Chapter 1. Introduction

CrossOver Linux allows you to install your favorite Windows applications in Linux. Some people use CrossOver for office productivity applications, such as Microsoft Office or Quicken. Other people use CrossOver to play their favorite Windows games, such as Half-Life or Skyrim. CrossOver lets you run a wide, wide variety of Windows applications on Linux.

CrossOver works by running the actual Windows applications. Because no CPU emulation is involved they run at full speed on your system. They also integrate with your mail client and desktop environment, making it possible to view Word, Excel or PowerPoint attachments, or to open these file types from the desktop or file managers.

[Important]

CrossOver Linux manages applications using "bottles". A bottle is a virtual Windows environment with its own isolated C: drive, fonts, registry, and software.

Bottles are especially useful when installing unsupported software or when testing the behavior of a new application. They can also be used to run different versions of the same program (Microsoft Office, for example) at the same time.

CrossOver Linux is easy to install, and requires a small footprint on the system.