Good news for Chromebook owners missing Windows applications on their devices. CrossOver software allows running applications under Windows OS in the Chromebook environment.
However, there's a catch: the software is paid, with a starting cost of $40. Still, it’s an interesting solution, and we are already preparing a review. For now, let’s broadly outline what this is all about.
CrossOver is developed by the CodeWeavers team, who announced its exit from beta. There’s a condition: the package can only be used on modern Chromebooks with Intel® processors.
CrossOver is far from a new solution; it has been working for many years on Linux and Mac, allowing Windows applications to run on those platforms. As for Chrome OS, the corresponding version of the package appeared in 2016. Initially, it was based on Android and remained in beta all this time.
Everything changed after Google added Linux support for Chromebooks. The developers at CodeWeavers almost immediately responded and achieved compatibility of their software with Google’s Crostini tool. This is the Linux subsystem that runs in the Chrome OS environment.
After improvements, everything became so good that CodeWeavers published the final release, taking the platform out of beta. But this is a commercial project, and the cost of the tool cannot be called low. The price for different versions is as follows:
- $40 — for the software only, current version.
- $60 — current version of the software with one year of support plus updates.
- $500 — lifetime support and updates.
You can test the package for free.
Before you start testing CrossOver, you should ensure that your Chromebook is compatible with this software. The specifications should be as follows:
- Linux support (Chromebooks from 2019 onwards).
- Intel® processor.
- 2 GB RAM.
- 200 MB of free disk space and room for applications you plan to install.
An important point: not all Windows applications are compatible with CrossOver. You can check what is compatible and what is not in the software authors' database. There’s a convenient .
As for the detailed review of CrossOver, we will release it next week, so stay tuned.
Source: habr.com
