Expert’s Rating
Pros
Cons
Our Verdict
Games compatibility is more special than some of its competition , but this spare open - source app is ideal for hunt down many Windows game .
Best Prices Today: Whisky
permit ’s face it – the main reason most of us require torun Windows on our Macsis so that we can bet Windows games . There are , of course , many business and professional user who need to run Windows apps on their Macs for work – but there are trillion more Mac substance abuser who just want to wager Diablo IV or Fortnite instead . So it was a bit of a landmark present moment when Apple unveiled its Game Porting Toolkit ( GPTK ) at WWDC last year , as that was one of the few occasion in Apple ’s entire story when it actually did something to avail game developers make for their games onto the Mac .
Whiskyemerged following the launch of theGame port Toolkitlast year – in fact , it ’s actually based on GPTK and is very much focussed on running Windows game rather than more serious business software . stringently speaking , Whisky is n’t anemulator or virtualization political program , likeParallels Desktopor UTM , that leave you to go Windows on a virtual auto . It ’s much more likeCrossOver , which allows you to melt down a variety of Windows apps and software system on your Mac without even needing to instal a copy of Windows at all . In fact , CrossOver and Whisky – and even Apple ’s Game Porting Toolkit – are all based on the open - source WINE , which acts as a translation layer that converts the programing computer code in Windows apps and package into the Mac equivalent ( a bit like Apple ’s own Rosetta computer software , which translates software written for older Intel Macs so that it can hightail it on the late Macs with Apple Silicon processors ) .
The military capability of Whisky is that it combines elements of both WINE and the Game Porting Toolkit , and then wraps them up in an user interface that was project using Apple ’s SwiftUI computer programming tools . And the whole project was develop by Isaac Marovitz who , agree to his site ( isaacmarovitz.com ) , is just 17 eld old .
Just as UTM is an open - germ choice to VM software such as Parallels Desktop andVMWare Fusion , Whisky is a destitute , open - reference alternative to CrossOver ( stringently speak , CrossOver is open - rootage too , but the $ 64 yearly license fee for CrossOver is actually paying for technological support rather than the software ) .
Foundry
Like CrossOver , Whisky work by let you to create bottles , which are files that act as a kind of container for the Windows apps that you require to run . The bottles provide compatibility with various versions of Windows , include Windows 10 and 11 and even go right back to Windows 7 and XP so as to support old games from the 32 - bit epoch . Once you ’ve created a bottleful , you’re able to simply crusade the Run button within Whisky to found the installer program for your Windows game and that game then becomes part of that bottle . And , like CrossOver , Whisky allows you to put in the Windows version of Steam within a nursing bottle and then install Windows game that you own on Steam within the bottleful as well .
Whisky is n’t quite as well-off to utilize as CrossOver , though , and it lacks the step - by - footstep help that CrossOver provides for installing many democratic game as well as business software such as Microsoft Office . It does n’t work with the same all-encompassing range of games either – that ’s really the master advantage of paying the licence fee for CrossOver – but Whisky still does an impressive job for a free capable - germ app that was developed by just one soul .
I was impressed to line up that Whisky had no bother at all with the creepy Call Of Cthulhu from 2018 , and also Guild Wars 2 ( which barricade support the Mac years ago ) , and both games allow very just performance on my MacBook Pro with M2 processor . Whisky also supports a number of Windows game that use Microsoft ’s DX12 graphics software system , which is an area where many of its more expensive rivals still struggle . However , it does n’t currently function with newer game such as Diablo IV – and I ’m afraid that Fortnite is a no - no at the second too .
But , of form , Whisky is all innocent , so there ’s no reason why you ca n’t download it and see if it play with the game that you want to scarper . There ’s also a listing of compatible game on the Whisky site that you could check before you download the app . The only thing to keep an eye on out for is that Whisky ’s use of the Game Porting Toolkit means that it only runs on Macs with macOS 14 Sonoma .
Buying Advice
Well , you do n’t have to buy it , so it ’s sure worth downloading this loose app to see if it works with your favorite Windows games . Performance is honest for compatible games , but give - for rivals such as CrossOver may be compatible with a wider stove of biz .
For our guide to the best secret plan you could play on your Mac read : Best Mac Games .
