Whisky Developer Halts Work on Mac Gaming Tool, Endorses CrossOver

Whisky, a fashionable open-source front-end for Wine that made Windows gaming connected Mac much accessible, has ceased development. The project's 18-year-old creator, Isaac Marovitz, announced the shutdown and encouraged users to power to the paid CrossOver app instead.


In offering the reasons for his decision, Marovitz expressed interest that Whisky was perchance harming the Wine ecosystem by competing with CrossOver, a commercialized merchandise from CodeWeavers that helps money Wine development.

"Whisky, successful my opinion, has not been a affirmative connected the Wine assemblage arsenic a whole," helium wrote connected the project's website. He said that Whisky contributed "practically zero" to Wine improvement portion perchance threatening CrossOver's fiscal viability.

Marovitz is besides a full-time pupil presently attending Northeastern University, and truthful helium has had to equilibrium the expanding demands of the task with his world responsibilities. "I mislaid involvement successful the project," helium admitted. "And arsenic I'm inactive a pupil and besides not being paid for enactment connected Whisky, it becomes hard to warrant moving connected it if I nary longer bask it." He said that occasional updates to Whisky whitethorn inactive travel if macOS "fundamentally breaks the main app," which happened with macOS Sequoia 15.4.

Writing connected the Codeweavers blog, CEO James B. Ramey said successful effect that helium appreciated Marovitz's work. "We 'tip our cap' to Isaac and the interaction helium made to macOS gaming," Ramey wrote, acknowledging that Whisky, similar CrossOver, was "a labour of emotion built by radical who attraction profoundly astir giving users much choices."

During its run, Whisky gained popularity for its user-friendly interface that simplified moving Windows games connected macOS. The task highlighted the imaginable of Apple's ain Game Porting Toolkit, which is based connected the aforesaid Wine exertion that powered some Whisky and CrossOver.

Despite stepping distant from Whisky, Marovitz told Ars Technica helium isn't done with Mac gaming: "Right present I'm moving connected the recompilation of Sonic Unleashed and bringing it afloat to Mac."
This article, "Whisky Developer Halts Work connected Mac Gaming Tool, Endorses CrossOver" archetypal appeared connected MacRumors.com

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