May 24, 2017 There are some apps that those coming from Windows will need, and no alternatives exist. Luckily, there is a software project out there that lets you run Windows apps on Linux. The software is called Wine. It creates a compatibility layer for Windows programs to interact with the Linux operating system. Feb 03, 2014 Wine is a free software that allows you to run Windows applications on Linux and Mac OS X, and has been around since the days of Windows 3.x. Made popular among the masses by gamers for its ability to run various Windows games on Linux and Mac, Wine can also run many other types of Windows applications on these platforms flawlessly.

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Oct 11, 2019.

Over time, there have been a variety of Third Party Applications that have attempted to make Wine more useful or easier to use.It is important to understand that although these third party applications may make Wine more usable, they are not supported by the Wine project. If you have questions regarding the use of a third party application, please use the support mediums provided by that third party rather than Wine HQ.

Why Third Party Applications Exist

Users want to run applications and sometimes a change to Wine can cause an application to work, but this change cannot be incorporated into Wine for some reason. For example, the change may break Wine for other applications and/or platforms. As such changes to Wine must meet some level of QA. If the change is a dirty hack to Wine's source code that allows an application to run, then the change may end up within Wine's source code only after it has been properly fixed.

In theory, any third party application here is essentially a temporary workaround until underlying bugs in Wine can be fixed properly. As wine improves, parts or all of these third party applications may become obsolete or incompatible with Wine (at least until the third party provides a suitable update).

Current Third Party Applications

The applications below should work with the latest Wine and are still being maintained.

The Crossover series of products are a repackaging with added patches to support more applications and added interfaces on top of WineHQ.

DOSBox is an emulator for legacy x86 PCs, which is particularly useful for old MS-DOS programs since they often used hardware in rigid ways (e.g. using CPU clock cycles directly for timing). Wine uses DOSBox for its virtual 8086 mode (for more details, see Wine Wiki's DOSBox page).

This module allows unix windows managers to generate crisp desktop icons from the icons embedded in Windows executables.

A Python-based GUI tool that provides managing of registry keys for Wine.

Lutris is an open gaming platform for Linux. It helps you install and manage your games in a unified interface. This support includes managing Windows games (run via Wine).

A tool which is aiming on making it easy for the user to install Windows software, like World of Warcraft, Adobe Photoshop, Guild Wars and much more.

A tool made by the same team as PlayOnLinux but for Mac user.

A tool for installing games, applications, and various redistributable runtimes, e.g. mono, dcom98, fonts. Workarounds to Wine bugs are run automatically. (See also the Winetricks page on this wiki.

A tool to install and run pre- or custom configured apps. It comes with precompiled wine and allows to create fully self-contained .app bundles.

Create wrappers used to make ports that work like Native macOS applications. Uses Winehq portable releases, bundles all needed dylibs and binarys for use with winetricks, always downloads the current version of winetricks.

Using Wineskin technology, Porting Kit can install games and apps compiled for Microsoft Windows® in macOS. It's free, it's simple, it's the Porting Kit.

A Qt GUI for Wine. It will help you manage wine prefixes and installed applications.

A DirectX 1-11 to OpenGL wrapper based on WineD3D.

Obsolete Third Party Applications

These applications are no longer useful, unmaintained, and do not work with current Wine releases. You should not use these.

• osxwinebuilder (for Mac OS X)

A command line script to compile and install Wine and a number of prerequisite packages from source on Mac OS X.

Make wrappers or ports of Windows software to Macs. Wine and custom Xquartz X11 all built in. Pre-built packages, or you can custom compile your own Wine source to use too. Finished products look and work like native Mac apps. File associations, fullscreen, multi-monitors, resolution switching... great for games. LGPL licensed open source.

GUI bottle manager to import, create and clone bottles. Edit registers of the bottles. Set colors according to your GTK theme.

provide an OpenGL-based free replacement for Microsoft Direct3D (useful for things like VirtualBox)

A graphical frontend for Wine that offers prefix management, winetricks integration and access to most of the Wine command-line utilities in one GUI.

• WineXS

A GUI for Wine.

• Pipelight

A tool to use windows only plugins inside Linux browsers.

• Bordeaux

A tool for installing a lot of Windows applications on Linux, Free'BSD, PC-BSD, Open'Solaris & Mac like Microsoft Office, Microsoft Project, Adobe Photoshop, and more.

A menu driven installer for around 90 windows applications. No longer being maintained.

• WineDoors

A tool to install and configure Wine, as well as many Windows programs.

• Winesetuptk

A Wine setup tool formerly provided by CodeWeavers, Inc. Wine can now setup its own environment automatically, and Winecfg has now replaced the other limited configuration that winesetuptk allowed.

A graphical user interface for the WINE emulator. It provided an interface for configuring and running MS-Windows applications. It is no longer useful now.

• WineBot

A tool to automate Windows program installation under Wine

A python-based, command-line replacement for Winecfg. Has not been updated since 2009.

