Author Archives → jfbmusic

CrossOver 25 for Painless Mac Gaming

Many Mac gamers are fans of CrossOver, a Mac application that enables you to run native Windows software on macOS. When compatible, it’s an easy way to play PC games on your Mac. I once used it to play a PC-only Star Wars online role-playing game (RPG) on my Mac. I stopped not because CrossOver failed, but because I realized I can’t be trusted with an online RPG.

The latest version, CrossOver 25, introduces several enhancements, including the ability to play popular PC games like Red Dead Redemption 2. It’s built on Wine 10.0, incorporating over 5,000 improvements that benefit many applications. Notably, CrossOver doesn’t require a Windows license, making it a straightforward solution for running Windows apps on your Mac.

If you’re using a Mac and are missing your PC games, CrossOver 25 might be the answer you’re looking for.

CrossOver can also run PC productivity apps, too. I have a friend that uses it to run an ancient Windows version of Quicken. (Long story…)

iA Writer Improvements

For reasons unknown, I took about a year off from using iA Writer and recently rediscovered it.

They’ve made a lot of improvements. For example, you can import text into your document, and iA Writer will track that as imported text. This works well if you use a large language model (LLM) to help with your writing.

The ability to highlight structure and grammar is better than ever, and the library features are much improved. Historically, I felt that was the weakest point of this application. Another feature that caught me flat-footed was inter-document navigation. Just surround the document name with two square brackets and command-click to jump between them. Everything links these days.

I’ve always felt the iA Writer team has respected the application’s primary purpose: to give you a focused writing environment. However, the evolution of the application, with a few additional features, dramatically improves its utility without losing sight of that.

This Month in the MacSparky Labs

Here’s some of the content that was released in the Labs for the month of January 2024:

  • 2024-01-31 – Q&A with MacSparky – January 2024 (Levels 1-3)
  • 2024-01-30 – Collaborative Email with Spark Mail (Levels 2-3)
  • 2024-01-29 – Kagi Search (Levels 1-3)
  • 2024-01-29 – Sparky’s Focus Modes (Levels 2-3)
  • 2024-01-26 – Lab Report for January 26 (Levels 1-3)
  • 2024-01-25 – Testing PodHighlighter (Levels 2-3)
  • 2024-01-24 – What’s New in iOS 17.3 (Levels 1-3)
  • 2024-01-22 – Vision Pro Thoughts (Levels 1-3)
  • 2024-01-19 – Lab Report for January 19, 2024 (Levels 1)
  • 2024-01-19 – Vision Pro Order Day (Levels 1-3)
  • 2024-01-18 – Repeating Task Strategy in Reminders (Labs 1)
  • 2024-01-18 – Task Management Deep Dive (Level 3)
  • 2024-01-17 – Q1 Planning Video (Levels 2-3)
  • 2024-01-15 – Apple Vision Pro Thoughts (Levels 1-3)
  • 2024-01-12 – Lab Report for January 12, 2024 (Labs 1)
  • 2024-01-11 – Using Serinity App on Your Mac (Labs 1)
  • 2024-01-10 – Labs January Meetup (Levels 2-3)
  • 2024-01-08 – The Case for Journaling (Levels 2-3)
  • 2024-01-07 – Early Access to the Productivity Field Guide (Levels 2-3)
  • 2024-01-05 – Lab Report for January 5, 2024 (Levels 1-3)
  • 2024-01-04 – The Case for Journaling (Levels 1-3)
  • 2024-01-03 – Quarter 1 Planning Webinars (Level 3)
  • 2024-01-01 – Happy New Year from Sparky (Levels 1-3)

If you’d like to be a part of the MacSparky Labs, you can get more information and join right here.