CrossOver vs Q4Wine

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.

Q4Wine is a free Qt graphical interface for Wine that helps manage Wine prefixes and installed applications. It can work with different Wine versions at the same time, and lets users create, delete, back up, restore, and otherwise manage prefixes. The Programs tab can create icons for user-configured applications and export them as .desktop files; the Process tab manages running Wine processes. The Setup tab can use the Winetricks script plugin. Q4Wine can record output from Wine applications, but logging is off by default, and saved log history can reduce performance. The Wine AppDB browser is obsolete and disabled by default in the v1.4.0 release notes. The maker lists Linux, FreeBSD, and OS X as supported systems, while stable Mac OS X packages are not yet available; users can build from source. Stable releases are linked from GitHub, and distribution packages are generally supported by community members and distribution maintainers. Q4Wine is published under GNU GPL V3 with no warranty, and its author says they do not provide support for related Wine, installation, Linux, or Windows issues.