Back when I switched from Windows to Linux, my biggest desire was to get my Windows-only apps to run in the OS. At the time, the only way to make this work was by installing WINE from source and hassling with copying DLLs from Windows into a virtual Windows installation and playing around with a fake Windows registry. It wasn’t very fun. But in the end maybe I had a chance to use KaZaA and download some MP3s.
I gave up this endeavor when I switched from Linux to a PowerBook. There was no realistic way to get this stuff working on a PowerPC Machine. Since then, there has been many advances in a Windows compatibility for Mac and Linux from WINE and in the commercial space. CodeWeavers builds CrossOver for Mac and Linux, a WINE fork that provides support for a targeted selection of Windows Apps and Games. Transgaming was the first to bring DirectX capability to the Windows compatibility layer with Cedega, a games-focused version of WINE for Linux.
Transgaming decided to position their technology as a way for game publishers to quickly get a port of their Windows-only game to Mac in the form of their platform, Cider. Essentially, each game that uses this technology gets a full distribution of Cedega built specifically for it. If you poke around the application packages of a Cider release (Spore, The Sims 3, Tiger Woods PGA, Command and Conquer 3), you’ll see a “transgaming” folder containing a faux Windows folder structure.
This structure provides pretty good coverage of what one would need to run ANY Windows game on the Mac. I’ve found that there is a sizable community that grafts Windows games on to a Cider distribution included within a retail game to let them play their Windows-only games form within the Mac OS. I find this scene to be both fascinating and brilliant. You can follow their efforts in several spots, InsanelyMac’s forum and The Game Porting Team blog. There is also an IRC channel irc.savethecoratee.org #cider where the developers discuss the efforts.
This unofficial porting is all in a legal grey area. So long as you own a copy of the Mac game that includes Cider and you own a copy of the game you want to run on the Mac, should you be allowed to move some files around to make it so? I’m no lawyer, but I’d like to think we could be able to do this without a lawsuit.
If you’re interested in playing games on your Mac but thought they were doomed to be for Boot Camp only, you owe it to yourself to poke around these communities. Maybe you’ll find a wrapper to your favorite shooter, or maybe you’ll learn how to package up Fallout 3 so that I can play it on my Mac.
