Good news for Chromebook owners who are lacking Windows applications on their machines. The CrossOver software has been released from beta , which allows you to run applications under Windows OS in the Chomebook software environment.
True, there is a fly in the ointment in this barrel of honey: the software is paid, and its cost starts at $ 40. Nevertheless, the solution is interesting, so we are already preparing a review on it. Now let's describe in general terms what it is all about.
CrossOver is being developed by the CodeWeavers team, which announced on its blog that it was leaving the beta. There is a condition: the package can be used only for modern Chromebooks with Intel® processors.
CrossOver is far from a new solution, for Linux and Mac it has been working for many years, allowing you to run Windows applications on these platforms. As for Chrome OS, the corresponding version of the package appeared in 2016. It was originally based on Android and did not progress beyond the beta all this time.
That all changed after Google added Linux support for Chromebooks. The developers at CodeWeavers reacted almost immediately and made their software compatible with Google's Crostini tool. It is a Linux subsystem that runs on the Chrome OS environment.
After the revision, 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. For different versions, the price is as follows:
- $ 40 - software only, current version.
- $ 60 - current software version and support for a year, plus updates.
- $ 500 - Lifetime Support and Updates.
You can test the package for free.
Before you start trying CrossOver, you should make sure your Chromebook is compatible with the software. The characteristics should be as follows:
- Linux support (2019 Chromebooks).
- Intel® processor.
- 2 GB of RAM.
- 200 MB of free file space and space for applications that you plan to install.
Important point: not all Windows applications are CrossOver compatible. You can see what is compatible and what is not in the database of software authors. There is a convenient search by name .
As for the detailed CrossOver review, we'll release it next week, so don't switch.
