CodeWeavers
Encyclopedia
CodeWeavers is a company that sells a proprietary
version of Wine
called CrossOver
, for running Windows
applications
on Mac OS X
and Linux
. The company was founded in 1996 as a consultancy, eventually moving entirely over to Wine development and support. The CrossOver version of Wine is regularly refreshed with the latest free Wine patches; likewise, patches from the company's employees are sent back to the project almost immediately. This distinguishes the company from TransGaming, which develops a forked
version of Wine called Cedega, and no longer returns contributions to free Wine. CodeWeavers is a major contributor to the Wine project, a free software
/ open-source software
project that helps Windows applications run on different x86-based operating systems, and employs the project's maintainer, Alexandre Julliard
, as their CTO.
The Company's products include CrossOver Pro Linux, CrossOver Pro Mac, CrossOver Games for Linux, and CrossOver Games for Mac. CrossOver Server was discontinued in 2007 as CrossOver Pro replaced its functionality. The company's products have traditionally focused on making Microsoft
software staples like Microsoft Office
, MS Word, and MS Excel
run on Linux. With the addition of CrossOver Pro Mac the company has also begun focusing on games and other applications not available natively on the Mac platform, such as MS Visio and MS Project. CrossOver Games was introduced in March 2008 and is intended to allow gaming-related patches from Wine to be incorporated into CrossOver much faster. The CrossOver Pro product line will focus on stability and in-depth testing with supported productivity software, such as Microsoft Office, and will have a slower release cycle.
CodeWeavers also provides implementation and consulting services around Wine
and other open-source
software projects. Google
has paid CodeWeavers to improve support for Adobe Photoshop
and add functionality to Wine
.
CodeWeavers is also a founding member of the Desktop Linux Consortium
.
The goals focused on President Bush making specific positive accomplishments in areas such as the economy, home values, the stock market, the war on terror and other key issues. Specifically, one goal called for President Bush to help bring down average gasoline prices in the Twin Cities
to $2.79 a gallon.
On October 14, gas prices in Minneapolis and St. Paul did just that. CodeWeavers were true to their word, and on October 28, a combination of Slashdot and Digg took down their website as people rushed to get the gratis software. According to CodeWeavers, "You will be able to unlock your serial number that was emailed to you for an extended time, (an additional 48 hours), due to this downtime. We will simply stop giving out new serial numbers at 23:59 (Midnight) Central Standard Time."
Additionally, CodeWeavers updated their site @ ~ 9:00 AM CST (GMT - 6) to reflect the statement: "Please check back again for registration code information later today. We will be deploying a streamlined serial code generation process shortly." At the same time, they also added an "about Wine" paragraph.
The streamlined process came to pass, but customers were told to expect to wait "several days" to receive their serial number. In the interim, fully unlocked (full builds) of four different CodeWeavers packages became available for immediate download, but only on October 28, 2008.
Proprietary software
Proprietary software is computer software licensed under exclusive legal right of the copyright holder. The licensee is given the right to use the software under certain conditions, while restricted from other uses, such as modification, further distribution, or reverse engineering.Complementary...
version of Wine
Wine (software)
Wine is a free software application that aims to allow computer programs written for Microsoft Windows to run on Unix-like operating systems. Wine also provides a software library, known as Winelib, against which developers can compile Windows applications to help port them to Unix-like...
called CrossOver
Crossover
-Fiction and media:* Fictional crossover, a storyline combining characters or settings from separate fictional properties** Fictional crossovers in video games* Crossover , a 2002 documentary by Justin Lin...
, for running Windows
Microsoft Windows
Microsoft Windows is a series of operating systems produced by Microsoft.Microsoft introduced an operating environment named Windows on November 20, 1985 as an add-on to MS-DOS in response to the growing interest in graphical user interfaces . Microsoft Windows came to dominate the world's personal...
applications
Application software
Application software, also known as an application or an "app", is computer software designed to help the user to perform specific tasks. Examples include enterprise software, accounting software, office suites, graphics software and media players. Many application programs deal principally with...
on Mac OS X
Mac OS X
Mac OS X is a series of Unix-based operating systems and graphical user interfaces developed, marketed, and sold by Apple Inc. Since 2002, has been included with all new Macintosh computer systems...
and Linux
Linux
Linux is a Unix-like computer operating system assembled under the model of free and open source software development and distribution. The defining component of any Linux system is the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released October 5, 1991 by Linus Torvalds...
. The company was founded in 1996 as a consultancy, eventually moving entirely over to Wine development and support. The CrossOver version of Wine is regularly refreshed with the latest free Wine patches; likewise, patches from the company's employees are sent back to the project almost immediately. This distinguishes the company from TransGaming, which develops a forked
Fork (software development)
In software engineering, a project fork happens when developers take a legal copy of source code from one software package and start independent development on it, creating a distinct piece of software...
version of Wine called Cedega, and no longer returns contributions to free Wine. CodeWeavers is a major contributor to the Wine project, a free software
Free software
Free software, software libre or libre software is software that can be used, studied, and modified without restriction, and which can be copied and redistributed in modified or unmodified form either without restriction, or with restrictions that only ensure that further recipients can also do...
