CrossOver for Mac

[Garnick]

Just curious about an program that apparently runs Windows apps from the Mac Dock, without installing Windows.  Following is the info from the Macworld site, as well as the link.  If anyone has experience with this program a reply would be much appreciated.  On the surface it would seem to be easier to use than Parallels, but since I have no experience with Parallels I would like to get some feedback if possible.  I realize this is not the ideal forum for such a request, but I do believe some of you Mac users also use Parallels and perhaps have tried CrossOver as well.

This is the site info for this product -- "With CrossOver, you can quickly and easily launch Windows apps right from your Mac dock without buying a Windows license, rebooting, or using a virtual machine. Whether you're looking to use Windows games, productivity software or utility programs, CrossOver allows you to run them natively on your Mac like normal. There's no simpler way to bring your operating systems together to work in harmony!"

https://shop.macworld.com/sales/crossover-15-for-mac-free-phone-support

Thank you,
Gary

[na goodman]

CrossOver for Mac has been around a long time. I think there is a free trial. First check and see if the program you want to run is supported by CrossOver.

[howardm]

you can try it if you want but it's pretty flakey and limited in capability.

It is related to the WINE project which seeks to re-implement critical Windows runtime  libraries and enough infrastructure to make *some* (read: not many) apps run.

Very hit-n-miss vs. just using a virtual machine and real Windows

[Mark Lindquist]

I recommend VMware.  Works simultaneously and flawlessly for me.
Been using it for 10 years.

[Chris Kern]

Just curious about an program that apparently runs Windows apps from the Mac Dock, without installing Windows. . . .  On the surface it would seem to be easier to use than Parallels, but since I have no experience with Parallels I would like to get some feedback if possible.

I've been running Parallels for years.  It's a well-designed, mature commercial product, which integrates cleanly into the OS X environment.  VMWare's Fusion is a direct competitor, similarly functional and similarly priced.

If you want to avoid a license fee, when I used it a while back I found VirtualBox (https://www.virtualbox.org/wiki/Downloads) to be quite reliable, although it didn't provide the functionality for executing Windows applications without displaying the Windows workspace.  It is developed and supported by Oracle, but is available as a free download.

I've never tried CrossOver, but I played around with WINE a while back.  As howardm says, very hit-or-miss.

(Just out of curiosity, why is this thread posted in the "Printing: Printers, Papers and Inks" section?)