TransGaming Promises Faster Mac Game Ports With Cider

TransGaming, Inc. on Thursday introduced Cider, technology that promises to convert Windows games to Mac OS X on Intel processors without the need for the long porting process traditionally required to bring titles to the platform. The company said that it has already forged agreements "with a number of the top tier video game publishers" to bring many of their titles to Intel-based Macs "in the next few months."

Cider isnit aimed at end-users, unlike TransGamingis Linux technology Cedega, but the company said that it doesnit require any modifications to the original Windows code when running a game on the Mac. It loads the software into memory and links it to Mac equivalents of various Windows APIs (Application Programming Interfaces). TransGaming said that it will work with publishers to make sure their games run properly, a process that it said will take somewhere between hours and a few days. Currently, porting a game to the Mac is a months-long affair.