I have to confess that I am a Mac user and if I wasn’t a Mac user I would use Linux. There are a few things that stop people switching away from Windows. One is FUD (Fear, Uncertainty and Doubt) and another is that there are programs for Windows that aren’t available for OS X or Linux. CrossOver from CodeWeavers comes to the rescue. CodeWeavers have just released a new version of their CrossOver product.
CrossOver allows you to install many popular Windows productivity applications, plugins and games in OS X or Linux. CrossOver includes an easy to use, single click interface, which makes installing a Windows application simple and fast. Once installed, your application integrate seamlessly with your desktop. Because CrossOver isn’t based on Microsoft technology you can install these Windows programs without needing a Microsoft operating system license.
CrossOver 8.0 includes support for Internet Explorer 7, Quicken 2009, Photoshop CS2 and performance upgrades for Microsoft Office 2007, particularly Outlook.
As well as the products mentioned above there is an impressive list of other supported products which includes Microsoft Office 97, 2000, XP, and 2003, Quicken, Internet Explorer 6, Microsoft Project and Microsoft Visio. Also some games are supported like Half-Life 2 and Call of Duty 2.
Obviously there are many programs like Office which are natively available for OS X and many alternatives including OpenOffice.org which are available for OS X and for Linux. But if there is a Windows only program that you absolutely need and this is stopping you from moving to OS X or Linux then it is worth trying out CrossOver.
There are 30 day trail versions of the software available and CrossOver Standard is priced at $39.95 (£25), as a download-only product.
CrossOver Pro (which comes with 12 months of support as well as a copy of CrossOver Games, CodeWeavers Windows games compatibility product) is priced at $69.95 (£43) and can be delivered with an optional CD.
For those of you who like technical details, CrossOver is a commercial version of Wine which is a re-implementation of the Win32 API, allowing applications to run as if natively on the OS X or Linux.
