CodeWeavers has released CrossOver 25.1.0, bringing various buffs and bug fixes to those of you using this Wine-based compatibility layer to run Windows software on Linux (or macOS, since it works there too).
CrossOver 25.1.0 ships stability improvements for running Microsoft Office 2016 on Linux, sure to come as a relief to any of you who rely on using that version out of necessity or familiarity. Office 365 Outlook login quirks also see remedies with this update.
Issues in EA and Ubisoft launchers caused by recent updates pushed out to those are mitigated in this update — until next time — and there are fixes for an assortment of Steam issues, including one involving network connections.
A clutch of “controller related problems” are addressed per the announcement on the CodeWeavers’ forum from Robert Schrader, and wired Xbox controllers and the (ever-growing) line of 8BitDo Pro controllers pick up better compatibility.
“If your controller still isn’t working, you may need to adjust Steam Input settings to get it functioning properly,” Schrader adds, going on to note that the company has updated the “compatibility database, so the auto feature should work for more games out of the box.”
In all, a nice set of refinements to the CrossOver 25.0 release in March, which is based on the latest Wine 10.0 stable series.
Why CrossOver not Wine?
I’d wager most people looking to run Windows games on Linux make use of Steam’s Proton, rather than rely on this commercial version of Wine, but CodeWeavers’ developers make two-thirds of commits to a the Wine project, and sales of CrossOver support their contributions.
CrossOver is Wine, but with a polished GUI, commercial support, and built-in tweaks and hacks to get specific software and games working better via CrossOver than regular Wine (most of those tweaks can be applied manually in Wine, ofc).
It’s appeal is among users who’d rather spend a bit of money for a fuss-free way to run Photoshop or Microsoft Office on Linux — and have someone to ask for help if things aren’t working well — rather than spend a weekend wrestling with Wine or being ignored on Reddit.
Get CrossOver 25.1.0
If you already have an active/valid license for CrossOver look out for an upgrade notification in-app shortly. Don’t want to wait? You can download the latest version by logging in to your CodeWeavers account and heading to the downloads page.
For more detail on CrossOver, including how it is different to the regular open-source version of Wine, how much a license costs, or to download a trial to sample it prior to purchase, head over the official website.