Since the previous review of CW6, there have only been some minor changes. However these changes have enabled significantly more games to run. While it may take a while before we can play all the Windows games we want on Linux, that time is rapidly approaching.
Personally I would state that I much rather prefer to have a game running inside a Virtual Machine or compatibility layer than directly on the metal. There are a few reasons for this but the most important are...
1. I don't want it changing my resolution or otherwise interfering with the operation of my system.
2. Clean uninstall.
Fortunately, with CO's bottle feature. You can get both for each application. As long as you install different sets of applications, or different applications in their own bottles. The only annoying part is manually specifying each bottle's resolution.
1) CO runs on Mac OSX - They identified a market and went for it. People running apple computers sometimes need a particular piece of software too. So, CO is ported to mac.
2) Bottles - You can independently run multiple concurrent "Groups" of installations. It comes in handy when different pieces of software need different configuration settings to run, when they're different versions of the same software or when they interfere with each other. Mostly though I've always thought it comes in handy when you need to just nuke an entire installation without messing up anything else. However, there is one additional benefit, it's possible to install software into a bottle and then distribute the bottle to others using CO.
3) Stability - The people at CodeWeavers actually test their software. Remember that wine is delivered "as is" straight from the versioning system. If you want any guarantees whatsoever then CO is the way to go.
4) Hacks - Wine is determined to implement everything properly regardless of the time taken. Unfortunately even the programmers of Windows software don't adhere to the code. More directly, while it's true that implementing too many hacks will turn CO into something like Cedega, I appreciate a bit of practicality on the part of the programmers. Especially if they can make stuff work.
I've only had the opportunity to review some applications, which I can vouch for working. So, in no particular order...
Icewind Dale 2 - Works
While I do have a copy of this game, I haven't felt particularly compelled to check it out for myself. On the other hand, screenshots are provided and it's unlikely they're using a patched version to run it.
Quake 4 - Works
It works perfectly and it would have worked in CW6 as well to be honest. All opengl games, especially from id software, would work fine. Which brings me to a piece of good news.
Prey - Works
It's even rated silver. So to anyone who's ever dreamed of playing a Cherokee garage mechanic fighting aliens, now you can live the dream.
Stubbs the Zombie - Somewhat Works
It works in the same way as Road to Hill 30 did on wine. The game loads and everything appears to run perfectly but three seconds in you find that it hasn't captured the mouse cursor properly. In actuality it's a pretty game killing bug but it is only one bug.
Halo - Somewhat Works
But the installer doesn't. Still they say it works and Stubbs the Zombie uses the same engine. However this is something that can't be confirmed.
Guild Wars - Works
Better than wine too, since CW have implemented what is either a fix or a hack to get the mouse cursor displaying properly. I'll grant there are a few bugs in the DX9 mode, but the bloom makes up for them and, at least on this computer, it runs at an excellent frame rate.
PCSX2 - Doesn't Work
It works in wine but strangely enough not in CO, yet. Specifically, it appears that the ZeroGS opengl renderer doesn't initialize properly; you can guess this from the fact that the DirectX renderer outputs a disk loading error. Since CW are fully adhering to the terms of the GPL, we can expect that whatever makes it work will be ported over in due time. That being said, PCSX2 itself seems to work far better than in previous iterations.
Command and Conquer 3 - Works
Yes, a modern game works. It has a Advocate rating of Silver, so it seems to be playable.
Oblivion - Doesn't Work
It doesn't work in wine either without enabling GLSL pixel shaders. So when these go stable and are integrated into CO, it's entirely likely that it will work perfectly.
F.E.A.R - Doesn't Work
Interestingly this has fewer votes than the minimal "F.E.A.R - Combat" release. However, neither work.
Far Cry - Doesn't Work
The main reason for it's failure appears to be a copy protection issue, as in, when you bypass copy protection, it starts up. However there's no text in any of the menus and the detail appears strangely minimal regardless of the setting you use.
Internet Explorer 6 - Supposed to work
Technically IE6 should work, it's rated Silver. However it doesn't seem to render anything properly and it still crashes just by browsing through the options menu. My favourite error - "Would you like to save www.google.com.au?".
Overall
The biggest issue is that Crossover Office is not meant to play games as it's primary purpose. The top voted application in their Database is "Internet Explorer 7", followed by "Outlook 2003", followed by "iTunes 7.0". I'll grant that this is only a problem for us, not the people who actually intend to do work with this software. So if people want to change this they should buy a copy of CO and vote for the software they want to see running or even add to the pledges.
