free software to run windows programs on mac

Choose any of these options and WineBottler will automatically download, install, and configure these applications for you. The Windows version of Steam is available, and which could allow you to run some Windows-only games on your Mac. For example, you could install various versions of Internet Explorer if you needed to test websites with them on your Mac. WineBottler lists a number of different programs you can easily install. You can then launch WineBottler from your Applications folder. Drag and drop both Wine and WineBottler applications to your Applications folder to install them, just like you would any other Mac application. When this article was written, that meant OS X El Capitan and Yosemite users needed to download version 1.8. Be sure to download a version that works on your release of Mac OS X. How to Run Windows Software on a Mac With WineBottler The other third-party applications will work similarly, though some (like CrossOver and Porting Kit) may be much more streamlined for the apps they actually support-so if you’re looking to run a specific game, it may be worth checking to see if the other apps support that game for easy setup. We’ll be using WineBottler for this tutorial, as it seems like the most popular option among Mac users. There’s also the free Porting Kit, which makes installing classic games easy, and the commercial CrossOver Mac, which is the only application here you have to pay for. Third-party tools include WineBottler, PlayOnMac, and Wineskin. They include their own Wine software, too, so you only have to download one thing. They often perform tweaks that you’d have to perform by hand if you were using the barebones Wine software. Instead, you should probably consider one of the third-party projects that take the Wine source code and build a more convenient interface on top of it, one that helps you quickly install and configure common applications. These Wine binaries allow you to run Windows software, but don’t provide any helpful graphical tools for installing and setting up common applications, so they’re best for advanced users already familiar with Wine.

However, those aren’t necessarily the best option.

The official project website at WineHQ now provides official builds of Wine for Mac OS X. There are several ways to get Wine on a Mac. RELATED: 5 Ways to Run Windows Software on a Mac

Free software to run windows programs on mac