Mac OS X to run windows applications "NATIVELY"

So I was bumming around on the net, and came across something that I was surprised that slipped by me somehow, but I caught it nonetheless. No this isn't a rumor

Codeweavers is releasing Crossover for Mac!

What does this mean?

It means you can run Windows applications natively under OS X, nothing yet on if its going to be sandboxed, but I would assume since its running under a different OS (applications for windows running under OS X) that any viruses/trojans that do come on will be ineffective because of the underlying filesystem, password thats needed to make system changes, and etc.

Gaming is expected to come with it, but its supposely going to be limited to certain games, but there is always a possibility that it will expand, if the products demand becomes large enough.

This should be good news for those who want to switch to mac, but just can't leave certain windows applications behind, and won't have to go through the hassle of bootcamp or parallels.

For more information on this and an email to contact codeweavers with questions check out http://www.codeweavers.com/products/cxmac/

 

I went ahead and took the liberty of emailing them and Jessica from codeweavers was nice enough to reply with this.


People often wonder if CrossOver will be subject to as
many problems with viruses and trojans as Windows is.

The short answer is that, in theory, a virus could affect
a Mac system running a Windows program, but that it
would require a pretty extremely unlikely scenario and it
has not, to our knowledge, ever happened.

The longer answer is that programs that are vulnerable
to virii, such as Outlook and Internet Explorer will retain
those vulnerabilities when run on the Mac via CrossOver.

That is, if a virus exploits a weakness in Internet Explorer which
allows it to upload code into memory and cause that
code to start execution, then that same weakness will
exist.

So, in theory, the problem persists.

However, a wide range of factors exist so that we feel that it
is far safer to use CrossOver than it is to run Windows.

First, that exploited code running in memory relies upon
a very exact operating system configuration; it will try to
use certain Windows specific commands and layouts to
do its dirty work; it is very unlikely to run on the Mac because
it is a foreign system. We've run tests on a range of known
viruses and not a single virus has been able to successfully
execute its code.

Second, you're only vulnerable if you run vulnerable applications.
Internet Explorer is the worst case. Candidly, we recommend
only using IE for sites where Firefox does not work. Outlook
is another case, but in CrossOver, Outlook is prevented from
running files with typical virus file formats. Most other applications
do not suffer from virus risk; most viruses come in through
either a direct attack on your system (this is not relevant
because you're protected by Mac as a whole), or via IE or
Outlook.

Third, even if a virus were able to be run, it will be constrained
by the Mac system as to the damage it can do. Since CrossOver
is meant to be run by a regular user, you're first protected by
the Mac's proper user security system; the virus cannot harm anything
further than your user account. Second, a Windows virus will
generally only know of Windows file systems; if it destroys your
entire virtual C: drive, well that's very easily recreated and you've
lost no data.

The only closing remark on this subject is that I will reiterate
that not one of our many customers has ever reported a problem
with a virus or other nasty beast on CrossOver.

Jessica.
_______________
Sorry for the double post by the way.

 

I believe they are using WINE. If this is the case, don't expect much. WINE is a bugger to get working and the performance does leave something to be desired. This is not an easy thing to do. It may happen one day soon, but don't hold your breath.

 

There is a difference though, Wine is free for all, however this isn't and since Wine is licensed in a way where it can't be sold for profit, would mean Crossover is different, plus when your actually selling a product you are out to make a profit and in order to get it in the first place you need a product that stands out, therefore codeweavers is spending money to earn money.

Codeweavers has a pretty solid reputation.

I'm not expecting for it to be awesome, but its nice to see someone is attempting to do it. I know when it comes out, I won't use the product anyways because i'm pretty set against using windows, now whenever I have to use it (work) it just feels so foreign to me.

The information I posted was only for the benefit of others, I know there are probably a few out there that want to make the switch but even installing an OS seems to be a bit of a scary idea to them.

 

Don't know if anyone's still reading this thread, but I got my hands on the Crossover alpha release and installed it on my niece's MacBook Pro. I am very impressed. It's really slick how it easily installs any of its "supported" software and allows you to try installing just about anything else.

I only concentrated on seeing if embedded WindowsMedia 9 content would play, as my niece is missing some of her Comedy Central stuff since she switched to MBP from her VAIO. The Crossover IE 6 install went slick, and installing the Flash 9 plugin from the Macromedia (now Adobe) site went just fine (and all the flash stuff looked fine), but I was unable to get WMP 9 installed properly in Crossover (and I only spent an hour and didn't read any help materials). However, I was still impressed with what I saw, IE 6 for Windows with Flash plugin surfing, and running smooth and fast, on a Mac which does not have Windows installed. Wow.

