
wow, probly the first time mac fans will be using a crossover product NOT to run iTunes!
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Sam said 10:15PM on 8-31-2006
Finally - PICASA on my mac! I haven't tried everything yet, but it appears to work flawlessly. Effects and everything!
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Craig said 10:35PM on 8-31-2006
Can someone try using MSN messenger with video under Crossover. This would be HUGE if it worked.
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Peter Payne said 11:55PM on 8-31-2006
I am a developer of "hentai" games (PC dating-sims). For the record, the games I tested with this environment seemed to work fine, although there were sound issues (how does one install DirectX into the bottle?). This would be great -- a way for bishoujo game fans to not have to run Windows to play our software.
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ToeKnee said 12:03AM on 9-01-2006
Craig-
MSN messenger will likely never work, because it's too tied into the Windows OS. That might be true for all current and future "Windows Live" apps.
:( but true.
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tim said 12:43AM on 9-01-2006
programs are running pretty well. i installed FF as well as an "unsupported" program that had a GUI so i couldnt move it around. uninstalling doesnt work. it says they are uninstalled but they are still there. their site is down too. too many people downloading im sure.
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andy said 1:03AM on 9-01-2006
It's actually fairly cool for little simple apps you're used to.
I have a small stack of PC apps that I miss from my switch. Like an MP3 tag cleaner and renamer, a solid FTP client, and a file batch renamer. I got all these to work just perfectly. A real treat because I missed them.
Sadly to say, my favorite PC vector graphics program wouldn't get fooled into installing because it wants IE 5 or later and installing it still didn't fool it. Bummer.
But still valuable.
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Benedikt Terhechte said 2:40AM on 9-01-2006
@craig:
you can use aMsn on OSX in order to have MSN+Video chat, works fairly well and even supports all those crazy MSN icons everyone and his mom has installed.
http://amsn.sourceforge.net/download.php
http://cmq.qc.ca/4w/amsn/
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Daniel Murphy said 3:21AM on 9-01-2006
I think I just threw up a little in my mouth
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Stephen Chan said 3:58AM on 9-01-2006
guys, check this out... hehehe... now i have everything...
http://student.dcu.ie/~chans3/screen.jpg
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henrrrik said 5:06AM on 9-01-2006
WINE (which CrossOver Mac is based on) typically runs older software better. Word 2000, for instance, has a "Gold" compatibility rating, while Word XP has a "silver" and Word 2003 has "bronze". Don't hold your breath for good Word 2007 support.
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Ari said 9:08AM on 9-01-2006
Technically impressive but still not suitable for production use - at least with newer versions of Office. Parallels is a much better option right niw.
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Scott Frazer said 10:58PM on 9-02-2006
Outlook 2003 would not connect to my Exchange server under crossover. I'll stick with Parallels for now.
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