Wine Reviews has release information and reviews of Windows applications and games running on Linux macOS and ChromeOS using Wine from Winehq.org Proton Lutris Q4Wine PlayOnLinux PlayOnMac WineBottler WineSkin WineTricks and Wine-Staging.
The WineHQ Wine development release 1.9.21 is now available for Linux and Mac
What's new in this release:
Initial version of the HID minidriver.
Support for lists in the RichEdit control.
System tray improvements.
Various bug fixes.
The source is available now.
Binary packages are in the process of being built, and will appear soon at their respective download locations.
Bugs fixed in 1.9.21 (total 18):
11819 The Longest Journey Demo: characters mostly invisible (broken TransformVertices with D3DVIEWPORT2)
22317 Motocross madness demo has wrongly projected dirt (d3d_viewport_TransformVertices needs projection matrix + wrong scale)
36499 Multiple applications need ID2D1Factory::CreateHwndRenderTarget implementation (SciTE 3.5.x, Direct2D .NET example apps)
37183 Autogenerated programs/cscript/ihost.h is not being removed by make clean
38530 eSignal 12.1 needs msvcp100.dll.?_Mtx_new@threads@stdext@@YAXAAPAX@Z
39263 RichEdit should hide selection when it is unfocused
39471 Elminage Gothic freezes after clicking on "New Game"
40422 Illustrator CS6: hangs on ESC key press while Text tool is being used
41142 gcc6: server build warnings
41231 regedit no longer processes registry input from stdin using "-" as filename
41405 Hornbill Supportworks Client 7.6.0: crashes with ExtFloodFill when open 'Incident Details' pane
41409 Battle.net crashes at launch
41420 Regression bug: bricscad crashes when copy or cut objects to the clipboard
41430 Nothing visibly happens when clicking System Info button in Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer 14.0 (msinfo32.exe lacks a GUI)
41432 Keyboard input code display program (Japanese VB6 application) doesn't run.
41437 Implement a 64-bit version of __std_type_info_hash
41455 Failed assertion in ME_SplitByBacktracking causes crash at end of Jupiter 2011 installer
41511 gray square on tab
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I am delighted to announce that CodeWeavers has just released CrossOver
15.3.1 for both Mac OSX and Linux. CrossOver 15.3.1 has important bug
fixes for both Mac and Linux users.
Mac customers with
active support entitlements will be upgraded to CrossOver 15.3.1 the
next time they launch CrossOver Mac. Linux users can download the latest
version from https://www.codeweavers.com/.
Change Log For CrossOverMac and Linux :
15.3.1 CrossOver - October 4, 2016
macOS:
Fixed a bug which could cause Windows applications to hang
when working with directories that contained many files.
Run Microsoft Windows Applications and Games on Mac, Linux or ChromeOS save up to 20% off CodeWeavers CrossOver+ today.
The Wine maintenance release 1.8.5 is now available for Linux and MacOS
What's new in this release:
Various bug fixes.
The source is available now.
Binary packages are in the process of being built, and will appear soon at their respective download locations.
Bugs fixed in 1.8.5 (total 58):
16971 Windows Movie Maker 2.x needs ole32.dll.StgOpenPropStg
19538 Microsoft Publisher 2007 and 2010 crash when opening documents/templates (TSF manager 'ITextStoreACPSink' must support QI with 'IID_ITextStoreACPServices')
20896 Use-after-free in DdeClientTransaction in user32 dde tests
23298 Windows utility 'relog.exe' crashes on unimplemented function 'pdh.dll.PdhGetLogFileTypeW'
24645 PDF Factory 3.x/4.x installer fails to install printer drivers (winspool.SetPrinterW lacks support for level 8, global default printer settings)
31693 CAPCOM games using gamepad start with axes X/Y pressed up/left
31913 EasyPal version August 6 2012 crashes on unimplemented function msvcp60.dll.??Dstd@@YA?AV?$complex@N@0@ABNABV10@@Z
32491 dbghelp doesn't support DW_FORM_flag_present
32936 SmartMusic 2012/2014 crashes on startup (Core Audio adapter 'PKEY_DeviceInterface_FriendlyName' property not supported)
