Software Alternatives, Accelerators & Startups

Porting Kit VS Darling

Compare Porting Kit VS Darling and see what are their differences

Porting Kit logo Porting Kit

Install Windows Games in Mac OS X natively and easily and for free with Wineskin technology

Darling logo Darling

Run macOS applications on Linux
  • Porting Kit Landing page
    Landing page //
    2022-03-23
  • Darling Landing page
    Landing page //
    2021-10-09

Porting Kit features and specs

  • User-Friendly Interface
    Porting Kit offers a simple and intuitive interface that makes it easy for users to port Windows games and applications to macOS.
  • Compatibility
    It supports a wide range of Windows applications and games, providing macOS users with access to software that otherwise wouldn't be available on their operating systems.
  • Cost-Effective
    Porting Kit is a cost-effective solution compared to purchasing a separate Windows machine, as it allows users to run Windows apps directly on their Mac.
  • Community Support
    Being supported by an active community, users can find tutorials, guides, and troubleshooting tips to enhance their experience with the tool.

Possible disadvantages of Porting Kit

  • Performance Issues
    Some applications and games may not run at optimal performance levels due to the emulation layer between Windows software and macOS.
  • Compatibility Limitations
    While it supports a wide range of applications, there are still some Windows programs and games that might not work as expected or at all.
  • Technical Knowledge Requirement
    Users might need a certain level of technical knowledge to troubleshoot issues and fully utilize the software’s capabilities.
  • Potential Stability Concerns
    Since Porting Kit operates as an intermediary layer, there can be stability issues leading to crashes or unexpected behavior in some applications.

Darling features and specs

  • Compatibility with macOS Applications
    Darling allows users to run macOS applications on Linux systems by providing a translation layer that emulates Apple’s macOS environment.
  • Open Source
    Darling is an open-source project, enabling developers to contribute to its development and users to inspect and modify the code as needed.
  • Community Driven
    As a community-driven project, Darling benefits from collaborative efforts and contributions from a variety of developers, which can lead to continuous improvements.
  • No Need for Virtual Machines
    Unlike using a virtual machine to run macOS on Linux, Darling runs applications natively, which can lead to better performance and reduced resource usage.

Possible disadvantages of Darling

  • Limited Application Support
    Darling does not support all macOS applications; compatibility is limited and many software types, particularly those requiring advanced graphics or system features, may not run properly.
  • Active Development
    As Darling is still in active development, users might encounter bugs and incomplete features, making it less reliable for production environments.
  • Complex Setup
    Setting up Darling can be more complex than alternative solutions, requiring technical knowledge of Linux and compiling software.
  • Lack of Official Support
    Being a community-based project, there is no official support channel for Darling, which can make troubleshooting more challenging for non-technical users.

Porting Kit videos

How to play Windows games on your Mac with Porting Kit

More videos:

  • Review - Porting Kit Diaries: Anno 1404 for Mac and M1 Apple Silicon

Darling videos

Darling Tamil Movie Review - G.V Prakash - Tamil Talkies

More videos:

  • Review - Darling Movie Review (Netflix Arthouse Horror!)
  • Review - Darling review by prashanth

Category Popularity

0-100% (relative to Porting Kit and Darling)
Group Chat & Notifications
Cloud Computing
54 54%
46% 46
Gaming
54 54%
46% 46
Tool
46 46%
54% 54

User comments

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Reviews

These are some of the external sources and on-site user reviews we've used to compare Porting Kit and Darling

Porting Kit Reviews

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Darling Reviews

15 Lutris Alternatives
Darling is an open-source compatibility layer that makes Linux act like macOS. It is a small and reliable compatibility layer for Windows that lets you run Windows programs on other platforms, like Linux and macOS. It's the same as using Windows directly on Linux; you won't need emulators to run Windows software. This program gives its users a lot of help, which makes it...

Social recommendations and mentions

Based on our record, Porting Kit should be more popular than Darling. It has been mentiond 33 times since March 2021. We are tracking product recommendations and mentions on various public social media platforms and blogs. They can help you identify which product is more popular and what people think of it.

Porting Kit mentions (33)

  • Help installing wine 7.0 on mac
    Not sure what your goals are with wine, but if it just to play some games, let me suggest that you take a look at portingkit, which does a lot of the wine heavy lifting for you. Maybe that'll meet your needs. https://portingkit.com. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Porting kit Skyrim issues on M1 Mac mini (low settings)
    Thanks for your reply, it's basically a way to have a library of wine wrappers: https://portingkit.com. Source: over 3 years ago
  • I have a 2020 MacBook Air and I’ve literally tried everything, GeForce is laggy for me parallels and bootcamp need an intel processor, and crossover has issues🤦🏽‍♂️ Is there anything else to try?
    Porting kit is a free wine based solution. Doesn’t work as well as crossover but it’s free https://portingkit.com/. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Age of Mythology crashes after 5 minutes
    It's running fine for me with https://portingkit.com on my M1 Air 8GB. Source: over 3 years ago
  • Help
    Your options include: Parallels with Windows 11 ARM Insider Preview, Crossover 21, WineSkin, PlayOnMac, or Porting Kit. Source: over 3 years ago
View more

Darling mentions (8)

  • Anon uses a thinkpad
    Not really possible (yet). Darling tries to do this, but so far it can mainly just run some command-line Darwin software (the open source part of Apple's OSes). Some simple GUI apps too, but you won't be running something like Xcode on Linux any time soon. Source: about 2 years ago
  • SheepShaver: macOS run-time environment for BeOS and Linux
    I really look forward to reliable (modern) macOS emulation, a la wine. I miss some of my wee little Mac utilities / games now that I’m in Linux full-time. I’m rooting for the guys working on stuff like Darling[0], but it looks like they still have a long road ahead. [0] https://darlinghq.org/. - Source: Hacker News / about 2 years ago
  • Check mate, Windows users. Plus side loading on Windows 11 is a big pain
    In addition to wine, there's also mono and darling ... Source: over 2 years ago
  • Why linux cant run mac os apps natively?
    Because they are different kernels, Closest thing is Darling (compatibility layer like Wine) but it's still WIP (Work In Progress). Source: almost 3 years ago
  • airyxOS is a macOS clone, built on FreeBSD. (Beta ISO available.)
    That already exists! In fact, that’s what they’re using in the project: https://darlinghq.org/. Source: over 3 years ago
View more

What are some alternatives?

When comparing Porting Kit and Darling, you can also consider the following products

Wine - Open Source Software for running Windows applications on other operating systems.

CodeWeavers CrossOver - Don't buy a Windows license, don't reboot and don't use a Virtual Machine. Try a free trial of CrossOver to run your Windows software on Mac, Linux and Chrome OS.

PlayOnLinux - PlayOnLinux will allow you to play your favorite games on Linux easily

WineBottler - WineBottler is an App to manage and wrap your Windows apps into convenient OS X apps.

Turbo.net for Mac - Turbo.net for Mac runs PC and other apps on Mac without VMs.

Proton - Compatibility tool for Steam Play based on Wine and additional components