No Windows? Use Linux, Intel Macs for PC Gaming with CrossOver
by Ross Miller 
{ May 23rd 2008 at 9:32AM }
We're not going to get into the technical side of it because, quite frankly, we don't understand it all. The Unofficial Apple Weblog (TUAW) has an extensive hands-on and gallery walkthrough (see below) of the $40 program, and found the software satisfying overall, especially for use with Steam. (You can view a compatibility list here.) There's also a 30-day free trial available.
Get a WordPress.com Blog
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
Haggard @ May 23rd 2008 9:38AM
Hasn't Boot Camp been doing something similar for a while?
Hohlraum @ May 23rd 2008 9:43AM
Bootcamp has nothing to do with Wine (CrossOver). Wine is an actual implementation of the Win32 lib/system interface for non-windows operating systems. Its not emulation. Its not dual booting.
Tiptup300 @ May 23rd 2008 3:22PM
There was another one of these. I forget the name.
XGM @ May 23rd 2008 4:22PM
There's also the Cider engine/wrapper thats also based off Wine. All the EA Mac games use that, and people (like me) have gotten it to work with other games. Crossover works great for CS:S and TF2.
Matthew Lenz @ May 23rd 2008 9:41AM
Actually regular old Wine plays a crap ton of games without having to shell out any money for cross over. I've got applications that run faster under Wine on linux than they do on the same machine running windows. Its kinda scary :)
chez @ May 23rd 2008 10:03AM
Ah but which Windows? I've found OSX runs mutliplatform apps (lol) better because I don't have a 64bit version of Windows. Also XP isn't too great with multicore CPUs. Or at least not as good as OSX and some Linux flavours, dunno about Vista it just ate too much resources for me to viable use it LOL!
Satertek @ May 23rd 2008 10:10AM
I'd gladly pay $40 for a program that did all the configuration for me though. Unfortunately, Crossover just doesn't support enough games yet.
PojoMofo @ May 23rd 2008 9:45AM
Im not real hip on the Mac gaming scene, but dont most Macs have an issue with underpowered graphics cards? I wonder how you tell if your Mac can handle some of the more demanding PC games
EC @ May 23rd 2008 9:57AM
Not really. Even the iMac has a Radeon 2400 XT by default, which is not too bad. Everything but the basic MacBook, MacBook Air and Mac mini would give you more than enough power to run newer games.
Just look at the specs of the Mac and you can tell if it runs the game or not. Same as you would with a PC.
Dale @ May 23rd 2008 10:01AM
My MacBook Pro has a 256MB GeForce 8600M GT in it. Hardly top of the line, but it can run Unreal Tournament III with full settings at 1440x900.
The MacBook and Mac mini have anemic graphics capabilities, but everything else isn't half bad.
capt_carl @ May 23rd 2008 10:15AM
I can play WarCraft III well on my MacBook, but I wouldn't consider something a bit more demanding. Plus, that things heats up very quickly and the exhaust fan is noisy at high RPMs. After about two minutes of gaming it would sound like a 747 on the tarmac.
chez @ May 23rd 2008 10:00AM
I'd rather use Bootcamp tbh. I'm not happy dropping DX7, resolution (this isn't a PS3!) and effects to get Crossover playing TF2 as well as it does in regular XP. Suppose it's more the convenience.
Got my graphics card overclocked in XP too. Don't know if theres an app to do that on the OSX side. Apple used to underclock cards in iMacs to get it running cooler and more stable, god knows the fans kick in when I'm playing a game.
ssuk @ May 23rd 2008 10:15AM
Well, if you want to pay for a Windows licence, then go ahead. This is for those that don't want to do that.
deaftly @ May 23rd 2008 10:01AM
http://i31.tinypic.com/ojk035.jpg
chez @ May 23rd 2008 10:04AM
What? Any new Mac can run Windows or Linux...
Geoffrey Sperl @ May 23rd 2008 12:00PM
Sure. That's why I support Windows users with their problems all day and then go home to my Macs.
Try another argument, Sluggo.
Grimble Crumble @ May 23rd 2008 4:05PM
If it is running Windows or Linux, its not a Mac, it is a PC built by Apple. Also, I love the argument that you can use Windows on you Apple machine. Why do you need OSX then? You may like it better, but if you need to run Windows, whats the point of getting a Mac.
James @ May 23rd 2008 5:42PM
It's shiny and expensive and makes me sleep better at night knowing that I'm different :)
(I'm not being sarcastic btw I actually have a MBP[seexxxyyy *licks*] )
Triforceowner @ May 24th 2008 1:28PM
I'm with Crumble on this one. I never got the whole "Pay more money for less power and the mac software and than run Windows on it." Just seems strange to me.
beoba @ May 23rd 2008 10:09AM
Linux users should use Wine. Crossover is essentially Wine with a couple customizations. See http://winehq.org/ more info, and look at the AppDB for info about specific windows apps.
For example, TF2 runs great with whatever Wine is packaged with Ubuntu 8.04.
Evan @ May 23rd 2008 2:07PM
That would be 0.9.59.
Get the latest 1.0RC2 from winehq.org and you'll receive a LOT of bugfixes.
eugaet @ May 23rd 2008 10:23AM
I've got a friend who started using this a few weeks ago. We're now playing Guild Wars, he on his Mac and me on my PC. He's also running Ventrilo. It works great. I just wish he would have been able to start GW with me 3+ years ago. W/o having to buy a PC.
laxdragon @ May 23rd 2008 10:46AM
Sure you could just use Wine for free, but if you want to support the Wine project and help it improve, buying CrossOver is the best way to do that. CodeWeavers is the biggest contributor to the Wine project.
t_m @ May 23rd 2008 11:15AM
If you read the article then it doesn't look ready yet. He got a "silver" level game to install, but with minor annoying bugs, the "bronze" level wouldn't install at all and an unsupported game didn't even get to the splash screen. Plus it crashed a lot. Plus they only have about 150 games on their compatibility list (and most of those aren't even up to bronze level. )
That said, if I could reliably play games on linux I'd dump windows like a shot. I have a dual boot system, and in general I much prefer ubuntu... but i end up using XP most of the time because I can't be bothered with continually rebooting into windows to play games.
