CrossOver Office
Encyclopedia
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
.
Mac OS X
version of CrossOver Office called CrossOver Mac that will support Windows
-to-Mac application porting on Intel-based Macs. Crossover Mac was released on January 10, 2007. 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.
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.
s 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.
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.
gave all of their products away free. Codeweavers' main page was temporarily replaced due to the day's unusually high traffic. According to a CodeWeavers blog entry at least 750,000 product registrations had been given away during October 28.
Proprietary software
Proprietary software is computer software licensed under exclusive legal right of the copyright holder. The licensee is given the right to use the software under certain conditions, while restricted from other uses, such as modification, further distribution, or reverse engineering.Complementary...
programs developed by CodeWeavers
CodeWeavers
CodeWeavers is a company that sells a proprietary version of Wine called CrossOver, for running Windows applications on Mac OS X and Linux. The company was founded in 1996 as a consultancy, eventually moving entirely over to Wine development and support...
that allow many Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
-based applications
Application software
Application software, also known as an application or an "app", is computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks. Examples include enterprise software, accounting software, office suites, graphics software and media players. Many application programs deal principally with...
to run on Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
and Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
using a compatibility layer
Compatibility layer
A compatibility layer is a term that refers to components that allow for non-native support of components.In software engineering, a compatibility layer allows binaries for a legacy or foreign system to run on a host system. This translates system calls for the foreign system into native system...
. The programs include CrossOver Mac, CrossOver Linux, CrossOver Games Mac, and CrossOver Games Linux.
The programs are modified, proprietary versions of the public Wine
Wine (software)
Wine is a free software application that aims to allow computer programs written for Microsoft Windows to run on Unix-like operating systems. Wine also provides a software library, known as Winelib, against which developers can compile Windows applications to help port them to Unix-like...
source tree with various compatibility patches
Patch (computing)
A patch is a piece of software designed to fix problems with, or update a computer program or its supporting data. This includes fixing security vulnerabilities and other bugs, and improving the usability or performance...
added, more user-friendly configuration
Computer configuration
In communications or computer systems, a configuration is an arrangement of functional units according to their nature, number, and chief characteristics. Often, configuration pertains to the choice of hardware, software, firmware, and documentation...
tools, and commercial support. CodeWeavers employs several Wine developers and contributes code back to the free software
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
/open-source software
Open-source software
Open-source software is computer software that is available in source code form: the source code and certain other rights normally reserved for copyright holders are provided under a software license that permits users to study, change, improve and at times also to distribute the software.Open...
Wine
Wine (software)
Wine is a free software application that aims to allow computer programs written for Microsoft Windows to run on Unix-like operating systems. Wine also provides a software library, known as Winelib, against which developers can compile Windows applications to help port them to Unix-like...
project as per the GNU
GNU
GNU is a Unix-like computer operating system developed by the GNU project, ultimately aiming to be a "complete Unix-compatible software system"...
LGPL
GNU Lesser General Public License
The GNU Lesser General Public License or LGPL is a free software license published by the Free Software Foundation . It was designed as a compromise between the strong-copyleft GNU General Public License or GPL and permissive licenses such as the BSD licenses and the MIT License...
, although CrossOver is proprietary software
Proprietary software
Proprietary software is computer software licensed under exclusive legal right of the copyright holder. The licensee is given the right to use the software under certain conditions, while restricted from other uses, such as modification, further distribution, or reverse engineering.Complementary...
.
CrossOver Mac
In June 2005, CodeWeavers announced a new AppleApple Computer
Apple Inc. is an American multinational corporation that designs and markets consumer electronics, computer software, and personal computers. The company's best-known hardware products include the Macintosh line of computers, the iPod, the iPhone and the iPad...
Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
version of CrossOver Office called CrossOver Mac that will support Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
-to-Mac application porting on Intel-based Macs. Crossover Mac was released on January 10, 2007. 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 GNOMEGNOME
GNOME is a desktop environment and graphical user interface that runs on top of a computer operating system. It is composed entirely of free and open source software...
and KDE
KDE
KDE is an international free software community producing an integrated set of cross-platform applications designed to run on Linux, FreeBSD, Microsoft Windows, Solaris and Mac OS X systems...
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, is a new product that lets the users play a broad range of games, "particularly games with a lot of replayability such as MMOMassively multiplayer online game
A massively multiplayer online game is a multiplayer video game which is capable of supporting hundreds or thousands of players simultaneously. By necessity, they are played on the Internet, and usually feature at least one persistent world. They are, however, not necessarily games played on...
s like World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft
World of Warcraft is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the fourth released game set in the fantasy Warcraft universe, which was first introduced by Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994...
and the range of games from Valve
Valve Corporation
Valve Corporation is an American video game development and digital distribution company based in Bellevue, Washington, United States...
e.g., Team Fortress 2
Team Fortress 2
Team Fortress 2 is a free-to-play team-based first-person shooter multiplayer video game developed by Valve Corporation. A sequel to the original mod Team Fortress based on the Quake engine, it was first released as part of the video game compilation The Orange Box on October 10, 2007 for Windows...
, Counter-Strike: Source
Counter-Strike: Source
Counter-Strike: Source is an FPS video game developed by Valve Corporation. It is a complete remake of Counter-Strike using the Source game engine. As in the original, Counter-Strike: Source pits a team of counter-terrorists against a team of terrorists in a series of rounds...
, 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
Wine (software)
Wine is a free software application that aims to allow computer programs written for Microsoft Windows to run on Unix-like operating systems. Wine also provides a software library, known as Winelib, against which developers can compile Windows applications to help port them to Unix-like...
than with regular CrossOver, which targets stability and reliability.