Disclosure
My own account was allocated to me to review their software. I get each version free. I love their software above and beyond wine and I like their license agreement but I might think differently if I was faced with buying it.
1. I don't want it changing my resolution or otherwise interfering with the operation of my system.
2. Clean uninstall.
Fortunately, with CO's bottle feature. You can get both for each application. As long as you install different sets of applications, or different applications in their own bottles. The only annoying part is manually specifying each bottle's resolution.
1) CO runs on Mac OSX - They identified a market and went for it. People running apple computers sometimes need a particular piece of software too. So, CO is ported to mac.
2) Bottles - You can independently run multiple concurrent "Groups" of installations. It comes in handy when different pieces of software need different configuration settings to run, when they're different versions of the same software or when they interfere with each other. Mostly though I've always thought it comes in handy when you need to just nuke an entire installation without messing up anything else. However, there is one additional benefit, it's possible to install software into a bottle and then distribute the bottle to others using CO.
3) Stability - The people at CodeWeavers actually test their software. Remember that wine is delivered "as is" straight from the versioning system. If you want any guarantees whatsoever then CO is the way to go.
4) Hacks - Wine is determined to implement everything properly regardless of the time taken. Unfortunately even the programmers of Windows software don't adhere to the code. More directly, while it's true that implementing too many hacks will turn CO into something like Cedega, I appreciate a bit of practicality on the part of the programmers. Especially if they can make stuff work.
I've only had the opportunity to review some applications, which I can vouch for working. So, in no particular order...
Icewind Dale 2 - Works
While I do have a copy of this game, I haven't felt particularly compelled to check it out for myself. On the other hand, screenshots are provided and it's unlikely they're using a patched version to run it.
Quake 4 - Works
It works perfectly and it would have worked in CW6 as well to be honest. All opengl games, especially from id software, would work fine. Which brings me to a piece of good news.
Prey - Works
It's even rated silver. So to anyone who's ever dreamed of playing a Cherokee garage mechanic fighting aliens, now you can live the dream.
Stubbs the Zombie - Somewhat Works
It works in the same way as Road to Hill 30 did on wine. The game loads and everything appears to run perfectly but three seconds in you find that it hasn't captured the mouse cursor properly. In actuality it's a pretty game killing bug but it is only one bug.
Halo - Somewhat Works
But the installer doesn't. Still they say it works and Stubbs the Zombie uses the same engine. However this is something that can't be confirmed.
Guild Wars - Works
Better than wine too, since CW have implemented what is either a fix or a hack to get the mouse cursor displaying properly. I'll grant there are a few bugs in the DX9 mode, but the bloom makes up for them and, at least on this computer, it runs at an excellent frame rate.
PCSX2 - Doesn't Work
It works in wine but strangely enough not in CO, yet. Specifically, it appears that the ZeroGS opengl renderer doesn't initialize properly; you can guess this from the fact that the DirectX renderer outputs a disk loading error. Since CW are fully adhering to the terms of the GPL, we can expect that whatever makes it work will be ported over in due time. That being said, PCSX2 itself seems to work far better than in previous iterations.
Command and Conquer 3 - Works
Yes, a modern game works. It has a Advocate rating of Silver, so it seems to be playable.
Oblivion - Doesn't Work
It doesn't work in wine either without enabling GLSL pixel shaders. So when these go stable and are integrated into CO, it's entirely likely that it will work perfectly.
F.E.A.R - Doesn't Work
Interestingly this has fewer votes than the minimal "F.E.A.R - Combat" release. However, neither work.
Far Cry - Doesn't Work
The main reason for it's failure appears to be a copy protection issue, as in, when you bypass copy protection, it starts up. However there's no text in any of the menus and the detail appears strangely minimal regardless of the setting you use.
Internet Explorer 6 - Supposed to work
Technically IE6 should work, it's rated Silver. However it doesn't seem to render anything properly and it still crashes just by browsing through the options menu. My favourite error - "Would you like to save www.google.com.au?".
Overall
The biggest issue is that Crossover Office is not meant to play games as it's primary purpose. The top voted application in their Database is "Internet Explorer 7", followed by "Outlook 2003", followed by "iTunes 7.0". I'll grant that this is only a problem for us, not the people who actually intend to do work with this software. So if people want to change this they should buy a copy of CO and vote for the software they want to see running or even add to the pledges.
Disclosure
My own account was allocated to me to review their software. I get each version free. I love their software above and beyond wine and I like their license agreement but I might think differently if I was faced with buying it.