CrossOver Update Speeds Leopard

CodeWeavers on Tuesday introduced a new version of CrossOver Mac, its software that enables Intel-based Macs to run Windows applications without having Windows installed. A free update for registered users, CrossOver Mac 6.2 costs $59.95; a demo version is available for download.

CrossOver Mac is one of several commercial virtualization environments that's arisen since the introduction of Intel-based Macs. Unlike Boot Camp and "virtual machine" products like Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion, however, CrossOver does not require a separate installation or disk partition containing Windows - the software, which was developed as a proprietary branch of the open-source WINE project, originally created for Linux operating systems.

CrossOver Mac 6.2 offers users of Microsoft Outlook a 50 percent increase in speed, on average, over CrossOver Mac 6.1, at least when paired with Mac OS X v10.5 "Leopard," which is due out this month (Leopard is already in the hands of Mac OS X developers like CodeWeavers in the form of developer releases).

The upgrade also now supports Valve Software's Team Fortress II game. What's more, CrossOver Mac promises better performance than other similar products, according to CodeWeavers CEO Jeremy White.

CrossOver Mac requires an Intel-based Mac and 120MB of free disk space. A list of supported applications and other information is available from CodeWeavers' Web site.