33140 Photos opened in Nikon Capture NX 2.4 have inverted red and blue channel for displaying.
33398 Word / Excel 2010: crash when clicked (2nd or 3rd times) on a link
33457 An integer overflow @line 268 of dsa.c ?
34281 PlotSoft PDFill 10 fails on startup, reports 'No Fonts found under: C:\\windows\\Fonts' (at least one font name in registry must contain 'truetype' token)
34286 dinput doesn't report DIDOI_ASPECT* for joystick axes
34504 __unDName doesn't support function pointer with type "P8"
34507 __unDName doesn't support data type "$$B"
34870 Multiple games and applications crash on unimplemented function msvcr100.dll _crt_debugger_hook (ArchiCAD 16, Far Cry 4)
35286 Borderlands (Steam) crashes on unimplemented function msvcr90.dll._crt_debugger_hook
35824 UltraISO 'ISODrive.sys' crashes in entry point (SCM doesn't start SERVICE_FILE_SYSTEM_DRIVER type services with winedevice hosting process)
35892 sdb2xml (.NET 2.0 app) crashes on unimplemented function apphelp.dll.SdbGetAppPatchDir
36625 can't set text background color in richedit
38276 IsDialogMessage(NULL,...) must always return FALSE
38310 Trackbar control (msctls_trackbar32) does not send WM_CTLCOLORSTATIC as it does in Windows
39034 SuperTux 0.3.5a crashes on startup
39074 IXMLDOMDocument::cloneNode crash
39181 "When Monster Strikes", "The Vanishing of Ethan Carter Redux" require msvcr120.dll._set_FMA3_enable
39195 msvcr120.dll.nextafter is needed by Sonkwo
39475 PhysX 9.15.0428 installer does not run ('advapi32.RegOpenCurrentUser' must return a real handle instead of 'HKEY_CURRENT_USER' for user root key)
39677 Zararadio crashes when it has to change from a playlist to another.
39744 No sound with winepulse.drv in multiple applications when PulseAudio fails to allocate full buffer
39792 Saturn PCB Design Toolkit 6.86 fails to load, reporting missing 'SHCore.dll' dependency (import descriptors with empty thunk list must be ignored)
39823 "fixme:nls:CompareStringEx semi-stub behavor for flag(s) 0x10000000" appears thousands of times in terminal when running the Lego Mindstorms EV3 software
39852 3DMark03: Mother Nature test: waterfall has no transparency if AllwaysOffScreen=disabled
39861 Windows utility 'relog.exe' crashes on unimplemented function 'pdh.dll.PdhBindInputDataSourceW'
39874 Alien Shooter crashes often with access violation
39892 UFile crashes with runtime error when rendering certain pages
39950 Cabal II can't be opened, needs msvcp100.dll.?lowest@?$numeric_limits@M@std@@SAMXZ
40034 Linksys usb wireless adapter installer needs wlanapi.dll.WlanEnumInterfaces
40035 VMware shared folders network provider fails loading in MPR
40411 Regedit.exe /e only exports HKLM
40580 TASCAM US-16x08 soundcard controller crashes
40734 Unreal Tournament 3 doesn't quit properly when Pulseaudio is used
40757 GOG Galaxy crashes with unimplemented function api-ms-win-crt-stdio-l1-1-0.dll.__stdio_common_vsnwprintf_s
40758 GOG Galaxy crashes with unimplemented function api-ms-win-crt-runtime-l1-1-0.dll._get_wide_winmain_command_line
40815 comctl32: Leftmost position of trackbar not selectable with mouse, slider initial position wrong
40882 Nvidia GT 740M is not correctly recognized
40905 Multiple applications need api-ms-win-crt-runtime-l1-1-0.dll._get_narrow_winmain_command_line (PCSX2 1.4.0, Battle.Net Launcher)
41010 TVS_TRACKSELECT uses wrong hittest region
41015 comctl32/treeview: Alt-Up/Down keyboard shortcuts don't work
41040 VariantChangeTypeEx lead to error when casting IUnknown(nil) -> IDispatch
41044 Age of Mythology: Extended Edition needs api-ms-win-crt-stdio-l1-1-0.dll.__stdio_common_vswprintf_s
41066 Unhandled page fault in RtlWow64EnableFsRedirectionEx when passed bad *old_value pointer
41079 Hauppauge Capture crashes on unimplemented function cfgmgr32.dll.CM_Get_Version
41094 comctl32/treeview: TVS_FULLROWSELECT style does not work
41103 Fails to parse Extended Properties since it has quotes around its value.
41111 CPU-Z driver needs hal.dll.WRITE_PORT_UCHAR
41165 MiTeC System Information X needs unimplemented function wlanapi.dll.WlanCloseHandle
41182 Don't export QT_QPA_PLATFORM
Run Microsoft Windows Applications and Games on Mac, Linux or ChromeOS save up to 20% off CodeWeavers CrossOver+ today.
Today we released Firewall Builder 1.0 for MacOS Firewall Builder has been fully ported
to GTK 3 and will run on OSX 10.11 or higher. You can find it listed in
the Firewall Builder category.
Firewall Builder : Is a flexible and powerful tool that allows you to build firewall
configurations and policies for multiple firewalls/machines based on
iptables, ipfilter, OpenBSD pf, Cisco ASA & PIX, or Cisco FWSM.
fwbuilder uses objects and functionality like drag-and-drop and
search-and-replace to help ease configurations. You can install the
fwbuilder on a separate machine and then either manually transfer the
configurations or securely deploy via SSH or SCP.
Today we released gFtp 2.0.19 for Mac OS X gFtp has been fully ported
to GTK 2 and will run on OSX 10.11 or higher. You can find it listed in
the Putty for Mac category.
