CodeWeavers yesterday released CrossOver 8.0, a major new version of the software that enables Mac OS X and Linux to run Windows applications natively, without the use of the Windows operating system. The new version adds support for more Windows applications and improves the performance of Outlook and Microsoft Office 2007 running natively on Mac OS X and Linux. The company said that users can now install Service Pack 1, and that Outlook users with large offline data files should see noticeable speed increases.

CrossOver 8.0 now supports Internet Explorer 7 (including ActiveX) and Quicken 2009. CodeWeavers said that version 8.0 also supports "a myriad of new applications" due to an improved new version of the Wine, the engine at the core of CrossOver.

"CrossOver 8.0 contains almost a full year's worth of improvements to Wine in general, meaning that you'll notice many more unsupported applications running better," said Jon Parshall, COO of CodeWeavers.

Because the Windows operating system is not required, the cost of ownership of CrossOver is lower than a virtualization environment. The trade-off is that it isn't compatible with all Windows software. CodeWeavers has a list of supported Windows applications at its web site. 260 Windows applications are designated as "gold medal" in terms of compatibility. Several hundred more are rated "silver."

CrossOver Mac Standard is available for download for US $40 and includes 6 months of support and upgrades. CrossOver Mac Pro is available on a CD and comes with 12 months of support and upgrades. The Pro version also includes a copy of CrossOver Games, a which is optimized for playing Windows games natively in Mac OS X. CrossOver Linux comes in the same configurations as the Mac versions.

If you've used CrossOver 8.0 what you think of it.

See also CrossOver Tips and Reports.