For an alpha release, it is spectacular. Crossover wants to have a public beta next month and full release by September, I guess. That might be a bit optimistic, just because that's a fast schedule to go from alpha to version release. But again, I can't wait to play with it more.

My other niece just got a regular MacBook but was very disappointed with Quicken 2006 for OS X. She's hoping Crossover will run Quicken well (and it is one of their "supported" apps).

I'm getting to be an envious uncle who can't afford a new Intel Mac right now, but next my 80 year old mother wants to replace her 4 yr old iBook (which has never had a bit of a problem) with a MacBook so she can have video iChats with her kids, grandkids, and great-grandkids across the country. So I'll have another Intel Mac to goof with

I think there are A LOT of people who just really need one or two apps in Windows that don't exist in OS X who will now seriously consider a MacBook or MBP once the word gets out about Crossover from Codeweavers.

T

 

Wow, this is nice. I knew there was a definite possibility (and it is even rumored that Apple may use wine in Leopard itself), but I didn't know there was an alpha of Crossover for OS X. It is a decent program, and may be a fine solution for people who need to run just a couple of Windows apps. If we get Cedega to be ported as well, then it is all set. Between BootCamp, Paralells and Crossover there is no excuse to not at least try a Mac.

 

Cedega is fine, and probably would work much better on Mac OS X mostly because they can program it more specifically to certain hardware of Apples.

Only problem with Cedega is the subscription system they follow which I don't really like, I rather pay for software (one time payment) and receive free updates as more games become available, only time I would pay again is a new version update (more features) I'm not sure why they don't just follow that system. I don't play games all that often, and I sure as heck don't want to pay a subscription if I'm a casual gamer.

 

Can someone explain the 2-second version of the difference between parallels, boot camp, and this new crossover alpha test?

I see abaxter's longer post and have/would read if i needed to, but...

I'm about to pull the trigger on a macbook and just wonder how likely it is that I'll be able to connect to my work network if i don't have xp pro (which I'd kinda prefer NOT to mess with) and a full suite of Windows stuff.

on the other hand, I'm lucky enough to have my work laptop (hp nc4320) so... I guess if i NEEDED work functionality i could use that.

just curious what you'd recommend for the everyday user, who might want to run a (pretty standard) windows program or two?

Also... anyone have experience with openoffice for macs? how does it work? I'd rather not have to buy mac versions of ms office...

or will i be defeating the purpose of the macbook if i DON'T attempt to run windows too?

thanks, as always, for listening!

jennie

 

Well, bootcamp means you will fully use ur PC to run windows. You will have to reboot and start from Windows or Macosx.

Parallels uses a new virtualization technology which means you will have both , XP and OSX , running exactly at the same time.

Crossover means that they implemented the WinAPI in order to emulate a windows system over OSX. At the end you will be in OSX if you chose this, but you can run Windows apps (not every app of course, and a bit on the slow side)

 

bump! double post, sorry

 

Supposely its reported that Crossover will run the applications at native speed, but we'll have to wait and see, from what i've read from alpha testers, many are saying the software runs great and you can almost not tell its running on OS X. Sounds like promising remarks from Alpha testers, and it hasn't even gotten to beta testing yet.

 

xbandaidx man, I havent tryed it yet, but it is almost impossible to run apps at native speed. Linux crossover wont run at native speed.

 

Don't worry, I'm not saying for sure it can run native speed like I know from first hand or something, I have my doubts as well, it could all just be marketing hype for all that I know, or just overhyped alpha testers. I am faithful in the fact that how fast something runs and how well it does, is dependant on how well its been coded.

So, yes we'll all have to wait and see.

 

got this from codeweaver website

 

Wine can be sold for profit, as any GLP or LGPL licensed software. There is some criticism to some enterprises (like Transgaming, IIRC) that don't give "back enough" to FOSS software projects (much like Safari in the beginning - Apple would post modifications that were almost impossible to put back in KHTML tree), but AFAIK this does not happen to Crossover.

 

This is great news for most people who are looking to use Mac. I wouldn't mind switching over to Mac completely actually. You can run Windows on them now, and Crossover will allow you to run MS apps natively. Now, the only problem I have with Mac is graphics power. I do 3D modeling and I like to game, and Mac notebooks just aren't that graphically powerful. But I can actually see my next notebook purchase being a MacBook to be honest. I've got my M90 for portable powerhouse, I plan on building a good Vista/DX10 desktop next year, but a 13" MacBook for portability and OS X... sounds like a great idea to me.