Table of Contents
The Bottle Manager is the main tool for configuring CrossOver. It can be run from the CrossOver menu by selecting Manage Bottles from the Configure menu.
A bottle is a virtual windows environment. Each bottle contains a unique C drive and all its standard sub directories: Windows, Program Files, etc. A bottle also contains a complete Windows registry, a full set of most CrossOver settings, and one or more Windows applications.
CrossOver allows you to maintain multiple bottles in one CrossOver installation. This is like having several different Windows machines operating together on your single Linux computer. This is useful anytime you want to install multiple applications yet prevent them from interacting or damaging one another. For example: Typically the Internet Explorer 6.0 installer upgrades any existing Internet Explorer 5.0 installation. Using bottles it is possible to install Internet Explorer 6.0 into a new, empty bottle, while leaving an existing install of Internet Explorer 5.0 intact and untouched.
Multiple bottles are also useful anytime a particular application requires special system settings that are otherwise undesirable. It is also possible to maintain bottles that emulate different Windows versions. For example, Microsoft Office 2003 only works on Windows versions 2000 or later, whereas Microsoft Office 97 runs best in a bottle that emulates Windows 98.
Most CrossOver users will be happy using a single, default bottle. The CrossOver Software Installer will automatically create the default bottle and any other bottles which you may need during normal use.
![[Important]](images.common/dbimages/important.png)
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Parts of this manual that specifically relate to multiple-bottle installations are marked with a bottle icon, like this. |
The Bottle Manager allows you to create, delete, and modify the bottles in your CrossOver install. For the most part, the CrossOver Software Installer will take care of creating appropriate bottles, but this dialog provides more direct control.
+. This button creates a new bottle. You will have an opportunity to choose which Windows mode the bottle will emulate.
-. This button will delete the selected bottle. This will remove all applications, settings, and documents that are inside this bottle's directory.
Add Duplicate.. The copy button allows you to create a duplicate of an existing bottle. The duplicate will contain the same applications and settings as the original.
Add From Archive.. This button will allow you to choose and restore a bottle archive created with the Archive button. The restored bottle will be replaced in your bottle list, and the files copied into your bottle directory.
Publish... The button makes a managed copy of a selected bottle. You will be prompted for a name for this managed bottle. Once the bottle is copied, all the users of your system will have access to the applications and data in that bottle.
![[Tip]](images.common/dbimages/tip.png)
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Any private data that is stored in a bottle's C: drive (for example, passwords, login information, private emails, etc.) will be available to all users on the system. Generally it is best to publish a new bottle before you have configured or used any of the installed applications. |
Most bottle settings can be adjusted once a bottle is created. The Windows version of a bottle, however, must be chosen when the bottle is created.
The CrossOver Software Installer will set the Windows version appropriately when creating a new bottle. If you are creating a bottle by hand you must specify a Windows version.
Most supported applications run best in a bottle of type 'win98'. A few applications (Office 2003 and iTunes in particular) require a newer operating system to run, and must be installed into a 'win2000' or 'winXP' bottle. When installing unsupported applications, it may be worthwhile to test them in both a win98 and a win2000 bottle to determine which works the best. For purposes of compatibility, winXP and win2000 are generally equivalent.
Hide file extensions in windows programs. When this option is selected, Windows file dialogs will display filenames without their extensions. For example, the file "Resume.doc" will appear as "Resume". Note that this can make it hard to distinguish files when they only differ by their extensions such as "photo.jpg" and "photo.png".
Outlook Security. To improve resistance to email worms and viruses, CrossOver can prevent Outlook from opening certain types of attachments. This restriction is only enforced for Outlook and does not apply to other Windows email clients such as Notes. You can specify the extensions to block using the Extension list.
Display system tray icons and windows. Some Windows applications place icons in the Windows system tray. The system tray is hidden by default, but if you are using a program which requires the system tray for proper function, turn on this option. The system tray will appear as a window within the CrossOver application.