cnc-ddraw vs CrossOver

cnc-ddraw reimplements DirectDraw to address compatibility problems in older 2D games, including black screens, poor performance, crashes, and faulty Alt+Tab behavior. It can use GDI, OpenGL, or Direct3D 9 rendering, selecting a renderer automatically. Display options include windowed, fullscreen exclusive, and borderless modes; Alt+Enter switches between fullscreen and windowed. GLSL shaders provide upscaling, and other options include an FPS limiter, VSync, mouse sensitivity scaling, and saving and restoring window position, size, and state. The project lists Windows, Linux through Wine, macOS, Android, and virtual machines as supported environments. Setup involves extracting cnc-ddraw.zip into the game folder and starting the game. Wine users must configure the ddraw override in winecfg or run cnc-ddraw config.exe once. The game must use a DirectDraw Software renderer; Direct3D games are not supported. cnc-ddraw is free under the MIT License.

CrossOver translates commands from Windows applications so many can run on macOS or Linux without a Windows emulator or Windows OS license. It is presented for productivity software, utilities and games, and advertises one-click installation, desktop integration and running apps without rebooting. CodeWeavers says the Linux version avoids Windows or virtual-machine overhead and integrates with Linux. Compatibility is incomplete: some applications may have reduced functionality or may not run. The Compatibility Center collects user reports about application behavior. CrossOver supports Intel and Apple Silicon Macs, as well as Linux PCs. The Mac version requires at least 1 GB of free disk space and does not run on iPads or iPhones; Linux has specified hardware, distribution and software dependencies. A fully functional 14-day trial costs nothing, requires no credit card and starts at first launch. CrossOver + costs $74 a year, including 12 months of phone and email support, upgrades and bug fixes, and Preview access. CrossOver Life costs $494, paid once, with lifetime upgrades, bug fixes and support. CodeWeavers says 95% of the Wine code it develops for CrossOver is released back to the Wine project.