Linux fans will already be familiar with the world of GNOME and gFtp but we have brought it to a wider audience by providing gFTP on Mac OSX.
gFTP is a multithreaded File Transfer Protocol client program. It is
most used on Unix-like systems, such as Linux, Mac OS X and Sony
PlayStation 3. It includes both a graphical user interface (GUI), which
utilizes the GTK+ graphical toolkit, and a command-line interface. gFTP
has been translated into over 45 different languages.
There is
support for the FTP, FTPS (control connection only), HTTP, HTTPS, SFTP
and FSP protocols, as well as FTP and HTTP proxy server support and FXP
file transfers (transferring files between two remote servers via FTP).
The
GUI uses a double-paned layout, with the local filesystem in the left
pane and the remote filesystem in the right pane. Below there is a
transfer queue that shows the real-time status of each queued or active
file transfer. At the bottom is a message log, which displays the text
commands and responses between gFTP and the remote server. Sites are
stored in a hierarchical collection of bookmarks, though a site bar
allows connections to unbookmarked sites.
The WineHQ Wine development release 1.9.20 is now available for Linux and Mac
What's new in this release:
Reimplementation of the clipboard API.
Message handling in WebServices.
Many more API Set libraries.
Various bug fixes.
The source is available now.
Binary packages are in the process of being built, and will appear soon at their respective download locations.
Bugs fixed in 1.9.20 (total 18):
27671 ComboFix fails to install
29661 wineboot unable to create win32 prefix if the directory already exists
30368 AMD Radeon 6480g detected as ATI Radeon 3200
32694 NVIDIA GTX 690 not in the list of recognized cards.
39447 Unimplemented function hid.dll.HidP_TranslateUsagesToI8042ScanCodes
41050 Age of Mythology: Extended Edition needs api-ms-win-crt-stdio-l1-1-0.dll.__stdio_common_vswscanf
41086 Unimplemented function msvcp140.dll.??0?$codecvt@_WDU_Mbstatet@@@std@@QAE@I@Z needed by Battle.net
41136 GOG Galaxy installer crashes with "wine: Call from 0x7b43c7cc to unimplemented function msvcp140.dll.?_Execute_once@std@@YAHAAUonce_flag@1@P6GHPAX1PAPAX@Z1@Z"
41273 Texted added to clipboard in Wine not pasting in native Linux applictions.
41315 Windows 10 DISM doesn't launch, needs advapi32.EventWriteTransfer
41333 MeterBasic (Tonne Software) crashes at start
41336 Windows 10 DISM pkgmgr.exe doesn't launch, needs api-ms-win-core-libraryloader-l1-2-2.dll
41343 Ellisys Visual USB needs unimplemented function newdev.dll.DiInstallDriverA
41352 World of Tanks crashes with unimplemented function msvcp140.dll.
41381 Marvelous Designer 6 needs msvcp140.dll.
41389 ComboFix fails to install: complains about missing HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Control\hivelist
41396 Sony Xperia Companion needs KERNEL32.dll.SetDefaultDllDirectories
41399 GOG Galaxy crashes with unimplemented function msvcp140.dll.
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Today we released Gedit 3.20.4 for Mac OS X Gedit has been fully ported to GTK 3 and will run on OSX 10.11 or higher. You can find it listed in the Putty for Mac category.
Linux fans will already be familiar with the world of GNOME but gedit
has brought it to a wider audience by providing the default GNOME
editor on Mac OSX.
gedit provides a simple interface from which you have access to a
full text editor with programming functions and is compatible with most
languages. gedit incorporates text search and replace, spell checking,
printing and support for opening almost any file.
The range of languages supported by Gnome include C, C++, Java, HTML,
XML, Python and Perl. You can Undo and Redo actions, edit files
remotely and all the other standard functions you'd expect from an
editor including go to a specific line, text wrapping and backing-up of
files.
Q4Wine is a Qt GUI for Wine. It will help you manage wine prefixes and installed applications. It currently supported on Linux, FreeBSD and Mac OS X platforms.
Q4Wine was initially written by Alexey S. Malakhov aka John Brezerk.
General idea comes from WineTools scripts which were initially written
by Frank Hendriksen.
General features are:
Can export Qt color theme into wine colors settings;
Can easy work with different wine versions at same time;
Easy creating, deleting and managing prefixes (WINEPREFIX);
Easy controlling for wine process;
Autostart icons support;
Easy cd-image use;
You can extract icons from PE files (.exe .dll);
Easy backup and restore for managed prefixes;
Winetriks support;
And more: Explore it!;
Changelog for 1.3.2:
Fixed:
[regression, bisected] Icon information is not displayed correctly BUG-80;
Winetricks does not update BUG-77;
First startup wizard (quick mount profile): profile strings are initially empty if fuseiso is not installed BUG-81;
Download (latest) Winetricks from GitHub BUG-82;
Correct proxy-related environment variables in Winetricks plugin BUG-83;
Use env command in the command line to download Winetricks BUG-83;
Support proxy username/password in Winetricks plugin BUG-83;
Treat aarch64 as 64 bit platform and put libraries in lib64 directory BUG-85;
Run Microsoft Windows Applications and Games on Mac, Linux or ChromeOS save up to 20% off CodeWeavers CrossOver+ today.