Productivity
- Microsoft OfficeMicrosoft OfficeMicrosoft Office is a non-free commercial office suite of inter-related desktop applications, servers and services for the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, introduced by Microsoft in August 1, 1989. Initially a marketing term for a bundled set of applications, the first version of...
2007, 2003, XP, 2000 and 97 - Microsoft ProjectMicrosoft ProjectMicrosoft Project is a project management software program, developed and sold by Microsoft, which is designed to assist a project manager in developing a plan, assigning resources to tasks, tracking progress, managing the budget, and analyzing workloads.The application creates critical path...
- Microsoft Internet ExplorerInternet ExplorerWindows Internet Explorer is a series of graphical web browsers developed by Microsoft and included as part of the Microsoft Windows line of operating systems, starting in 1995. It was first released as part of the add-on package Plus! for Windows 95 that year...
6 - Adobe Dreamweaver MX, Adobe FlashAdobe FlashAdobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...
MX, AdobeAdobe SystemsAdobe Systems Incorporated is an American computer software company founded in 1982 and headquartered in San Jose, California, United States...
Photoshop 7 - QuickenQuickenQuicken is a personal finance management tool developed by Intuit, Inc.Quicken runs on Windows and Macintosh systems. Previous versions ran on DOS. An online version is also available. The last version of Quicken for Macintosh computers was Quicken Essentials for Mac released in February 2010...
- Various web browserWeb browserA web browser is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. An information resource is identified by a Uniform Resource Identifier and may be a web page, image, video, or other piece of content...
plugins such as QuickTimeQuickTimeQuickTime is an extensible proprietary multimedia framework developed by Apple Inc., capable of handling various formats of digital video, picture, sound, panoramic images, and interactivity. The classic version of QuickTime is available for Windows XP and later, as well as Mac OS X Leopard and...
and Windows Media PlayerWindows Media PlayerWindows Media Player is a media player and media library application developed by Microsoft that is used for playing audio, video and viewing images on personal computers running the Microsoft Windows operating system, as well as on Pocket PC and Windows Mobile-based devices...
Games
- Counter-StrikeCounter-StrikeCounter-Strike is a tactical first-person shooter video game developed by Valve Corporation which originated from a Half-Life modification by Minh "Gooseman" Le and Jess "Cliffe" Cliffe...
- Half-Life 2Half-Life 2Half-Life 2 , the sequel to Half-Life, is a first-person shooter video game and a signature title in the Half-Life series. It is singleplayer, story-driven, science fiction, and linear...
and games based on it, such as Portal - PreyPrey (video game)Prey is a first-person shooter video game developed by Human Head Studios , and published by 2K Games. The Xbox 360 version was ported by Venom Games. The game was initially released in North America and Europe on 11 July 2006...
- World of WarcraftWorld of WarcraftWorld of Warcraft is a massively multiplayer online role-playing game by Blizzard Entertainment. It is the fourth released game set in the fantasy Warcraft universe, which was first introduced by Warcraft: Orcs & Humans in 1994...
- Eve OnlineEVE OnlineEve Online is a video game by CCP Games. It is a player-driven, persistent-world MMORPG set in a science fiction space setting. Characters pilot customizable ships through a galaxy of over 7,500 star systems. Most star systems are connected to one or more other star systems by means of stargates...
- Guild WarsGuild WarsGuild Wars is an episodic series of online 3D fantasy role-playing games developed by ArenaNet and published by NCsoft. Although often defined as an MMORPG the developers define it as a CORPG due to significant differences from the MMORPG genre. It provides two main modes of gameplay—a cooperative...
- Call of Duty 2Call of Duty 2Call of Duty 2 is a first-person shooter video game and the second installment in the critically acclaimed Call of Duty series. It was developed by Infinity Ward and published by Activision. It was released on October 25, 2005 for Microsoft Windows and on November 22, 2005 as a launch game for the...
- Team Fortress 2Team Fortress 2Team Fortress 2 is a free-to-play team-based first-person shooter multiplayer video game developed by Valve Corporation. A sequel to the original mod Team Fortress based on the Quake engine, it was first released as part of the video game compilation The Orange Box on October 10, 2007 for Windows...
- Tibia (video game)
Misc
- iTunesITunesiTunes is a media player computer program, used for playing, downloading, and organizing digital music and video files on desktop computers. It can also manage contents on iPod, iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad....
4.9.0 - QuickTimeQuickTimeQuickTime is an extensible proprietary multimedia framework developed by Apple Inc., capable of handling various formats of digital video, picture, sound, panoramic images, and interactivity. The classic version of QuickTime is available for Windows XP and later, as well as Mac OS X Leopard and...
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, CodeweaversCodeWeavers
CodeWeavers is a company that sells a proprietary version of Wine called CrossOver, for running Windows applications on Mac OS X and Linux. The company was founded in 1996 as a consultancy, eventually moving entirely over to Wine development and support...
gave all of their products away free. Codeweavers' main page was temporarily replaced due to the day's unusually high traffic. According to a CodeWeavers blog entry at least 750,000 product registrations had been given away during October 28.
See also
- DarwineDarwineDarwine was a port of the Wine libraries to Darwin and Mac OS X . The Darwine project intended to port and develop Wine as well as other supporting tools that would allow Darwin and Mac OS X users to run Windows applications and to provide a Win32 API compatibility at application source code...
- TransGaming TechnologiesTransGaming TechnologiesTransGaming Inc. is a company specialized in video game portability technology. The company has its head office in Toronto and a research hub in Ottawa. It was founded by Gavriel State, who ran the Linux product division at the Corel Corporation...
- Cedega