CodeWeavers 9.0 For Mac and Linux Released With New Interface

CodeWeavers, the popular commercial version of Wine, sees a new update this week with the release of version 9.0 for CrossOver Mac and CrossOver Linux. Users are treated to an overhauled user interface for Mac and a completely redesigned interface for Linux, which developers say makes both apps run more quickly and intuitively.

The release also includes more than 7,500 patches and a bunch of fixes and improvements to the overall application. CrossOver 9.0 now supports macros in Excel, improved Outlook stability, and limited support for Quicken 2010.

CrossOver now also has the ability to download installation files -- or "recipes" -- directly from the project's online database "If another CrossOver user has figured out how to use CrossOver to install a Windows application, they can upload that installation recipe to our database," explains company CEO Jeremy White on the CodeWeavers Web site.

"As we go forward, and build this online storehouse," says White, "CrossOver will begin to automatically install that same application for other users. This enables us to move closer to a world where CrossOver will begin to run the majority of Windows apps, and not just an officially supported subset. In other words, our diabolical plot for world domination is going exactly as planned."

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CrossOver 9 revamped reinvented and a must have

Yesterday, we received word that a new version of the popular CrossOver product by CodeWeavers had been released. Version 9 is out and it promises a new look, more versatile interface and increased compatibility with a broader line of products.

For those unfamiliar, CrossOver is a proprietary version of Wine that is used for running Windows applications on Mac OS X and Linux. While there are other products that offer similar functionality such as Transgamings’ Cedega, CodeWeavers is the only one that immediately sends patches they create back to the Wine project to further enhance it’s functionality, making it.. in our opinion, the better choice of the two.

One sore spot for a number of Linux users of late was the adjustment by Apple to make it more difficult to view it’s Quicktime movies and trailers with anything other than Quicktime itself. There are a number of ways to get around this but none are particularly easy. For this reason, we decided to test out CrossOver 9 and see if it could allow us to watch trailers from Apple.com in our native Firefox browser on Linux without any effort other than installing Quicktime through their tool.
Here are the results of this test:

First off, installing CrossOver is as simple as downloading the trial (or purchasing the product for as low as $39.95) from their website here: http://www.codeweavers.com/products/cxlinux/
Once installed, simply launch the product and you’ll be greeted with an installer such as this:

This is definitely a more streamlined look from CodeWeavers and we like it, nice and simple and gets to the point. Also, they have added a number of new options to the software installer as you can see below:

It’s nice to see the inclusion of Community Supported products as well and it also gives credence to the statement that CrossOver can run quite a few applications without issue..
As we mentioned earlier, we’re going to test it out by installing Quicktime 7.5 and seeing if the browser (Firefox) picks it up as a plugin and allows us to play trailers on http://www.apple.com/trailers (a favourite site of ours).
Let’s get installing shall we? Simply select Quicktime from the list and hit next and the installer gets to work straight away:

Once the installer completes, it’s time to check and see if Firefox picked it up as a plugin.

As you can see from the screenshot above, the latest version of Firefox (3.6) picked it up without any issue at all.
Now for the moment of truth, will it play our beloved trailers? Let’s see.

As you can see, it worked like a charm. Quicktime loaded quickly and started playing right away without any issues at all. The video was seamless just as if we were running it through a windows machine.

CodeWeavers Releases Crossover Office 9.0 for MAC and Linux

Latest Release Boasts New User Interface, Lets User Build Their Own Installation 'Recipes'
SAINT PAUL, Minn. (March 2, 2010) -- CodeWeavers, Inc., a leading developer of software products that turn Mac OS X and Linux into Windows-compatible operating systems, today announced the release of CrossOver 9.0 for both Mac and Linux. CrossOver allows Windows software to be used on Mac and Linux PCs without the need for a Windows operating system license.
Available immediately, CrossOver 9.0 features a new user interface that focuses on making installation of Windows software quicker and easier than previous versions.

"We've modified our installer so that in many cases users can install an application from a single screen, using a single click," said Jeremy White, CodeWeavers chief executive officer. "We want to make the whole process as intuitive and painless as possible."

Another new feature is CrossOver's ability to download installation "recipes" directly from CodeWeavers online Compatibility Database. "If another CrossOver user has figured out how to use CrossOver to install a Windows application, they can upload that installation recipe to our database," said White. "As we go forward, and build this online storehouse, CrossOver will begin to automatically install that same application for other users. This enables us to move closer to a world where CrossOver will begin to run the majority of Windows apps, and not just an officially supported subset.

