# installing .exe files on Mac OS X



## mmakovy (Aug 9, 2006)

I have just boughten a 2000 dollar Mac Book Pro and when I turned it on and set it up it could not run .exe files is there something I can download for free to run them????


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## eric2006 (Aug 9, 2006)

a .exe is a Windows Executable file - meaning it won't run on OS X. You'll need to install Windows with Bootcamp if you really need to run .exe's. Otherwise, look for a mac/OS X version of the file in question.


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## plasmacutter (Aug 9, 2006)

.exe files are windows dependent.  they require windows libraries to run.

I would suggest looking into wine or something like it for mac.

You can install windows on any intel mac with bootcamp to boot into windows, but it's best to get apps native to macos X

you can find mac equivalents to windows apps on pages like macupdate.com and versiontracker.com .


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## gabrielleitao (Aug 9, 2006)

EXE are executable files for Windows based computers, just like Eric and plasmacutter told you.

I love Macintosh because all of the viruses in the world are EXE! And they cannot be opened on Mac!  Yesterday someone sent me a file called: dirtypictures.exe and coudnt open, and I wouldnt open neither, because I knew it was a virus.... I was like laughing my ass off for those who waste their time trying to send me Virus Spam mail to Macintosh users... lol....LMAO... I know there was some viruses for Mac OS 9 before, but we are talking about running Mac OS X here, right. 

Anyway, You can always install BootCamp---> http://www.apple.com/macosx/bootcamp
Be sure of following the instructions of how to install it propertly on your Macintosh, and remember that it must be Windows Xp Service Pack 2


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## ElDiabloConCaca (Aug 10, 2006)

gabrielleitao said:


> I love Macintosh because all of the viruses in the world are EXE!


Completely untrue -- SOME viruses are .exe files... some others are .dll files... some others are VBScript files... some others don't come in file form at all.


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## gabrielleitao (Aug 10, 2006)

I knew someone was going to correct me on this. Totally forgot about DLL...


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## eric2006 (Aug 10, 2006)

On a related note, what does WINE do on OS X, if it's not an emulator?


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## MisterMe (Aug 10, 2006)

*WINE* is a cloned set of Windows APIs which allows some Windows apps to run on other operating systems, particularly Linux. On an Intel-based computer, no emulator is required because x86 code is running on an x86-based computer. Corel uses *WINE* to run *WordPerfect* on Linux/86. *WINE* requires an emulator for PPC-based Macs and Linux/PPC. The emulator selected for the PPC version of *DarWINE*, the port of *WINE* for Darwin, is *Qemu*.


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## Mikuro (Aug 10, 2006)

eric2006 said:


> On a related note, what does WINE do on OS X, if it's not an emulator?


In its current state, Darwine for PPC does very little. It can be used by Windows developers to recompile their apps for PPC without abandoning the Windows APIs. Currently I don't think it can run any Windows apps that have not been specifically targeted for Darwine. (But I haven't checked on it in a while; maybe their QEMU integration has reached a useful level at this point.)

On Intel Macs, Darwine can supposedly run unaltered Windows apps, but it's still not easy to use.


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## Captain Code (Aug 10, 2006)

I can see some confusion about this based on Apple's TV commercials. "run all your Windows stuff on your Mac".  Yeah you can but you still need Windows as well.  New Macs can just run Windows that's all.

Look for Parallels Desktop as well which runs Windows in a window on OS X without booting into Windows separately.


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## muggiemac (Aug 17, 2006)

I found the Sourceforge version and I see that CodeWeavers is about to release WINE for Mac OSX on the Intel Mac's. However so far there really isn't any info on how to load or configure it that makes sense. All the documentation talks about using Regedit to do the configuration and isn't Regedit a Windows thing? I think Macs use System Preferences. If you have Regedit then I doubt you need WINE, you already have Windows. I really don't want to go the Bootcamp route if it can be avoided. 

So has anyone on this list successfully used WINE and would you be willing to offer a bit of advise and getting going?


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## Boomy (Aug 17, 2006)

I have used wine in Linux. It doesn't work with alot of apps, but some apps work perfectly. Crossover is much more polished than Wine.  Wine installs a whole fake Windows directory, with "program files" "drive:c" "windows" etc, so I imagine what they mean by running regedit would be an .exe located in the  virtual "windows" folder.


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## muggiemac (Aug 17, 2006)

I guess I'll wait for CrossOver, but do you know if WINE will run the Windows version of Windows Media Player. They say WMP 6.5 runs but that's relatively as old as I am. I would need ato run at least WMP 9, not the one created to run on Mac OS however. If not I guess I am forced to do the dual boot thing and I really didn't want Windows on this machine.


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