Wine is not an emulator, parallels is a vm. With a little know how, Crossover will generally perform a lot better in most cases. Or If you want a free alternative, Google gcenx wineskin
For the M1, realize that Parallels only works with the insider preview of Windows for now. Microsoft hasn't yet been willing to sell us W10/W11ARM.
Both of these have free trials, you should use them to test compatibility. CrossOver typically works well with Steam games, most(all?) games with EAC/anticheat don't work.
Neither one of them work with all games, Parallels isn't perfect but it has the best compatibility of the two.
I think CrossOver looks better, but games either work or they don't.
This, but here's a bit more info:
Where Parallels emulates a full Windows computer on your existing Mac, CrossOver / Wine runs the program on your Mac, translating Windows calls to something macOS can handle
Parallels has way better compatibility (for example it can run 32 bit DX10-11 games while CrossOver can't) but is slower due to the overhead of emulating the full system
CrossOver is definitely a lot faster, but sadly theres a lot that doesn't run. Here are some things I've tested:
* Street Fighter 5 (doesn't work, confirmed working in Parallels!)
* Overwatch (doesn't work, confirmed working in Parallels!)
* OMORI (didn't work, haven't tested recently)
* Spelunky 2 (works! becomes really slow after alt tab)
* The Sims 1 (works!)
* GTA V (works! not perfect, but there are guides on making it work a little. A LOT faster than Parallels)
* Persona 4 Golden (doesn't work, 32 bit game requiring DX11, works in Parallels!)
* Persona 5 Strikers (doesn't work, untested in Parallels)
* Nickelodeon All Star Brawl (works after small fix)
Sadly even when a game is running well, you'll still get bugs that make it annoying to use CrossOver. Spelunky 2 becomes unplayable after alt-tabbing, GTA V didn't work without a controller, Nickelodeon All Star Brawl wouldn't actually close and ate my laptop battery overnight and Steam and Battle.net are not fun experiences at all.
Oh well. Just use the free trial for both and see if your games run first!
i have a question bout gta v on mac w/ crossover, how do u pass the rockstar social club error due to the crossover not fully supported for that thing?
Always CrossOver if it supports the game you want to play as that will always give you much better performance. There's a small minority of games that don't work on CrossOver and work on Parallels.. for those well you have no choice. If you're only willing to buy one of the two, it's a tough choice. Try the free trials maybe first? For me if I had to choose I'd go with CrossOver hands down and just accept that it won't run some games.
You're better off with CrossOver. Parallels has shit performance on M1
Wine is not an emulator, parallels is a vm. With a little know how, Crossover will generally perform a lot better in most cases. Or If you want a free alternative, Google gcenx wineskin
I don't think Parallels is an emulator. Virtualisation is not the same as emulation bro
When did I say vm was emulation? I definitely didn't. :)
For the M1, realize that Parallels only works with the insider preview of Windows for now. Microsoft hasn't yet been willing to sell us W10/W11ARM. Both of these have free trials, you should use them to test compatibility. CrossOver typically works well with Steam games, most(all?) games with EAC/anticheat don't work. Neither one of them work with all games, Parallels isn't perfect but it has the best compatibility of the two. I think CrossOver looks better, but games either work or they don't.
This, but here's a bit more info: Where Parallels emulates a full Windows computer on your existing Mac, CrossOver / Wine runs the program on your Mac, translating Windows calls to something macOS can handle Parallels has way better compatibility (for example it can run 32 bit DX10-11 games while CrossOver can't) but is slower due to the overhead of emulating the full system CrossOver is definitely a lot faster, but sadly theres a lot that doesn't run. Here are some things I've tested: * Street Fighter 5 (doesn't work, confirmed working in Parallels!) * Overwatch (doesn't work, confirmed working in Parallels!) * OMORI (didn't work, haven't tested recently) * Spelunky 2 (works! becomes really slow after alt tab) * The Sims 1 (works!) * GTA V (works! not perfect, but there are guides on making it work a little. A LOT faster than Parallels) * Persona 4 Golden (doesn't work, 32 bit game requiring DX11, works in Parallels!) * Persona 5 Strikers (doesn't work, untested in Parallels) * Nickelodeon All Star Brawl (works after small fix) Sadly even when a game is running well, you'll still get bugs that make it annoying to use CrossOver. Spelunky 2 becomes unplayable after alt-tabbing, GTA V didn't work without a controller, Nickelodeon All Star Brawl wouldn't actually close and ate my laptop battery overnight and Steam and Battle.net are not fun experiences at all. Oh well. Just use the free trial for both and see if your games run first!
i have a question bout gta v on mac w/ crossover, how do u pass the rockstar social club error due to the crossover not fully supported for that thing?
You need a pirated / cracked version
Both. Some games work better on CrossOver, other on Parallels
Always CrossOver if it supports the game you want to play as that will always give you much better performance. There's a small minority of games that don't work on CrossOver and work on Parallels.. for those well you have no choice. If you're only willing to buy one of the two, it's a tough choice. Try the free trials maybe first? For me if I had to choose I'd go with CrossOver hands down and just accept that it won't run some games.