James Ramey
Lately we are fielding a lot of questions about our software and its compatibility with the new Apple Silicon Macs and its longevity.
>>> More CrossOver M1 Goodness — See 3 Different Windows games Running!
When is CodeWeavers going to build a *native* version for the new Apple Silicon Macs?
What is CodeWeavers going to do when Apple discontinues Rosetta2 and the current iteration of CrossOver no longer works?
While complex questions (no doubt), we do have an answer for today, tomorrow the future.
PART 1 - TODAY: As of today, we have no knowledge that Apple is going to discontinue Rosetta2 anytime in the relatively near future. And to that point, we are continuing to improve CrossOver support for the Apple Silicon Macs running Rosetta2. Our development teams will continue working to improve support and performance for Windows applications that have worked on Intel based Macs and continue to build out support for applications and games that that do not currently work in future releases of CrossOver. We expect that CrossOver version 21, which is expected to be released this summer, will do just that – improve support for Windows applications on Apple Silicon Macs (and Linux boxes and Chromebooks) and run more applications and games.
PART 2 - TOMORROW: Additionally, we ARE building out support for ARM based devices. We demonstrated our first working solution of CrossOver running on ARM over five years ago. While the technology is currently still in its infancy AND the performance is currently unacceptable, we believe that at our current rate of development that the technology will continue to improve to a point where it will be usable directly on ARM based devices. That point is difficult to predict; but we believe that we’re at least 12 – 18 months away. AND AGAIN, it is on our technology roadmap. When this solution is viable, we will include it in a future release of CrossOver.
PART 3 – FUTURE: If and when Apple does decide to remove or eliminate Rosetta2, we will likely be prepared. Technology changes, and CodeWeavers has managed these changes for the past 25 years (past 15 years on macOS). We were able to transform our technology to support macOS (then known as OS X) in 2006; able to manage the deprecation of OpenGL in OS X in favor of Apple’s METAL in 2018; able to manage the elimination of 32-bit application support in 2019; and managed the introduction of the Apple Silicon processors in 2020 while in the midst of a worldwide pandemic. We’re fortunate to employ really smart and really clever people that are dedicated to supporting our customers and our technology. And if at some point Intel Macs go away for good, we will again transform ourselves accordingly.
We ask you, our users, fanboys, beta testers, advocates, affiliates (and even the interested parties who have not yet committed to CodeWeavers) to continue believing in our small company of REBELS and MISFITS. Technology changes, and we’re not standing around flat footed waiting for the sky to fall. We’re aggressively moving forward as we’ve done for the past 25 years with the best intentions of liberating Windows software. And no matter how much the world arounds us changes, we’re fully committed (ALL IN) on our mission of making this happen!
About James B. Ramey
James B. Ramey is the CEO of CodeWeavers. His life long love of video gaming started at the tender age of six with an Atari 2600 and evolved over time to include Nintendo, Super Nintendo, Apple Mac IIc, Windows PC, and MacBook Pro. When not fiddling with technology, James enjoys cooking, travel, debating politics in the office, and spending time with his wife, daughter, and their two rescue dogs. For the past 20 years, James has worked with clients around the world in best implementing technology to maximize a return on their investment. He is a graduate of Moorhead State University and earned his MBA from the University of Phoenix. You can find James on Twitter at @jbramey.
