| Developer(s) | CodeWeavers |
|---|---|
| Stable release | 10.0.3 / May 2, 2011 |
| Operating system | Linux, Mac OS X |
| Type | Compatibility layer |
| License | Mixed Source (Proprietary/GPL/LGPL) |
| Website | www.codeweavers.com |
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.
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In June 2005, CodeWeavers announced a new Apple Mac OS X version of CrossOver Office called CrossOver Mac that will support Windows-to-Mac application porting on Intel-based Macs.[1] Crossover Mac was released on January 10, 2007.[2] 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.
The program aims to integrate properly with GNOME 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.
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, announced on 10 March 2008,[3] is a new product that lets the users play a broad range of games, "particularly games with a lot of replayability such as MMOs 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 from 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.[4]
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.
On October 28, 2008 as the result of the Lame Duck Challenge, Codeweavers gave all of their products away free. Codeweavers' main page was temporarily replaced due to the day's unusually high traffic.[5] According to a CodeWeavers blog entry at least 750,000 product registrations had been given away during October 28.[6]