Utility for Mac CrossOver comes in edition 16 with support for Microsoft Office 2013 and 64-bit software for Windows

CodeWeavers yesterday announced the new version of its CrossOver software, which allows you to run Windows applications directly on your Mac through a compatibility layer. O CrossOver 16 the main novelties are support for Office 2013 and 64-bit software, significantly expanding the list of programs that work with the utility.

CrossOver 16, for Mac

The Microsoft Productivity Pack for Windows can be installed on the Mac with CrossOver 16 either through a license purchased individually or through an Office 365 subscription. Note, however, that Project, Visio and Outlook are not yet compatible with the software. Various games for Windows can also be played directly on the Mac with CrossOver, such as Skyrim, World of Warcraft or the Steam platform.

The fundamental difference between CrossOver and virtualization solutions such as VMWare Fusion or Parallels Desktop lies in the fact that the former runs the programs directly on the machine's main system and has access to all its features, while the others require an installation. Windows to create a virtual machine that, only then, allows to run the applications through an emulator losing some of the processing power of the machine in the process.

This explains, for example, the fact that CrossOver is now announcing support for Office 2013 when Microsoft launched the 2016 version of sute more than a year ago: developers need to do a thorough job of reverse engineering to make programs for Windows compatible with your solution and run them on Mac without any problems.

CrossOver 16, which is based on WINE 2.0 open source technology and also has a Linux version, is now available for purchase on the CodeWeavers website for $ 50, and it is also possible to try the program for free for two weeks. On this page it is possible to check and search which software for Windows are compatible with the utility.

(via AppleInsider)