/ open-source software
Open-source software
Open-source software is computer software that is available in source code form: the source code and certain other rights normally reserved for copyright holders are provided under a software license that permits users to study, change, improve and at times also to distribute the software.Open...
project that helps Windows applications run on different x86-based operating systems, and employs the project's maintainer, Alexandre Julliard
Alexandre Julliard
Alexandre Julliard is a computer programmer who is best known as the project leader for Wine, a compatibility layer to run Microsoft Windows programs on Unix-like operating systems....
, as their CTO.
The Company's products include CrossOver Pro Linux, CrossOver Pro Mac, CrossOver Games for Linux, and CrossOver Games for Mac. CrossOver Server was discontinued in 2007 as CrossOver Pro replaced its functionality. The company's products have traditionally focused on making Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
software staples like Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office
Microsoft Office is a non-free commercial office suite of inter-related desktop applications, servers and services for the Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X operating systems, introduced by Microsoft in August 1, 1989. Initially a marketing term for a bundled set of applications, the first version of...
, MS Word, and MS Excel
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Excel is a proprietary commercial spreadsheet application written and distributed by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It features calculation, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a macro programming language called Visual Basic for Applications...
run on Linux. With the addition of CrossOver Pro Mac the company has also begun focusing on games and other applications not available natively on the Mac platform, such as MS Visio and MS Project. CrossOver Games was introduced in March 2008 and is intended to allow gaming-related patches from Wine to be incorporated into CrossOver much faster. The CrossOver Pro product line will focus on stability and in-depth testing with supported productivity software, such as Microsoft Office, and will have a slower release cycle.
CodeWeavers also provides implementation and consulting services around Wine
Wine (software)
Wine is a free software application that aims to allow computer programs written for Microsoft Windows to run on Unix-like operating systems. Wine also provides a software library, known as Winelib, against which developers can compile Windows applications to help port them to Unix-like...
and other open-source
Open source
The term open source describes practices in production and development that promote access to the end product's source materials. Some consider open source a philosophy, others consider it a pragmatic methodology...
software projects. Google
Google
Google Inc. is an American multinational public corporation invested in Internet search, cloud computing, and advertising technologies. Google hosts and develops a number of Internet-based services and products, and generates profit primarily from advertising through its AdWords program...
has paid CodeWeavers to improve support for Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop
Adobe Photoshop is a graphics editing program developed and published by Adobe Systems Incorporated.Adobe's 2003 "Creative Suite" rebranding led to Adobe Photoshop 8's renaming to Adobe Photoshop CS. Thus, Adobe Photoshop CS5 is the 12th major release of Adobe Photoshop...
and add functionality to Wine
Wine (software)
Wine is a free software application that aims to allow computer programs written for Microsoft Windows to run on Unix-like operating systems. Wine also provides a software library, known as Winelib, against which developers can compile Windows applications to help port them to Unix-like...
.
CodeWeavers is also a founding member of the Desktop Linux Consortium
Desktop Linux Consortium
The Desktop Linux Consortium is a non-profit organization which aims at enhancing and promoting the use of the Linux operating system on desktop computers.It was founded on 4 February 2003.- Members :*ArkLinux*CodeWeavers*Debian*KDE...
.
Great American Lame Duck Presidential Challenge
In July 2008, CodeWeavers launched the Great American Lame Duck Presidential Challenge to encourage President Bush to make the most of his remaining days in office by accomplishing a major economic or political goal by January 20, 2009.The goals focused on President Bush making specific positive accomplishments in areas such as the economy, home values, the stock market, the war on terror and other key issues. Specifically, one goal called for President Bush to help bring down average gasoline prices in the Twin Cities
Twin cities
Twin cities are a special case of two cities or urban centres which are founded in close geographic proximity and then grow into each other over time...
to $2.79 a gallon.
On October 14, gas prices in Minneapolis and St. Paul did just that. CodeWeavers were true to their word, and on October 28, a combination of Slashdot and Digg took down their website as people rushed to get the gratis software. According to CodeWeavers, "You will be able to unlock your serial number that was emailed to you for an extended time, (an additional 48 hours), due to this downtime. We will simply stop giving out new serial numbers at 23:59 (Midnight) Central Standard Time."
Additionally, CodeWeavers updated their site @ ~ 9:00 AM CST (GMT - 6) to reflect the statement: "Please check back again for registration code information later today. We will be deploying a streamlined serial code generation process shortly." At the same time, they also added an "about Wine" paragraph.
The streamlined process came to pass, but customers were told to expect to wait "several days" to receive their serial number. In the interim, fully unlocked (full builds) of four different CodeWeavers packages became available for immediate download, but only on October 28, 2008.
External links
- CodeWeavers home page
- Jeremy White interview (Mad Penguin)