Every app on one Home page
Home lists every app and environment you have. Your favorite environments sit on top like browser tabs: one click to switch.
No virtual machine, no Windows license, no spare Windows PC. Drag in the installer and you're done: your app sits in the Dock and switches with ⌘Tab like any Mac app.
Every Pro feature is free during the preview, until December 31, 2026
Left: the Office suite installed in CrossDriver App. Bottom right: Excel opening a spreadsheet on the Mac.
Plenty of business spreadsheets depend on macros, add-ins and controls that Excel for Mac doesn't support. CrossDriver App runs the Windows version of Office, so they're all there.
| Excel in CrossDriver App | Excel for Mac | |
|---|---|---|
| VBA macros | Run in full, including macros that call Windows system functions | Most run, but the sandbox stops macros that call Windows functions or talk to other programs |
| COM add-ins | Your company's own add-ins and the ones that come with industry software install and work | Third-party COM add-ins aren't supported |
| ActiveX controls | Buttons, drop-downs and date pickers on sheets and forms work as usual | Not supported |
| Third-party components | OCX controls, COM components and database drivers: install them and they're ready to use | Windows components can't be used |
| Power Pivot data model | Supported: relate several tables and pivot across them | Not available |
Years of macros and in-house tools written in VB run as they are, without changing a line of code.
Finance, tax and analysis add-ins install exactly the way they do on a Windows PC.
The OCX controls, COM components and runtimes an app needs are prepared by its Verified Setup; components you install yourself register and work too.
The Excel for Mac column is based on Microsoft's documentation.
AutoCAD 2024, 2025, 2026 and 2027 install with Autodesk's own installer and activate when you sign in with your Autodesk account, just like on Windows. AutoCAD for Mac can draw too, but the specialized toolsets and many Windows plug-ins only work in the Windows version.
| AutoCAD in CrossDriver App | AutoCAD for Mac | |
|---|---|---|
| Specialized toolsets | Testing now | Not available, Windows only |
| Windows plug-ins | Testing now. Try yours with the free edition | Windows plug-ins can't be loaded |
| VBA macros | Testing now | Not supported |
| Express Tools | Supported | Not available |
Tested with AutoCAD 2024–2027 (English). The AutoCAD for Mac column is based on Autodesk's documentation.
No technical know-how, nothing to configure.
Drag it into Applications like any other Mac app. The preview includes every Pro feature for free, and the free edition needs no account.
Or pick an app in the Setup Center. CrossDriver App gets the runtimes, fonts and settings it needs ready for you.
Double-click and go. Add it to Applications, and from then on open it from Launchpad or Spotlight.
No Windows license, no virtualization software. Free forever for personal use.
Rest the pointer on an app's icon and CrossDriver App gets it ready, so it opens almost right away.
No need to set aside tens of gigabytes of disk and several gigabytes of RAM. A new environment takes a few megabytes and frees its resources when idle.
Popular apps come with Verified Setups: the right components and settings, done for you.
Use Office, Project, Visio, QuickBooks and more with your own licenses. A new computer doesn't mean buying them again.
Windows apps open and save files right where they are on your Mac. The Windows desktop is your Mac desktop.
| CrossDriver App | Virtual machine | Traditional compatibility layer | A second Windows PC | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Buy Windows? | No | Yes | No | Yes (comes with the PC) |
| Cost | Free for personal use, Pro for work | VM software + Windows license | Usually a short trial, then paid | The price of a PC |
| One more set of apps | A new environment adds a few MB; the shared part exists once | Another full Windows, tens of GB | Another full copy of the runtime | — |
| Slower over time? | No: the registry is a database, so more apps don't slow it down | Like any Windows PC | The registry is one big text file that grows slower | Like any Windows PC |
| Opening an app | About 2 s, warmed up as you hover | Boot all of Windows first | Several seconds | Walk over to the other PC |
| On a high-res display | UI, fonts and resolution adapt automatically, sharp | Depends on Windows scaling, often blurry | Older apps often blurry or tiny | Depends on that PC's screen |
| Apple silicon / macOS 28 | Native edition coming soon, no Rosetta, ready for macOS 28 | Only ARM Windows | Relies on Rosetta, limited from macOS 28 | — |
| Day to day | Every app is a Mac window, files shared directly | A separate system inside a window | You dig through paths for files | Files travel by USB stick or cloud |
| Installing apps | Verified Setup, prepared for you | Install and configure yourself | Scripts for some apps | Install and configure yourself |
| Windows desktop | Start menu, taskbar and tray; right-click menus and shortcuts as in Windows | Yes | No | Yes |
Personal use costs nothing, not just a few days of trial.
