I have a CD-Rom PC game that runs on Windows 98, 2000, XP. How can I run this game on my new iMac?
I have a CD-ROM PC game that runs on Windows 98, 2000, XP. How can I run this games on my new iMac?
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You probably cannot since the most recent Macs are using Apple Silicon M1/M2 CPUs while your older Windows games are using 32bit software for Intel CPUs which are a completely different architecture.
It seems the paid third party CodeWeavers CrossOver app may work for some Windows apps, but you should check for compatibility of those apps first since many Windows apps especially really old ones probably won't work. Just because an app may work, does not mean it will be perfect, nor does it mean the app Windows will look like they do when using Windows. CrossOver is good for a small number of apps, but won't work for many other apps.
Another option again with very limited abilities and will incur significant performance penalties is to try running Windows within a Parallels Virtual Machine (paid third party app), but this setup has a lot of limitations especially for DirectX and OpenGL support as well as some other items. Make sure to research all the limitations of this option before paying for the Parallels app. Keep in mind Windows 11 may have dropped support for some really old Windows software, so you will also need to confirm if those older Windows games will even work with Win11.
Make sure to research these options carefully before paying for any third party apps since these options are not guaranteed to work for all Windows apps, especially for graphics and performance. As you can see, all of these options have multiple possible issues so be very careful.
You will probably be better off getting a Windows computer and finding newer releases of those older games which have been updated to work on newer versions of Windows and so they work correctly on faster hardware. Many older apps have been updated, but will require a new purchase. Steam and GOG are two good sources of finding updated versions of many older games. If you don't go for updated versions of the games, then you will probably have a better experience running those older games using an older computer running an older version of Windows.