I am delighted to announce that CodeWeavers has just released CrossOver
15.3.0 for both Mac OSX and Linux. CrossOver 15.3.0 has important bug
fixes for both Mac and Linux users.
Mac customers with
active support entitlements will be upgraded to CrossOver 15.3.0 the
next time they launch CrossOver Mac. Linux users can download the latest
version from https://www.codeweavers.com/.
Change Log For CrossOverMac and Linux :
15.3.0 CrossOver - September 20, 2016
Linux:
CrossOver should no longer complain about a missing libpng
package on Debian 9.
CrossOver will no longer have problems with its Perl
dependency on Debian 9.
Bug Fixes:
Steam crashes when loading certain fonts have been
fixed.
Fixed some crashes in GOG Galaxy.
Fixed a crash in the Microsoft Office 2007 diagnostic
tools.
Run Microsoft Windows Applications and Games on Mac, Linux or ChromeOS save up to 20% off CodeWeavers CrossOver+ today.
The WineHQ Wine development release 1.9.19 is now available for Linux and Mac
What's new in this release:
Initial version of a udev bus driver for HID.
Various improvements in joystick support.
Initial implementation of DC rendering in Direct2D.
Improved metafile support in GDI+.
Various bug fixes.
The source is available now.
Binary packages are in the process of being built, and will appear soon at their respective download locations.
Bugs fixed in 1.9.19 (total 19):
10643 WinUAE settings window reappears after being dismissed
17351 PDF Export problem on Delphi 7 applications
19998 stamps.com installer hangs
27415 The Geometer's Sketchpad 5.03 does not display pictures. "fixme:gdiplus:GdipGetMetafileHeaderFromMetafile not implemented"
29916 ElsterFormular cannot make use of default PDF viewer (e. g. Okular)
34489 Can't use VSTi altiverb fst.exe crashes
37259 Multiple Direct2D applications need ID2D1DCRenderTarget::BindDC implementation
37628 KORG Legacy Collection - MS-20 v1.3.0 'Authorizer' app crashes, No Limits 2 help system does not render ('d2d_factory_CreateDCRenderTarget' is a stub)
39246 user32:edit fails in Japanese and Korean locales
40325 Captvty v3 (.Net4.5) crashes at start
40533 Microsoft PowerPoint Viewer 14.0 shows error dialog when clicking System Info button (msinfo32.exe unimplemented)
40746 Microsoft Expression Web 4 crashes when opening site, needs rpcrt4.dll.NdrAsyncServerCall
41085 Unimplemented function msvcp140.dll._Thrd_id needed by Battle.net
41217 Xebra ALSA underrun occurred
41224 WineD3D8 crashes on Windows with GTAVC and i915-class video
41274 QQ Lite version called unimplemented function vcomp100.dll._vcomp_reduction_r8, aborting
41284 dbghelp_dwarf: parse_cie_details unknown CIE version 4 (clang/mesa/valgrind)
41287 2050 IP Softphone - UI does not render correctly
41296 World of Tanks (9.16) crashes with unimplemented function vcruntime140.dll.__std_type_info_hash
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For the longest time, those not wishing to pay money for the
"standard" office application suite—Microsoft Office—had a few
open-source alternatives: OpenOffice or LibreOffice. That list might
soon get sliced in half, however, as recent reports indicate that
OpenOffice might be shut down due to lack of resources.
At least, that's what Apache OpenOffice volunteer vice president
Dennis Hamilton suggested in a recent email to the openoffice-dev
mailing list.
"I have regularly observed that the Apache OpenOffice project has limited capacity for sustaining
the project in an energetic manner. It is also my considered opinion that there is no ready
supply of developers who have the capacity, capability, and will to supplement the roughly
half-dozen volunteers holding the project together. It doesn't matter what the reasons for
that might be," he wrote.
The chief issue seems to center around OpenOffice's inability to
address identified security vulnerabilities, as there simply aren't
enough developers or volunteers involved in the updating process to
release timely patches for the open-source software. As Ars Technica
notes, the last major OpenOffice update was for version 4.1.2 back in
October 2015. In contrast, competing open-source office suite
LibreOffice—where a number of OpenOffice developers have moved to—is
well-maintained and frequently updated.
If OpenOffice were to shut down, one possible outcome is that the
entire project's contents would be archived and available for future
developers to check out as they desire, though they wouldn't be able to
commit any code to this archive. Many of the various ways developers
(and OpenOffice) currently communicate would go away: the OpenOffice
blog, social media accounts, as well as the official announce, private,
and security OpenOffice listservs.
"I cannot prediction how this will all work out. It is remiss of me not to point out that
retirement of the project is a serious possibility," Hamilton wrote.
"There are those who fear that discussing retirement can become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
My concern is that the project could end with a bang or a whimper. My interest is in seeing
any retirement happen gracefully. That means we need to consider it as a contingency. For
contingency plans, no time is a good time, but earlier is always better than later."