Popular apps have ready-made setups, so no guides to follow or settings to guess.
Keep several sets of apps side by side, like browser tabs.
Start menu, taskbar and tray, with right-click menus and shortcuts that work like Windows.
Coming soon: built for M-series chips, no translation layer, faster.
Product keys activate, Microsoft 365 signs in, and Account shows "Product Activated".
Each set of apps lives in its own environment; a problem in one never spreads.
Chinese, Japanese, Korean and all kinds of symbols show up, with no empty boxes.
These already work on the Mac, and more are added all the time.
Type the name of an app or game. If we don't have it yet, tell us and we'll let you know when it's ready.
If you're one of these people, CrossDriver App was made for you.
“I borrow a colleague's PC every month-end”
The company books, report templates and Access databases are all Windows-only.
Work with QuickBooks Desktop, Access and macro-driven Excel reports on your own Mac.
“The lab software only runs on Windows”
Instrument analysis software and data tools inherited from former lab members won't open on a Mac.
Process data right on your Mac, with your data, charts and papers in one place.
“The course requires Windows software”
Databases in Access, diagrams in Visio, schedules in Project, and a queue for the computer lab.
Finish assignments on your own MacBook. Free forever for personal use.
“Our plans and diagrams are in Windows formats”
The team's plans are .mpp and the diagrams are .vsd, and neither Project nor Visio has a Mac version.
Open and edit the originals, with no conversions and no broken layouts.
“Power BI Desktop has no Mac version”
The web version lacks advanced features, so every model means finding a Windows PC.
Excel for Windows with Power Pivot works on your Mac today; Power BI Desktop support is on the way.
“Drawings and design tools are Windows-only”
Drawings from clients and the design software your company uses only open on Windows.
AutoCAD 2024–2027 works today, along with viewers and calculation tools. SolidWorks is coming soon.
“I need to test my Windows programs”
A VM is heavy and borrowing a PC is a hassle; you just want a quick run.
Spin up a clean environment in seconds, test, delete it without a trace. Visual Studio is coming soon.
“We switched to Mac, our systems didn't”
The in-house ERP, inventory and office clients are Windows-only, so Mac users are stuck.
Give each system its own environment; Pro includes a commercial license so everyone keeps working.
“I don't want to lose my old apps”
Years of small tools, older apps and a few games don't come along to a new computer.
Bring them with you, along with a familiar Windows desktop.
Home lists every app and environment you have. Your favorite environments sit on top like browser tabs: one click to switch.
Every setup in the Setup Center is one we installed from scratch and checked step by step. All you bring is your installer and your license.
Available setups include Office, Access, Project, Visio, Publisher, QuickBooks Desktop and AutoCAD, with more on the way.
Enter your own product key and activate online, or sign in with Microsoft 365, just like on a Windows PC. Word, Excel, PowerPoint, Outlook, Access and Publisher all work, with Verified Setups for retail and volume-licensed editions.
Some apps expect a Start menu and a system tray. Open the Windows desktop and they're there: Start menu, taskbar and tray, plus clock, to-do and sticky-note widgets.
One environment for accounting, another for design. If something goes wrong, delete that environment and start over: nothing else is affected.
Other tools copy the whole runtime into every environment. CrossDriver App shares one copy and stores only each environment's own changes.
Every set takes more disk, and each new environment means minutes of copying.
New environments in seconds. If one breaks, reset it in one click: the shared part is untouched.
A freshly created default environment measured 2 MB. Make one per app, version or client.
Windows apps query the registry thousands of times at launch. Ours is a database, so lookups hit directly: faster installs, faster launches, even months later.
No app can change the shared system files and break others; each environment's changes stay in its own copy.
Move an older app to a high-res screen and you typically get blurry text, tiny icons and jagged edges. We smoothed them out one by one.
Double-click an .exe and CrossDriver App opens it.
Put your favorite Windows apps in Applications and find them in Launchpad and Spotlight.
The Dock and ⌘Tab show Excel and Word, so you always know which is which.
Proxy settings from your Mac carry over to Windows apps, for faster downloads.
Files deleted in Windows apps go to the Mac Trash, ready to drag back.
Windows 10, classic, or windows that look like the Mac's.
Open and save files on your Mac, no copying needed.