"In other words, our diabolical plot for world domination is going exactly as planned," he added.
"This new compatibility feature is an important advance," said John Rizzo, Editor in Chief of MacWindows. "It means that CodeWeavers is taking their core technology an extra step and adding user convenience. It makes switching to a Mac or Linux machine a lot less scary for some users. It also means that software manufacturers can post their own recipes to help extend their existing Windows software into new markets." White confirmed that CodeWeavers offers porting services to Windows software developers as well.

CrossOver 9.0 is available immediately at www.codeweavers.com. The Standard version of the product costs $39.95; the Pro version costs $69.95.

About CodeWeavers
Founded in 1996 as a general software consultancy, CodeWeavers focuses on the development of Wine –the core technology found in all of its CrossOver products. The company's goal is to bring expanded market opportunities for Windows software developers by making it easier, faster and more painless to port Windows software to Linux. CodeWeavers is recognized as a leader in open-source Windows porting technology, and maintains development offices in Minnesota, the United Kingdom and elsewhere around the world. The company is privately held. For more information about CodeWeavers, log on to www.codeweavers.com.

The new CrossOver 9.0 User Interface.

VLC on OpenSolaris 2010.2 build 131

A couple weeks back we released Bordeaux 2.0.0 for Solaris and OpenSolaris and I posted the news about the release in the OpenSolaris forums. Ian ask if I could check and see if VLC ran in Bordeaux, the Windows client. And sure enough it runs extremely well with just a couple dll overrides. The screenshot below is VLC 1.0.3 running on OpenSolaris 2010.2 build 131 via Bordeaux 2.0.0 for OpenSolaris. The video is the live 200 kbs feed of CNBC in RealVideo format.

The system load is kind of high because I have OpenSolaris running in Virtual Box. If you have OpenSolaris installed as your primary operating system or on a partition the load is much lower.


UPDATE 03/01/10

I have also had some request for additional media players and FireFox via Wine. Bordeaux and the Wine build we provide should run most of the app's that's in the Wine appdb. So if your wondering if your application will run on OpenSolaris just check the Wine application database and see how the app is ranked.

To install a unsupported application or game you will need to put our Wine Build in your path. To do this open your favorite terminal and add these lines to your .profile file in your home directory.

# Add Bordeaux Wine to path
export PATH=$PATH:/opt/bordeaux
export PATH=$PATH:/opt/bordeaux/bin
export PATH=$PATH:/opt/bordeaux/doc
export PATH=$PATH:/opt/bordeaux/etc
export PATH=$PATH:/opt/bordeaux/lib
export PATH=$PATH:/opt/bordeaux/share
export PATH=$PATH:/opt/bordeaux/support

Now when you enter wine in your terminal it will be found.

$ wine
Usage: wine PROGRAM [ARGUMENTS...] Run the specified program
wine --help Display this help and exit
wine --version Output version information and exit

All un-supported apps will now be installed in .wine in your home directory. You can run :

$ winecfg

to edit the configuration, you can also copy /opt/bordeaux/bin/bordeaux-winetricks.sh to your home directory and run it just like running winetricks

$ ./bordeaux-winetricks.sh

And add Microsoft redistributable's, dlls, registry changes, and further config Wine.

Here is more screenshots of just some of the apps Ive got running as unsupported apps with Bordeaux.

QuickTime Player 7.1.6 on Opensolaris via Bordeaux.

Windows Media Player 9 on Opensolaris via Bordeaux.

FooBar2000 version 1.0 on Opensolaris via Bordeaux.

Emule version 0.49c on Opensolaris via Bordeaux.

FireFox Windows version 3.5.5 on Opensolaris via Bordeaux.

Many Applications and Games will run that we don't currently support in Bordeaux, the best way to know if your Applications or Game runs is to try it... You might be pleasantly surprised. :)

UPDATE 01/31/10

As per a request in the OpenSolaris forums I also tested SeaMonkey 2.0.2 on OpenSolaris with Bordeaux 2.0.0

Here is some screenshots, keep in mind this is in Virtual Box, and on my old crappy laptop and thats why the load is so high. :)

Look how crappy the fonts look in these two screenshots...

Now look what they look like with a little tweaking... :)

Click on a image for full view.

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