(though having your firefox profile shared is kinda cool. If I quit now and restart in linux I'll have all the tabs the same and everything. I'm pretty sure I'd even have this half written post... )
Haggard @ May 23rd 2008 11:46AM
I have been considering getting a Linux partition so that I can torrent all day in relative safety from viruses and the like - do they still mess with the Windows part of your system if you accidentally get one while on Ubuntu?
faded515 @ May 23rd 2008 1:00PM
@Haggard, your Windows system should be safe as the viruses shouldn't be able to run while in Ubuntu.
Fox of Death @ May 23rd 2008 12:54PM
Play on Linux it's free and it's the same thing...
http://www.playonlinux.com/
quickshade @ May 23rd 2008 12:56PM
Linux=amazing. I'm posting from it right now. Not only does it have better security but everything is just built to run better on linux to me. It has some amazing programs (Amarok) amazing desktops (KDE4) and plenty of software. Not to mention custom effects. With Java and flash player opening how they work, developers are building open source java and flash, which means fewer bugs and they will work better.
faded515 @ May 23rd 2008 1:01PM
Hey fellow KDE4 fan, KDE4.1 will rock.
Jay @ May 23rd 2008 2:49PM
more of a gnome fan myself....but you're so right on linux being better in just about every way shape and form. As long as I can install Portal with Wine (which I discovered I can) its all good.
I just need to repartition since I haven't been using it that long and when I first tried it out I didn't think I was gonna end up using it permanently. I only have a few gigs of free space and need to cut some from my windows side.
anonymous @ May 23rd 2008 8:48PM
Of course, with linux you get the joy of spending two solid weeks debugging why your sound randomly drops off and requires a reboot or why your wireless keyboard suddenly stops working until you drop out of your session and restart X11.
As much as I love my linux systems (which either run window manager-less or use XFCE or KDE), I prefer the reliability and stability of my OSX systems where I know things are just going to work and I don't have to spend three days just overcoming a glitch before carrying on with the actual work I originally intended. That was fine when I was 17 and had plenty of spare time, but I'm 30 now and days wasted to config issues and incompatibilities and glitches are days I could have spent being productive. And I know I'm not alone. Walk through any of out campuses (I work for the company that makes the most popular brand of UNIX derivative). We aren't carrying Thinkpads with linux. We're not carrying machines with Windows XP. We're carrying macs.
The only real negative I have with OSX is that it has a package management system (Fink) that is a little less than optimal (it's certainly no apt). And worse, the default file system is a NON-CASE-SENSITIVE HFS+. Sure, theres' a case-sensitive alternative, but you can't run it as your boot/OS, because a ton of apps croak on case-sensitivity.
For an OS that is heavily used by developers and web designers, you would think there would be a lot more focus on making the environment a lot more linux/unix like which is where many or most developers will end up deploying what they're developing in the first place.
Joe @ May 23rd 2008 1:46PM
I tried CrossOver for Mac (pre "Games" edition) and it wasn't all that I hoped it would be. My two main games that I NEED it to run are Deus Ex and System Shock 2. Deus Ex ran after some tweaking, while SS2 didn't run at all. If they get those two supported, they have my $40. So, CodeWeavers, would you kindly get System Shock 2 and Deus Ex supported for this, please?
yellowspaced @ May 23rd 2008 1:47PM
http://www.transgaming.com/ for the linux side of things this is much better then crossover, been using it for years.
Evan @ May 23rd 2008 2:10PM
Cedega is based on an extremely old version of Wine.
anonymous @ May 23rd 2008 9:09PM
Cedega is nice, except it has some performance problems. Or did when I used it a year ago. Granted, I run on a rig with very high resolution, but the difference between what i got in raw XP versus Cedega on linux on the same box was massive. To the point that the audio would experience "tearing" while the rest of the engine tried to keep up.
I also don't understand why projects like Cedega/WINE/etc have to apparently be retooled per-game. What is it that they have to change that otherwise means a game today isn't going to run until they've specifically added code or something for it six months down the road?
Until people can play games on their preferred OS on the same date of release as Windows, it's going to be a hard sell.
Unless after 20 years of hardcore PC gaming, like me, you just give up and take your preferred OS for working on stuff and stick to consoles for your gaming.
*sigh*
1234 @ May 23rd 2008 2:23PM
these is awsome ,i will look more about these and might try it later.
I got a Macbook Pro and ive played a few games on it tho i mostly play consoles,i played WoW but got bored of it but now AOC seems way better but its windows only so i was gona setup bootcamp for it,using it directly on mac osx with these aplication (if it runs as good as it would on windows) sounds a lot better,i dont even have to bother with windows.
Lilinka @ May 23rd 2008 4:33PM
Why use crossover? I'd understand if it was at least even up to date with WINE, but WINE supports DX9 and 10, while crossover only supports up to 8, and all CrossOver -is- is WINE's code with a config wrapper. It's... useless. Unless you don't want to waste eighty hours to play a ten hour game, but really, who -doesn't- enjoy tedious customizations of code?
anonymous @ May 23rd 2008 8:35PM
I've never bothered playing with Crossover in the past, but how does it compare to VMWare Fusion? I believe Fusion is about to support Direct X 9 any day now as well.
Klink258 @ May 23rd 2008 10:04PM
It's only a 7-day trial, not 30 days.