Drop an installer on the window; if there's a ready-made setup, it's suggested.
Move the pointer over an app's icon and CrossDriver App gets things ready in the background. By the time you click, most of the wait is gone.
Measured times. Launch times vary by app and Mac model.
Not sure? Choose the Universal edition.
Every Mac
Both editions in one. Choose "Native" or "Rosetta" when you create an environment and manage old and new apps in one place.
Macs with M1 or later
Built for Apple silicon with no translation layer: much faster, and a smaller download.
Intel Macs and Apple silicon Macs
Supports the most apps, including older and 32-bit software.
Apple has announced that from macOS 28, Rosetta will remain only for certain older games. Many ways of running Windows apps that depend on it will be affected.
The Apple silicon native edition of CrossDriver App doesn't use Rosetta. It runs directly on M-series chips, and faster. When macOS 28 arrives, your apps keep working.
If an app needs an extra runtime, you're told before it opens, and one click installs it.
No cryptic error codes: one sentence on what happened and what to do.
Send us a screenshot and logs with one click; personal information is removed first.
Every app we fix becomes a new setup for everyone, free edition included.
The full release arrives in December. Download the preview now and get every Pro feature for free.
Personal, non-commercial use
For work, or for lots of apps
No. You only need the installer and license of the app you want to run, such as your Office product key.
A virtual machine installs a whole Windows PC inside your Mac: you buy Windows, give it memory and disk, and wait for Windows to boot before opening an app. CrossDriver App runs Windows apps directly on the Mac, each in its own Mac window, so they open faster and use far less.
Not on its own. With CrossDriver App you double-click the .exe and it opens on your Mac. More in How to run .exe files on a Mac.
Yes, on every Mac with Apple silicon and on Intel Macs, with macOS 12 or later. Boot Camp isn't available on Apple silicon, and you don't need it: see Windows apps on M1–M4 Macs.
Yes, when you need Windows apps rather than all of Windows. See how it compares with Parallels Desktop and with CrossOver, Wine and Whisky.
Yes. CrossDriver App runs the Windows version of Office: VBA macros run in full, and COM add-ins, ActiveX controls and Power Pivot work too, none of which Excel for Mac supports. Not sure about a particular add-in? Install it with the free edition and try it.
Check the list above or look it up. If it isn't listed, install it once with the free edition and see, at no cost.
As many as you like. The free edition holds many apps in one environment; Pro lets you create any number of environments to keep them apart.
Yes, some Windows games run. Our focus is work software and game compatibility varies by title, so try with the free edition first.
The preview is available now with every Pro feature free until December 31, 2026. The full release arrives in December; apps and environments from the preview import in one click, no reinstalling.
Yes. Apple scales back Rosetta from macOS 28, and the Apple silicon native edition of CrossDriver App doesn't depend on it, so it keeps working after you upgrade.
If you're not sure, the Universal edition works on every Mac.
No. Nothing stays resident: after you close your apps for a while, everything is released automatically.
Delete the environments you no longer need in the App, then drag CrossDriver App to the Trash.
The preview includes every Pro feature for free, and your first Windows app is minutes away. Full release in December.
Download the CrossDriver App previewThis covers the website only: browsing, downloading, looking up an app and sending a request. For the app itself, see the full privacy policy.
The pages use no cookies and no third-party analytics or ads. The site log records only the time, the address requested and the result, with no IP address or browser details, and is kept for about 8 weeks.
When you click download, our server records the time, the version and architecture, where the click came from (the website button, an in-app update or another link) and the country or region worked out from your IP address. The IP address itself is not stored with the download. The installer is delivered by Tencent Cloud's EdgeOne content delivery network, which processes your IP address to do so and keeps access logs under Tencent Cloud's privacy policy.
The name you type is sent to our API server, windows.crossdriver.com/api/, for the lookup and is not saved. Like every API request, it appears in that server's access log with the request address (including the search), your IP address and browser details; the log is kept for about 8 weeks and used only to fix problems and prevent abuse.
We keep the name, version, type and note you enter, the page language, the country or region worked out from your IP address, and a salted hash of the IP address (to merge repeat submissions within 24 hours). The IP address itself is not stored.
The email field is optional. If you fill it in, we send you one email once that app is supported (through Alibaba Cloud's business mail service) and nothing after that. It is never used for marketing or shared with anyone.
Our servers are in Hong Kong (Alibaba Cloud).
To see or delete a request and email address you sent, write to feedback@crossdriver.com. The full details are in our privacy policy.