OpenOffice has been downloaded more than 160 million times since May of 2012.
--
Maybe the two projects should join resources kind of like what happened with WineHQ and Wine-Staging. It's always better to work as one unified group on any project. And we always have CrossOver Linux and CrossOver Mac to run Microsoft Office with, Right?
Last week, CodeWeavers announced that after three years of development, a preview version of CrossOver for Android would be released.
Why was I so excited? Because CrossOver allows you to run Windows
programs on Mac and Linux, and they brought their expertise over to
Android. After trying out the Preview version out for a week (which you can sign up for here), I'm extremely impressed by its capabilities, despite some major limitations.
Disclaimer:
Since I do not own an Intel-based Android tablet, and my Chromebook
does not yet have the Google Play Store, I tested CrossOver on the
latest version of Remix OS on my Dell Windows laptop. It is possible
that some of the bugs I experienced are issues with Remix, but
CrossOver's compatibility with Windows programs is identical no matter
how you run it. CrossOver for Android is in early beta, so everything in
this review is subject to change with subsequent updates.
First impressions
CrossOver's entire user interface consists of the virtual desktop,
where all the Windows programs live, and an 'Install Application'
button. The installer functionality is where CrossOver shines on the
desktop. With the WINE
open-source project that CrossOver is based on, getting a program to
run (even at all) can mean hunting down forum posts to see what
LinuxFan78 typed in the command line.
CrossOver tries to alleviate this pain with their installers, which
downloads a given program and performs all the necessary tweaks for the
program to run automatically. For example, when I installed Steam
through CrossOver, it downloaded multiple fonts that Steam requires
before proceeding with the actual Steam installation.
CrossOver for Android only has a few 'known-good applications', but
if you so desire, you can try installing any of CrossOver's available
applications. The selection is fairly expansive, but if you want to
install something not listed, you'll have to download a web browser like
Firefox inside CrossOver and download it manually.
The virtual desktop is fairly basic, showing some app shortcuts at
the top and a Start menu with access to your programs at the bottom.
There's also a very basic file manager, a setting to add/remove
programs, and the Wine configuration tool.
Games
Perhaps the most exciting prospect of running Windows programs on
Android (or a Chromebook) is playing Windows' vast library of games.
That's a huge reason Wine even exists, despite the rise of Steam OS and
Linux gaming, most new titles are still locked to Windows. Linux and Mac
users have used Wine, CrossOver, and other similar software for years
to play Windows-exclusive titles.
Steam is easy to get up and running, just choose it from the Install
Application dialog and click Next/Accept on all the installer popups.
But trying to play games is where I ran into problems. Wine, and thus
CrossOver, only supports DirectX 9 - meaning most new Windows games will
just plain not work. CodeWeavers is working hard on adding DirectX 10 and 11 support,
but it's a massive undertaking. Many games also offer an OpenGL mode,
except that doesn't work here either. Android only supports OpenGL ES,
not the full OpenGL spec that Windows programs expect.
Another frustrating problem is games cannot lock the mouse inside the
program. To my understanding, Android doesn't allow applications to
lock the mouse at all, so FPS titles won't be playable without a
controller. Games running in full-screen seem to be buggy as well, but
most games have windowed modes anyways. Finally, there's no way to
change the resolution of the virtual desktop, so older games expecting a
smaller screen might have problems.
I didn't try many of my Steam games, but I did successfully run three
titles - Half Life 1, Team Fortress: Classic, and Game Dev Tycoon. Half
Life 1 (pictured above) only worked when I disabled full-screen mode
and switched to software rendering instead of OpenGL. The mouse didn't
lock so it was uncontrollable, but moving around was buttery smooth.
Team Fortress was the same story, and Game Dev Tycoon surprisingly
worked without messing with the settings.
If your game can run either on software rendering or DirectX 9, and
doesn't need to lock the mouse, there's a good chance it might run in
CrossOver. Especially if you install it through CrossOver's install
mechanism. As stated earlier, CodeWeavers has been working on DirectX 10
and 11 support on the desktop versions of CrossOver, so it wouldn't
surprise me if those changes trickle down to the Android version at some
point.
Other software
You'll need to use a web browser to install software not available in
CrossOver itself. I used CrossOver's installer to download Firefox,
seen below. I tried to run a recent release, version 45 to be exact, but
it froze whenever I saved a file so I switched back to Firefox 7 (which
is still usable for most sites).
One of the best use cases for CrossOver is to run full Microsoft
Office, but Office 2013 and newer don't work at all thanks to their
dependence on DirectX 10. CodeWeavers officially supports Office 2010
and earlier, but I didn't have a copy of that version, so I tried out
LibreOffice. If you've never used it, LibreOffice is an open-source
office suite with MS Office compatibility, and it works fairly well in
CrossOver.
Granted, it worked until I tried to save a file, then it froze. So close!
