Windows Apps on a Mac? Try CrossOver!

Virtual environments for running Windows apps on a Mac are computationally intensive and complicated. For the casual user, there’s another alternative.

SynAudCon’s online training courses utilize two apps generated specifically for them. These are CAFViewer™ and IntelliKwik™. Both are Windows apps. Mac users can run them in a virtual environment, such as Parallels™ or VMWare Fusion™.

There is a third option ^th®at I have tried recently, and with great success. CrossOver^® (aptly named) allows a Windows app to run on a Mac, but without the overhead of a full-blown virtual environment. It was primarily developed for the gaming community. CAFViewer and IntelliKwik are simple and compact, and both run without problems under CrossOver.

CrossOver is the paid version of Wine™, which is open-source and user-driven. I encourage SAC training students to buy the $74 license for CrossOver to enjoy increased stability and to support the developers.

A note of caution – Not all Windows apps will run under CrossOver. Be sure to get the trial version if using it beyond the SAC training apps. pb

Figure 1 – CAFViewer running under Crossroads.

Figure 2 – IntelliKwik running under Crossroads.