Mac Apps
Have you ever wanted to install a Windows application on your Mac? First of all, shame on you for wanting to do such a thing. However, as you know, countless Mac users do in fact run PC applications every single day, so we forgive you.
The problem with running Windows applications on your Mac is that it usually requires various complications such as hard drive partitioning, installing a full on Windows environment, and/or expensive software like Parallels. But what if you just need to run one application and don’t really want to mess with all that other stuff?
Enter WineBottler, a free and easy way to wrap a Windows application into something that will run natively in OS X. Too good to be true you say? Read on!
Installing WineBottler
The obvious first step is to visit the WineBottler website to download the application.
The Wine Bottler Website
Once you’ve downloaded the app, run the dmg file. This will mount the disk and pop open a window containing two applications: Wine and WineBottler. Throw both of these into your Applications folder.
Installing WineBottler
X11 and Prefixes
Before we go any further, a little bit of explanation is necessary. This can all get pretty nerdy and technical so I’ll try to keep it as basic as possible.
As mentioned before, WineBottler doesn’t run Windows applications but instead wraps them in such a way that they’ll run on OS X. This is accomplished through the magic of a utility called X11.
Throughout the process of running and installing applications, you’ll probably see X11 pop up in your dock. If so, leave it alone. It needs to do its thing for all of this to work.
Now for some jargon. When using WineBottler, almost everything will revolve around “prefixes.” The easiest way to think of these is simply as Windows applications. So when you see something referring to default or custom prefixes, remember that’s just referring to applications that you can install.
Installing Default Prefixes
Now that you have a rudimentary knowledge of how it all works, open up WineBottler. You should see three different options on the left: Existing Prefixes, Install Predefined Prefixes and Create Custom Prefixes.
The Main WineBottler Window
Click on the predefined prefix option to bring up a list of applications. This is essentially a bunch of free software that you can install quickly with barely any effort.
As a web developer, I often have the need to test the sites I build in multiple browsers. Being a Mac user, it’s easy for me to hit Safari, Chrome and Firefox, but let’s face it, those aren’t really the browsers that are going to give me trouble are they? The good old Internet Explorer family is where the real troubleshooting usually occurs. For this reason, I was quite happy to see these applications in the list!
To install one of these applications, simply click on it and hit “Install.” You might want to click the “Silent Install” option as well. This can save you a few clicks down the road.
Installing Internet Explorer
In my experience, this process can either be surprisingly fast or astoundingly slow. If it seems like it’s taking a while, take a break and come back. And I don’t mean check your email for a minute, I mean go mow the lawn and take your kids to soccer practice because it’s going to be a while.
Once the installer is finished, the application should be sitting in your designated folder. It will appear just like any other application and requires only a double click to run.
Cue X-Files Music
Running the applications can be a little weird, but they’re functional for the most part. A few things I’ve noticed being strange are keyboard shortcuts like copy and paste being remapped and scrolling with momentum getting completely out of control in some apps. Otherwise everything seems to work just fine and it merely feels like your Mac got hit with the ugly stick.
IE7 Running on a Mac
Installing Custom Prefixes
It will often be the case that the application you want to install isn’t in the list of predefined prefixes. Fortunately, WineBottler has you covered. If you don’t see the app you want, click on the option to install custom prefixes.
Make sure you’ve got the windows app downloaded so that the .exe file is easy to find on your Mac. Now hit the “select File” button at the top of the window and navigate to that file.
Creating Custom Prefixes
Again you’ll be taken through a pretty basic installation process. The WineBottler screens and actual application installation menus will fill your screen so be ready to manually walk through them just as if you were installing the application on a Windows machine.
Extra Tools
Unfortunately, not every application will work with WineBottler. Some apps simply aren’t compatible and others will require a bit of troubleshooting on your part.
Fortunately, the Wine application comes with a number of useful tools for helping you through this process. Among these is a DOS prompt and various “Winetricks” that you can install that are essentially support software like the Adobe AIR runtime.
Wine Tools
Conclusion
To sum up, WineBottler makes it incredibly easy to install many (but not all) Windows applications on your Mac. The best part is that you won’t even have to deal with “Start” menus or recycle bins as the applications will run right in your OS X environment alongside your Mac applications.
The key to using WineBottler is patience. Sometimes the applications can take an inordinate amount of time to install, but if you wait it out, they usually pull through.
Leave a comment below and let us know what applications you miss out on from being a Mac user and whether or not you think WineBottler is a good solution for running them!
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Have you ever wanted to install a Windows application on your Mac? First of all, shame on you for wanting to do such ...
Have you ever wanted to install a Windows application on your Mac? First of all, shame on you for wanting to do such ...
Have you ever wanted to install a Windows application on your Mac? First of all, shame on you for wanting to do such ...
Have you ever wanted to install a Windows application on your Mac? First of all, shame on you for wanting to do such ...
Have you ever wanted to install a Windows application on your Mac? First of all, shame on you for wanting to do such ...
Have you ever wanted to install a Windows application on your Mac? First of all, shame on you for wanting to do such ...
Have you ever wanted to install a Windows application on your Mac? First of all, shame on you for wanting to do such ...
Have you ever wanted to install a Windows application on your Mac? First of all, shame on you for wanting to do such ...
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Do you know if it will run software that require things like .NET framework, or Windows service pack?
The only windows apps I really need to run on my Macbook are the 3 main flavours of IE. I’ve been rellying on VMWare Fusion for this task, but this looks quite interesting.