Holy Photoshop, Batman
I was incredibly surprised to see my copy of Photoshop CS3, without changing any settings, worked in CrossOver. Well, mostly.
I tried basic image manipulation including transforms, gradients,
cropping, filters, etc, all with success. However, it does crash when
trying to use fonts, and a few other times randomly, but it's extremely
impressive that CrossOver can run it at all. Photoshop CS6 requires some extra packages in Wine, known as 'winetricks,' to run perfectly - but as far as I can tell, there is no way to install winetricks in CrossOver yet.
Android/Chromebook integration
CrossOver's integration with the host operating system, be it Android
or Chrome OS, is rather limited but still more than I was expecting.
The root Android file system shows up as a drive in CrossOver, allowing
you to transfer data back and forth without too much trouble. For
example, I could easily open pictures in Photoshop from the Android
downloads folder.
The WineHQ Wine development release 1.9.18 is now available for Linux and Mac
What's new in this release:
Support for multiple kernel drivers in a single process.
More WebServices reader support.
Various improvements in joystick support.
Some more work towards the Direct3D command stream.
GDI performance improvements.
Improved IME window handling.
Compatibility fixes in the clipboard support.
Various bug fixes.
The source is available now.
Binary packages are in the process of being built, and will appear soon at their respective download locations.
Bugs fixed in 1.9.18 (total 26):
22461 Microsoft Office 2000 Server Extensions Configuration Wizard 'CFGWIZ.EXE' needs msvcirt.dll?cout@@3Vostream_withassign@@A
25105 Loading a 3d model with a test program fails
25352 Videos play upside down in multiple games (Fable: The Lost Chapters, Mob Ties Tokyo, Star Wars Republic Commando, SAS: Secure Tomorrow, Hatsune Miku: Project DIVA)
32936 SmartMusic 2012/2014 crashes on startup (Core Audio adapter 'PKEY_DeviceInterface_FriendlyName' property not supported)
34056 Multiple applications have a problem with typing Chinese/Japanese with IME (Nabeta Jisho for Japanese, YY and Netease POPO for Chinese)
35404 Spartan demo: no label on main menu icons
35892 sdb2xml (.NET 2.0 app) crashes on unimplemented function apphelp.dll.SdbGetAppPatchDir
39672 Folder names not clickable
40106 ntdll:info regression
40580 TASCAM US-16x08 soundcard controller crashes
40686 win7's ehshell.exe needs KERNEL32.dll.EncodeSystemPointer
40716 osu! - slightly low-pitched sound when using the ALSA sound driver
40741 Wings of Vi - black screen on launch
40953 Necropolis crashes at start (needs native xinput1_3.dll)
40968 Multiple Games require dxgi_output_FindClosestMatchingMode implementation(Need For Speed: The Run, Magic Duels)
40997 Fallout 4 needs DXGI_FORMAT_BC7_UNORM_SRGB
41007 Regression in minimum sound latency / HelBuflen value
41094 comctl32/treeview: TVS_FULLROWSELECT style does not work
41105 Tropico 5 (DX11) starts with only a mouse pointer on a black screen
41117 Insufficient check for sysinfo function breaks build on hurd and kfreebsd
41118 We Happy Few (UE4) crashes with "D3DRHI->GetFactory()->CreateSwapChain(DXGIDevice,&SwapChainDesc,SwapChain.
GetInitReference())"
41165 MiTeC System Information X needs unimplemented function wlanapi.dll.WlanCloseHandle
41182 Don't export QT_QPA_PLATFORM
41189 No Man's Sky fails to start due to a regression in ntdll
41228 Rendering is messed up on WineD3D8 for Windows
41246 Office 2010 apps show "Configuring" dialog on first run when installed in new prefix
Run Microsoft Windows Applications and Games on Mac, Linux or ChromeOS save up to 20% off CodeWeavers CrossOver+ today.
Announced
back in July, the Crossover for Android Preview by Codeweavers is
finally here. The Codeweavers blog posts in the run-up alternated
between pride and caution in regard to user expectations, but now that
I’ve tried the alpha release they really should have dialed up the pride
more. Even in this early of a state, it’s more than functional and an
exciting look at the potential for future (gasp, even beta!) releases.
Just as a quick recap, the Crossover for Android Preview caveats:
Your
Chromebook needs access to the Play Store, which is currently only
available for three devices. The Asus Flip, the Acer R11, and the Pixel
2015.
Of
those three devices only two have the Intel processors that Crossover
requires, the R11 and the Pixel. Sorry Asus Flip owners! But there are
likely many Intel based Chromebooks on the horizon.
If
you have an R11 or Pixel (2015), you need to be tuned to the Beta
channel (previously Play Store access was only in the developer channel,
but it’s improved leaps and bounds and now the Beta channel has it.)
Once
(or if, depending on when you signed up) you receive an email from
Codeweavers saying that you have access to the Preview, you’ll be able
to follow the link they provide to get access to the Crossover app in
the Play Store.
Initially
I had to install it to my Pixel via the browser, but once it’s
installed, you can uninstall/reinstall from the Play Store on your
device.
