Running .exe files on Mac OSX Lion?

[abrar2011]

Are there any free applications/softwares that would allow me to use .exe files on my Mac?

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

Can you be a bit more specific about what you want to do ?

You will need a Windows Install disc with license for BootCamp or VirtualBox

BootCamp:

dual boot between Mac & Windows (found in your Utilities folder), is multi-boot utility included with Apple Inc's Mac OS X .

VirtualBox

VirtualBox is a general-purpose full virtualizer for x86 hardware, targeted at server, desktop and embedded use.

An other approach is to use Wine:

Wine

is different. When any program runs, it requests resources like memory and disk space from the operating system. All that Wine does is make sure that those requests get answered so that the program can run correctly. As far as the program knows, everything is going smoothly because it has everything it needs. It never even realizes that it's not running on Windows! It's simpler than emulating a whole new computer, so it's faster. Since it's just translating requests, you don't need a copy of the actual Windows operating system. Plus, Wine is open source, which means people are continually improving it and adding new features. And you can't beat the price!

​

Hope this answers your question.
Make sure your Mac meet the System Requirements of each program.

If you want to simply extract something from an exe file you can check out:

File Juicer

does not run EXE files. It searches inside the EXE file to see if it contains images, Flash games or animations, compressed .ZIP or .RAR archives and many other formats. If if finds any, it will extract and save them.

 

[abrar2011]

Can you be a bit more specific about what you want to do ?

All I wanna do is download an .exe file to my Mac, and play the game.
I'm a big fan of Age of Empires games, and I kinda miss the old basic version, which wouldn't work on my Windows 7 PC because the computer is too advanced for it.
and I can't find Age of Empires for Mac.... anywhere. I can find the demo version, but it's an exe file, only for Windows, so I just wanna use that file on my Mac. Is it even possible?

 

[Kaveman]

No, it is not possible!

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

I'm a big fan of Age of Empires games

If you want to shell out some cash you can buy CrossOver Games, (run Windows games on Macs), it is Intel Macs only & Mac OS X Leopard (10.5.x) or later is recommended.

I can't comment on how your game will run but you can always give the free trial a spin if your Mac meets all the System Requirements.

 

[abrar2011]

If you want to shell out some cash you can buy CrossOver Games, (run Windows games on Macs), it is Intel Macs only & Mac OS X Leopard (10.5.x) or later is recommended.

I can't comment on how your game will run but you can always give the free trial a spin if your Mac meets all the System Requirements.

Thanks. I tried the free version, it's complicated. I guess I should just forget about it. That game sure is pretty old, might not even work on my Mac. I mean, it's not even working on Windows 7, I can't expect it to run on a Mac.

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

You are making the right choice. Were you aware that AOE III is available for Mac OS X?

 

[abrar2011]

You are making the right choice. Were you aware that AOE III is available for Mac OS X?

Yes, but I don't like the new game's interface, I liked the old and simple one, the Rise of Rome (demo), maybe because I've played that the most. Though I might download AOE III if I REALLY REALLY miss it. lol.
Do you happen to know if 'Rise of Nations' is available for Mac?

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

As far as I know it is ... just have a look here.

 

[abrar2011]

As far as I know it is ... just have a look here.

I could've done that too, but I decided to ask you because sometimes people put on Google stuff that doesn't exist, and I didn't wanna risk anything opening risky links. But I found a good file, and it's being downloaded. Thanks though.

 

[Spawn_Dooley]

No problems abrar2011

 

[karazelle]

Both vmware fusion and parallels desktop allows you to create a virtual machine with Windows XP (bring your own license, Home is good enough by far) and these support Direct X as well inside the virtual machine. So it might be possible to play Age of Empires after all. I will try if I can make it work so you don't shell out for either of these unnecessary

Update: I tested. It worked great. Video, sound and all. Windows XP with 1Gb RAM, vmware fusion.