I have to ask, though: How accurate is the rendering? This may sound weird, but I really need all the bugs each flavour provides in order to find this useful. Are conditional comments working properly? Is the font rendering too different? What about the Javascript engine?
Basically: Is this a reliable alternative to a Virtual Machine for Web Development testing?
I’ll have a go soon, anyways, but knowing this beforehand could save a lot of time. :)
Same questions as Enrique
I’ve tested with ie6. Total disaster.
The only argument why geting ie6 to a mac is webDevelopment.
ie6 fails a lot himself, but with Wine Bottler/X11 this doubles.
So you really can’t decide what is “really” wrong and what is caused by X11.
If you still want to test it, try to use some pngs… :P
And in addition try some pngfix and this thing will scream at you!^^
Totaly useless for webdev.
It sounds so absolute but, Stop doing anything with IE6. I inform my clients that it’s a security risk, Google stopped supporting it, and Microsoft stopped supporting it. So if the internet giant AND it’s creator don’t support it, why should we as developers?
It’s soooo freeing to stop worrying about IE6. Just delete it!.
Now, IE7, and 8 is another story.
Honestly this is a great question. I admit that I haven’t tested IE7 thoroughly against a PC version to see the differences.
Web development is only one of the many possible applications, it was merely the first thing I thought of when I saw IE! Can’t imagine why else you would want that cursed browser on a Mac :)
Did you know? If you run VMWare Fusion that you can run applications for the PC on the Mac? Not by entering your virtual machine, but by making it show up at the top right, as an applet. Then you can select your application and the IE icon or whatever software shows in your dock. It is pretty neat!
You HAVE to start Fusion/VM to get an application working.
You surely meant the Unity Mode, or am I missing something?!?!?!
This isn’t perfect, but the fact that it works is astounding.! I tried to create a prefix for an installer and it made the program into a wine app as well, I finally got to try out sublime text, which was a disappointment :(
Sounds promising. Does anyone know whether it’s possible to use this to get OneNote to work on a Mac?
jeeeeesh! im trying to install wine bottler for the ONE application i run on windows. after bumbling around and thinking i was home free, i get an error message when i try to launch the application:
Can’t write: C:\user\donellcreech_\Template\swlpi\uninstall\.exe
as im among mac friends, i’ll save the kevetching and belly aching about the evils and confusion of the windows platform….speaking to the choir and such.
hopefully there’s some one who can help me out point me in the right direction. ive read the winehq wiki, ubuntu and wine-reviews…and my eyes are still crossed.
btw, the application is swish max 3. in my readings, ive seen postings about swish max 2 being compatible.
I was really excited about this, and now I’m disappointed. IE7 doesn’t have javascript turned on and I’m not able to install the version that is equipped with javascript (IE6). Bleh
I was about to install for the sake of testing on IE6 and IE7, but I should forget about it. Thanks for the info!
Will Act from Sage work?
Nice article but I’ve tried it and it’s not fully working, IE6 won’t install at all, IE7 is not rendering correctly and IE8 won’t load a page :( sadly going back to parallels.
Have to agree with skrabaki.., IE 7 does not display transparent gifs correctly, IE 8 produces an error and won’t load a single page.
I seriously miss the ability to use MS Visio on the mac. Didn’t stop me from switching to mac completely, but if this will allow me to run it easily on the mac… Woohoo!!!
Has anyone tried installing WinEdt? It’s like the best LaTeX editor available, but only for windows =(
Thank all of you that tried the very thing I was going to, but will not – installing this just to get IE on my Mac. Your effort is much appreciated. Now grab a beer – you deserve it :) I’m doing the same… and here’s to you!
Will Corel Draw X4 or X5 work?
How does this compare to Crossover?
Will WineBottler let me be able to play Windows games on my Mac as well?
I installed IE 7 and it works fine but no luck with IE 6 or IE 8. IE 8 kept trying to install 7. But If I can get IE 6 working that will be great.
This is interesting, but there’s not much documentation. The impression I get is that it’s built on Darwine, which is unsupported by the Wine project, and that WineBottler as a whole is not supported by the Wine community. Does this mean that WineBottler is being developed independent of the Wine project and that advancements with Wine will not filter through?
CrossOver on the other hand, is the commercial solution, including support plans, software evangelists and a whole compatibility record-keeping system. They also support and collaborate with the Wine project.
hy,
IE7: ok
IE6: /./install_flash_player_ax.exe and try again. ???
IE8: i can install, but i cant open a website…
any ideas?
thx
Okay, I feel I should balance out my last comment as it sounds quite negative. That wasn’t intended at all.
I’ve now been using WineBottler for a few days and it’s actually really good. I haven’t been able to run everything I want with it, but those programs don’t work under CrossOver either anyway. I think WineBottler provides a really intuitive front end to what can be a confusing set of options using Wine.
Also, i’ve found that for some programs that don’t run in CrossOver, it’s easy to test them using the Wine build included with WineBottler. Figuring out what extras need to be installed with Winetricks is a simple case of ticking boxes, and once you get it working, you can create a standalone app.
For a work in progress it’s a wonderful little app and I highly recommend it. I also emailed the developer about an app I was trying to get working and the response I got was friendly and genuinely helpful.
I don’t wanna sound stupid or anything but i was wondering if programs such as 3d studio max work with this program……
I ran Solidworks on my old 2008 MBP with bootcamp
Too many cryptic errors… I’m going back to VM.
Chris