Choosing
the right Windows-compatibility solution
Running Pioneer,
chances are you need a way to run at least some Windows applications
or games that aren't available on your Pioneer desktop. And you
have your choice of potential solutions to this problem. This page
illustrates some of the key advantages that CrossOver has in relation
to the other compatibility solutions.
In
a nutshell, you have three main choices:
- Dual-booting:
running two separate operating systems on one PC, and switching
between them as needed by rebooting. Applications such as Apple's
Bootcamp allow this to occur on a Mac OS X machine, for example.
- Running
a virtual machine: Emulation products such as VMWare
and Parallels allow you to run a full version of the Windows OS
inside a program running on your native operating system. The
Windows applications essentially run in a separate "box within
a box."
- Running
Wine or CrossOver:
Unlike emulation, Wine is a re-implementation of the Win32
API, allowing applications to run as if natively on the target
OS. CrossOver is a commercialized version of Wine.
Each
solution has its advantages and disadvantages, as illustrated below:
| Feature |
Dual-Booting |
Virtual
Machine Solutions |
CrossOver |
| Can
run Windows applications without rebooting |
By
definition, no. |
 |
 |
| Can
run Windows applications without needing a copy of Windows OS |
Requires
Windows OS license. |
Requires
Windows OS license. |
 |
| Price |
$199
for Windows OS |
$89
for Parallels, $199 for Windows OS |
Price
included in the package, and no Windows OS |
| Can
start Windows applications directly from Linux or Mac OS start
menu |
No.
Requires rebooting into Windows. |
No.
Requires starting emulator, booting or restoring windows, and
then running Windows applications within the virtual environment. |
 |
| Can
launch Windows file attachments directly from Linux or Mac OS
email |
No.
Requires saving file to network drive or swap file area, then
rebooting and opening under Windows. |
No.
Requires saving file to local file system, booting emulator,
then opening within virtual environment. |
 |
| Can
launch Windows files directly from Linux or Mac OS file browser |
No.
Requires copying file to shared file system, then rebooting
and opening under Windows. |
No.
Requires copying file to shared file system, booting emulator,
then opening within virtual environment. |
 |
| Runs
all Windows applications |
 |
No.
Some applications which require either video or hardware driver
support may not run. This is particularly true for games. |
No.
Wine currently runs some Windows applications very well, some
so-so, and some not at all. |
| Runs
Windows applications at native speed |
 |
No.
Virtual environment imposes performance penalties. |

Note: Applications run as if natively, but minor performance
penalties may occur. |
Should
you go the Wine route?
If
you decide to go the Wine route, then you have another choice to
make. Wine is an open-source technology, and can be installed free
from your Automatix menu. Or, you can purchase a commercialized,
supported version from Technalign. Both types have many similarities.
However, there are also some important differences between the two,
which are described below:
| Feature |
Free
Wine |
CrossOver |
| Comes
with one-click installation |
No. |
 |
| Comes
with graphical installer for Windows applications |
No. |
 |
| Comes
with Bottles (portable
virtual Windows environments)? |
No. |
 |
| Seamlessly
integrates with your desktop environment |
No. |
 |
| Is
consistently tested against supported application set |
No.
Whether a given application will work can vary from day to day,
build to build. |
 |
| Comes
with product support |
The
volunteers on the public forums do their best, but... |
 |
| Price |
$0,
and a lot of your time |
Included
in the package |
Pioneer Basic
Release 2 comes with a trial of CrossOver Office. You can use either
CrossOver Office Standard or Wine to run your Windows applications.
Wine is free and is installable via Automatix.
Some
applications:
These are only
some of the applications that come with Pioneer. Pioneer is feature
rich and includes a wealth of utilities also!
| Games |
Graphics |
Arcade:
Asteroids, Miniature Golf, Tetris
Board Games: Atlantik board games, Backgammon, Kenolaba,
Mahjongg
Card Games: Poker, Solitaire, Lieutenant Skat
Strategy Games: Battleship |
Digikam
(photo management), Gwenview (image viewer), Kooka Scan and
OCR program, KPDF (PDF viewer), Ksnapshot (screen shot application),
Krita (painting and image editor) |
| Multimedia |
Office |
| Amarok
audio player, K3B CD/DVD burner, Kaffine Media Player, KaudioCreator
CD Ripper, Kmix sound mixer, KsCD CD Player |
Database,
Presentation, Spreadsheet, and Word Processor with OpenOffice.org |
Pioneer also
includes the Firefox web browser and Thunderbird mail client as
well as many utilities to make your experience a pleasant one!
|