• wisotool

A tool for automated installs of various Windows programs (downloadable demos and from disk images), including workarounds. It was merged into winetricks.

A malware-analyzer that sandboxes Wine on Debian in a QEMU image (remember Wine provides no sandboxing). Windows executables are then loaded into the sandbox, and Wine's function-tracing system is used to detect suspicious behavior.

Every now and then, a Mac user is going to say, 'Man I wish there was a version of (insert program here) for Mac. I'd buy that in a heartbeat.' It's happened to me more times that I really wish to count. Thankfully, most of the apps I want to run on my Mac exist as native apps.

However, there are a couple that slip through my fingers, like Microsoft's Visio Professional. It doesn't exist on the Mac side and I really need it for my day job as a software quality vice president.

Thankfully, there's more than one way to run Windows apps on your Mac.

1. You can use Apple's Boot Camp and run a full installation of Window natively on your Mac
2. Use a virtual machine like Parallels Desktop
3. Install Windows apps directly with CrossOver and use a Windows app like any other native Mac App

There are advantages and disadvantages to each, but that last one – installing Windows apps directly under CrossOver – is a bit different, and it offers some distinct advantages if you know how to get things going.

With CrossOver, you don't install Windows and then the app. It's all about the app, and only the app. Thankfully, while CrossOver is different, it's not difficult to use. However, there are a few things you need to know. For example, CrossOver doesn't run ALL Windows apps. Some run better than others, and some won't run at all.

What's the best way to install Windows apps?

When trying to determine the best way to install a Windows app, consider the advantages and disadvantages of the three different ways to run Windows on a Mac — natively, via VM or via CrossOver:

How to install Windows apps on your Mac using CrossOver

If you want to install Windows apps on your Mac without all the overhead associated with Windows, follow these steps.

1. Navigate to CodeWeavers and download CrossOver.

2. Go to your Downloads folder and locate the Zip file you downloaded. Double Click it to open it. Archive Utility will Open it up and decompress the contents of the archive.

3. Double click the CrossOver.app in your Downloads folder. It will offer to move itself to your Applications folder.

4. CrossOver will start for the first time. When it does, it's going to ask you how you want it to run. By default, it runs in trial mode. However, you also enter in your registration information or buy a license right from this page.

5. From the screen that appears, click the Install a Windows Application button.

6. Type the name of the application you want to run. CrossOver will search its database and display appropriate matches.

7. Click on the application you want to run. CrossOver will display compatibility information on it from its database, telling you how likely and how well it will run.

8. Click the Continue button.

9. Select an installer source.
10. Click the Choose Installer File. A Finder window will slide down over the app and allow you to navigate to where you have the installation file stored.
11. Select the app.
12. Click the Use this installer button. You'll return to the Select an Installer Source screen.

13. Click the Continue button. Remember: CrossOver will not find and download the software you want to run for you. You actually have to have the installation file for the software you want to run.

14. Select a bottle.

What are bottles?

Windows Programs On Mac Wine

CrossOver is powered by the Wine Project. As such, all Windows apps are installed in 'containers' called bottles (get it?). When you install an application for the first time, CrossOver will create a bottle and automatically place your application in it. When you install new applications, CrossOver will also give you hints about which apps can work and play well in the same bottle. If your apps can be installed in the same bottle, putting them together will save some space. If they can't, CrossOver will tell you and suggest creating a new bottle. It will also suggest a name for it. Keep the suggestion or give the bottle a name of your own choice.

Install Windows Apps On Mac Wine Bar

1. Click the Continue button.

2. You'll be taken to the Ready to Install screen. CrossOver will give you a summary of what it's installing, where it will install it from, and the name of the bottle where it will install it. CrossOver will also install any needed support software (such as .NET Framework, or the link).

3. Click the Install button.

4. The software will install. CrossOver displays a progress screen where it will run through not only the creation of the bottle, but it will download any needed support software, and then run the installer you chose. Once the installation process completes, you should be ready to run your software.

5. Click Done. The Installation process will close.
6. Click the CrossOver icon in the Dock. CrossOver's Collections screen will appear, listing all the bottles you have installed on your Mac.

7. Find the bottle you just created and run your software.

Running Windows and Windows apps on a Mac can be challenging. Finding the right method for you and your needs can be equally as challenging; however, if you think about it, there are a number of ways to run Windows on a Mac.

Some are expensive. Some aren't.

Some take time and are complicated. Others aren't.

Wine On Mac

CrossOver isn't just easy to use, it's affordable. For less than 1/4 the price of Windows plus the price of the application you need to run, you can run it on your Mac. For the odd app out, this is a total no-brainer; and it's fairly easy to do. If you want to make sure your app works with CrossOver before you give it a shot, you can always search for it on their website.

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Run Windows App On Mac Wine

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Running Windows Apps On Mac

Install Windows Apps On Mac Wine Bottle

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Wine Windows For Mac

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