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CodeWeavers, one of the biggest sponsors of the compatibility layer Wine have announced a major rebranding along with the release of Crossover 20.

For those not too clued up, here's the lowdown with a tiny bit of backstory to set the scene for you: Wine is a compatibility layer that allows you to run Windows applications and games on (up until now, see below) Linux and macOS. CodeWeavers have their own software called CrossOver which integrates Wine, plus a fancy interface and often some special patches along with direct support and CodeWeavers developers work directly on Wine which is free and open source for everyone.

For a few years now, CodeWeavers have also been working with Valve on Steam Play Proton, the fork of Wine dedicated to gaming on Steam + Linux. Not only that, they also offer direct porting and support services to developers wanting to get their stuff onto different platforms. They've now given these services some actual names with "PortJump" and "ExecMode". From the press release:

"It’s the first time we put names and branding into our porting service (PortJump) and our consulting service (ExecMode)." Founder and CEO of CodeWeavers Jeremy White reveals. "Rest assured my open-source aficionados, the new branding only enhances our commitment to Wine and the open-source community. We believe in building up the open source community. In building up the next generation of talent. The best people will be attracted to the greatest causes. And we don’t care what the popular kids think. All while preserving the mischievous humor we enjoy so much."

They also just recently released CrossOver 20 which includes showing application "ranking" (how well it's likely to work) within CrossOver itself, it upgrades to use Wine 5.0, adds brand new support for ChromeOS, later macOS support, and on Linux it allows CrossOver to upgrade itself along with refreshed Linux distro support.

As for this rebranding, CodeWeavers think of themselves something like Robin Hood, claiming they're some kind of software "liberator" and that they believe there's "no such thing as a closed platform".

See all on the CodeWeavers website.

Article taken from GamingOnLinux.com.
Tags: Apps, Misc, Wine
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10 comments

dpanter Oct 13, 2020
Who designed the new website?
Granted the old site wasn't exactly amazing either, but this new one is impressively poor...
DefaultX-od Oct 14, 2020
Quoting: dpanterWho designed the new website?
Granted the old site wasn't exactly amazing either, but this new one is impressively poor...
Ok, boomer
Schattenspiegel Oct 14, 2020
Quoting: dpanterWho designed the new website?
Granted the old site wasn't exactly amazing either, but this new one is impressively poor...
Not ususally a fan of scroll-down-the-banner type websites, but this one I actually quite like, tbh.


Last edited by Schattenspiegel on 14 October 2020 at 6:11 am UTC
TheSHEEEP Oct 14, 2020
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Quoting: DefaultX-od
Quoting: dpanterWho designed the new website?
Granted the old site wasn't exactly amazing either, but this new one is impressively poor...
Ok, boomer
Nah, got nothing do with it.

It just really isn't well designed. At least the colors aren't.
Way too much contrast all-around with the alternating between straight white and almost-black when scrolling, the colors when hovering over things are just all over the place neon-styled rainbows, etc.
The navigation itself isn't that bad.
Honestly, it just needs some improved CSS to prevent triggering epilepsy when scrolling too fast ;)


Last edited by TheSHEEEP on 14 October 2020 at 6:41 am UTC
DefaultX-od Oct 14, 2020
Quoting: TheSHEEEP
Quoting: DefaultX-od
Quoting: dpanterWho designed the new website?
Granted the old site wasn't exactly amazing either, but this new one is impressively poor...
Ok, boomer
Nah, got nothing do with it.

It just really isn't well designed. At least the colors aren't.
Way too much contrast all-around with the alternating between straight white and almost-black when scrolling, the colors when hovering over things are just all over the place neon-styled rainbows, etc.
The navigation itself isn't that bad.
Honestly, it just needs some improved CSS to prevent triggering epilepsy when scrolling too fast ;)
What really can cause epilepsy is LO Impress's 3d transitions
appetrosyan Oct 14, 2020
Question to knowledgeable penguins, what advantages does crossover have if any over wine?

I thought it might be a good idea to buy, because of supporting wine, but would I end up with something more than a paperweight?
JVargas Oct 14, 2020
Is there any difference between CrossOver and normal wine?
Any reason on why paying for the product?
I can't see anything in their website...
tuxintuxedo Oct 14, 2020
One advantage is support. It not only means that they will answer your questions, but your problems (e.g. noticed bug) will have priority for their developers as well.


Last edited by tuxintuxedo on 14 October 2020 at 4:49 pm UTC
awesam Oct 14, 2020
Quoting: JVargasIs there any difference between CrossOver and normal wine?
Any reason on why paying for the product?
I can't see anything in their website...

Crossover has a pretty user-friendly GUI. You can in Crossover for example with just a click create an installable rpm or deb package of a bottle, that is what I have used it for mostly.
Arten Oct 15, 2020
Quoting: JVargasIs there any difference between CrossOver and normal wine?
Any reason on why paying for the product?
I can't see anything in their website...
Crossover has patches which are not in wine yet, or has no chance to get into wine.
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