Codeweavers has a guide on installing the Preview here:
But there’s a few items you can skip (or at least that I did, with no apparent side-effects). The big one being that you don’t need
to switch your Chromebook to Developer Mode. Which is nice, since it’s
easier than you’d think to accidentally wipe your Chromebook every time
you boot, and the big scary boot screen will greet you with an
absolutely terrifying beeping if you don’t CTRL+D to skip the boot
sequence.
Second,
I’d recommend sticking with the Beta channel. I was running the
Developer channel just to test out Android apps on ChromeOs, and it’s
exactly what you would (or should) expect from a Dev channel. It’s
unstable. My apps crashed more, my fans/Chromebook had a tendency to
race and heat up, and generally not the best day-to-day experience if
you rely on your Chromebook for any amount of real-life work.
Codeweavers
gives a ballpark figure of about an hour from Powerwash to first
install, but I imagine that will vary widely. The Pixel is pretty zippy,
and when I timed it from start (Powerwashing) to finish (actually
logged into Steam via the Crossover app) the whole process clocked in at
just under 7 minutes.
When
you launch, you’ll notice the very first thing it suggests you install
is Steam. There are some built-in tools such as a file browser, command
line, and access to the Wine configuration settings, but the only
guaranteed working programs at the moment are Steam, Microsoft Office
2007/2010, and WinZip 14. If you’re feeling adventurous, you can uncheck
the “Only known-good applications” box and see what else is on the
list. The DirectX for pre-XP games and for Modern games could come in
handy, depending what you’re installing.
I
was able to install LibreOffice 5 with no issues via the file explorer,
but every other install file I tried from other sources failed/errored
(such as GoG games). The fewer extras what you’re trying to install
requires (like .Net), the more luck you’ll have installing it outside
the official “Install Application” menu list. The Pixel has an unusually
high resolution for a Chromebook, so at the moment this makes the
Crossover app text very, very, (very) tiny. You may also run into odd
resizing issues. Steam will only cover the top half of the screen, for
example. Even while maximized. For other windowed apps such as
LibreOffice, you should be able to drag the program window to fully
cover the workspace if you experiment with maximizing/minimizing the
Crossover app itself, and then the programs running inside of it.
But really, if you’re anything like me, you’ll be spending most of your time in Steam.
My
personal Steam library isn’t extensive, so I wasn’t able to try out
many full games. But I did download every demo I could find that seemed
even mildly interesting. Altogether I tried out 50 different games. Out
of those 50, I was able to successfully start 13. Of those 13, 10 were
in what I’d consider genuinely playable condition. That’s without
messing with Wine configuration settings or Library overrides, which
from my point of view are indistinguishable from blasphemous magicks.
As a final attempt to temper folks’ expectations, I
don’t recommend installing this Alpha with the expectation it’s going
to replace your Windows desktop or Crossover for Linux/Mac.
Apps will crash. Some games will be working perfectly one day, and
refuse to launch the next. Installed programs will break Wine (I think
certain games force updates to DirectX or other Windows files that make
games with different needs a bit angry and sullen), forcing you to clear
the app’s data entirely and start over. In some cases, certain settings
and changes persist even if you uninstall and reinstall the app, and
you’ll need to Powerwash your Chromebook to start from scratch (it’s a
Chromebook, so your stuff is in the cloud anyway, right?)
While I
found performance and load times to be completely reasonable, the Pixel
has a Core i7 processor, 16GB of RAM, and Intel HD 5500 integrated
graphics. Once the new wave of Chromebooks come out with full (non-beta)
Play Store support come out, I’m sure they’ll come close to that amount
of horsepower, but for now it’s a minority in a minority in a minority.
If you have an R11, be prepared to wait when apps are first launching.
People this preview is for:
Curious early adopters.
Patient hobbyists.
Egalitarian product testers.
Pickers, grinners, lovers, and sinners.
Who this preview is not for:
People who need a specific Windows program to run perfectly for their work or business.
Folks
who don’t read instructions and will ultimately try to install the
Preview on ARM devices or games that aren’t even supported by Wine. No
new DOOM here, move along.
Veruca Salt inspired individuals who expect something free to provide them effortless instant gratification.
Jokers, smokers, and midnight tokers (who get their lovin’ on the run). Your skills are needed elsewhere.
Now,
10 out of 50 may not sound good. But this is the very first public
alpha release, and keep in mind THAT A MONTH AGO THIS WASN’T EVEN
POSSIBLE.
Plus, when one of the games that works is Half-life 2, that deserves bonus points. Let’s call it a 50/50 split.
Braid
installed with no muss and no fuss. Framerate was good and the controls
were responsive. There was one fluke where I somehow disabled the
audio, and couldn’t get it to come back until after a Powerwash and
fresh install of Crossover. I did find the overall framework/story to be
a bit depressing. Don’t play this after a breakup or fight with your
partner. The idea of grown individuals referring to their partners as a
princesses non-ironically seems weird to me, even in a world with dino
salesmen and some sort of springy bush people that seem like they’re
trying to mind their own business until you jump on them.
Half-life
2 was hands-down the most exciting game I was able to get up and
running. Initially the game would start, but with no video. You could
hear Gordon moving around and responding to keyboard commands. It turns
out there’s a setting in the advanced video options called “Multicore
Rendering”. For Source Engine games like HL2, Portal, or L4D2, you’re
going to want to disable that. Everything else can be set to whatever
you like, depending on your tolerance for framerate drops and jitters. I
will say that Valve did not design these games with touchpad and
touchscreen users in mind, so I spent an embarrassing amount of time
staring at the floor and/or ceiling until I got the hang of things
enough to actually look around. Which severely hampered my progress at
figuring out a way to kill Barney, because, well, he’s a dope.
Apparently even alien gods have a special provenance for
interdimensional fools and children.
I
have a soft spot for Treasure’s excellent shoot-em-ups, even if my
reflexes aren’t up to snuff when it comes to actually playing their
bullet hell games. There’s an issue getting Ikaruga going (also
described in the description here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HJGxbJoKUQU )
involving the DirectX update it requires failing because it can’t
overwrite certain DLLs in the System32 folder. Delete them, install
DirectX from the Ikaruga Steamapps folder, then restore them from the
trash (overwriting the new DLLs in the process). If you’re not super
stoked at the thought of dodging hundreds of lethal colored blobs while
returning fire with your own colored blobs, you may want to give this
one a miss, just because of the extra effort required. If you go to the
trouble, however, it plays perfectly.
Left
4 Dead 2 is technically playable, albeit with no sound and some
graphical glitches. I even successfully joined an online game by
accident, so the multiplayer works! But again, not really designed for
touchpad/touchscreen control. I spent my time staring at the
floor/rooftop, contemplating what horrible transgressions Ellis
committed in a past video game life to be stranded in a world of zombies
with no control over his Y-axis.
I
believe Limbo is one of the games mentioned in the Codeweaver blog
posts, which is what gave me the idea to focus on 2009-2011 era DirectX
8/9 games to begin with. The game runs perfectly, but it does feel a bit
sluggish (in the video and controls). I’m not sure how much of that is
being run through Wine, and how much is by design since you’re
essentially some sort of dead ghost boy in a foggy ghost world with
unclear motivations and probably not a lot of time-sensitive
appointments.
This
is my first experience with Portal, and I can see what all the fuss was
about. It runs just as well as Half-Life 2, once you disable the same
“Multicore Rendering” setting. Once I started dropping myself through
infinite loops it occurred to me that this is a great game to be testing
on a program whose name is a recursive acronym. It’s hobby inception.
Torchlight
and Torchlight II both run fantastically. Even if you crank up the
settings, the framerate is still playable. Also, because the game is
mouse focused, you can place 90% of it by tapping on your touchscreen.
It’s practically a tablet game experience at that point, and a lot of
fun. They do suffer from what I can only describe as executable file
ennui. Sometimes when you click play, it will appear to start, and
nothing will happen. Clicking on “Play” and holding it down for about
five seconds seems to help, but that could also be completely
psychosomatic as I repeatedly click on the play button until the game
concedes and finally launches. It’s not unlike being a five-year-old
poking your sleeping parent in the side until they finally relent and
get up so you can open your Christmas presents BECAUSE REALLY CHRISTMAS
TECHNICALLY STARTED FOUR HOURS AGO HOW CAN YOU STILL BE SLEEPING?
Half-Life 2, Portal, and the two Torchlight games are the gems of my
Crossover for Android experience thus far.
Trine
runs well, the graphics are good, and the controls responsive. I am,
however, potentially the world’s worst grappling-hook based video game
player in the world, if there are championships for that type of thing
(I’m available!) and an impartial way of quantifying just how terrible
one needs to be to get stuck between too inconveniently placed sliding
wood medieval doors. Trine 2 seems like it would also run just as well,
but there doesn’t seem to be any key, key combination, or mouse click
capable of starting the demo. Maybe folks with gamepads will have better
luck.
On
the one hand, World of Goo runs perfectly. On the other, it seems to be
a bizarrely story-driven game about sentient globs of goo. With
eyeballs and childlike gurgles of glee. This is what happens when you
don’t just let your children have that puppy they wanted because they
promise to love it and walk it and take care of it at least until the
next iPhone comes out and then you end up doing all the work but at
least they’re not obsessed about semi-solid socialist blobs.
For
people interested in seeing how the games perform in action, I’ve
uploaded several clips to YouTube. Theoretically running Screencastify
may have given me a framerate hit, but the performance you see in the
videos is very close to what I experienced actually playing the games.
That includes any stutters and freezes, and the audio is a bit crackly
for all programs running through the Android app.
CrossOver For Android Torchlight II
CrossOver for Android Torchlight
CrossOver for Android Half life 2 Black Screen
CrossOver for Android Half life 2 test 2
CrossOver for Android Portal
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