Make no mistake, Windows is still the most used (and popular) operating systems for desktops and laptops. So you can bet on it that many people are still relying on Windows applications daily to accomplish their tasks.

If you were previously a Windows user who had migrated to another platform or operating system, and are missing your Windows applications already, there are a few different methods to bring your Windows applications back.

You can go for dual booting on Linux, or go with Bootcamp or Parallels on Mac, or you can install these following apps that I’m going to show you. These applications will allow you to install and run Windows applications right on your non-Windows operating systems e.g. Mac OS X, GNU/Linux, Ubuntu, BSD and Solaris.

Recommended Reading: Mac Vs. PC: Myth-Busting Guide For Consumers

1. Wine

Wine is recursive acronym for Wine Is Not an Emulator. Started in 1993, Wine is an open source project, developed and maintained by the community under the coordination of Alexandre Julliard.

Wine is a compatibility layer between Windows programs and the operating system. It converts Windows API calls to POSIX calls, thus allowing integration of Windows applications to POSIX-compliant OS (Mac OS X, GNU/Linux, and BSD). Rather than an emulator or virtual machine, it is a reimplementation of Win32 API.

Wine primarily supports Windows XP, but support for newer versions of Windows is actively included in its new releases. Wine supports 32-bit architecture; support for 64-bit architecture is still under development. WIth Wine, you can run programs such as MS Office, Windows Media Player, Adobe Photoshop, Max Payne, and several other games and applications.

More: Application Compatibility Database

2. CrossOver

CrossOver is a commercialized, and supported, version of Wine for Linux and Mac OS X. It is proprietary software with out-of-the-box support for many commercial Windows applications like MS Office, MS Outlook, MS .NET Framework, Adobe Lightroom, DirectX, etc.

On top of that you can also play popular games like Counter Strike, Half Life, Diablo, StartCraft, World of Warcraft on it. Though Wine is a free alternative, CrossOver, provided by CodeWeavers, is a better choice for professionals and organizations who want to run particular software on Linux or Mac OS X.

More: Application Compatibility Database

3. PlayOnLinux

Now while Wine and CrossOver provides support for many applications and with Wine, you need to customize settings for the particular app, and for CrossOver you have to fork out money for it. PlayOnLinux is a nice alternative for both (if you are on Mac, skip to the next one).

PlayOnLinux is a graphical front-end for Wine compatibility layer. It simplifies the installation of Windows apps and (especiall)y games on GNU/Linux by auto-configuring Wine. It provides wrapper shell scripts to specify the configuration of Wine for any particular software. It also uses an online database of scripts to apply for different programs, and a manual installation can be performed if the script is not available.

More: Application Compatibility List

4. PlayOnMac

Like PlayOnLinux, PlayOnMac is a graphical software built on top of Wine. It aims to ease the installation of Windows programs and games on Mac OS.

You can use PlayOnMac to easily install many apps and games on Mac OS, without the need of making changes to Wine’s configuration for that particular program. PlayOnMac takes care of Wine’s settings so that you don’t have to configure them manually, and you can enjoy using the software or game.

More: Application Compatibility List

5. WineBottler

WineBottler is an app packager, which means it packages Windows-based applications into Mac app-bundles. The name suggests that it is connected to Wine, which is basically how you can run Windows programs with it on your Mac. To use it, install it. That’s it.

Click the Install button in WineBottler and it will take care of the rest. It comes with handy scripts that take care of downloading, installing, and configuring an application for you. WineBottler can pack your Windows .exe software into Mac .app package and convert .exe or .msi into an app. It even provides options to install special dependencies. Read more on its documentation.

6. Wineskin

Wineskin, which also uses Wine to run Windows applications, is a porting tool. It allows you to port Windows applications in Mac application bundle wrappers, which can then run on Mac OS X and even shared with other Mac users. It works with Snow Leopard, Lion and Mountain Lion.

Wineskin uses a customized version of X Window System, known as WineskinX11, to provide the graphical user interface for Windows programs on the Mac OS X. Once you have created a Mac application bundle of any Windows program, you can easily run it on your Mac OS X just like any other native software. For more info, check out the documentation.

7. Q4Wine

Q4Wine is a QT4 graphical user interface for the Wine compatibility layer. It’s available for GNU/Linux and FreeBSD. It helps you to manage Wine prefixes and installed applications in an easy-to-use graphical interface.

Q4Wine lets you easily handle tasks for creating and managing Wine prefixes, controlling Wine processes, making backup of prefixes, and many more tasks that would otherwise not be as easy to handle.

Flat design examples are cropping up all over the Web. With emphasis on simplicity and color, it's quite easy to manage design rules when you're working flat. Of course, for every new design trend, there will be lovers and haters but more importantly, there will be plenty of examples that will inspire. In the list below we’ve collected 20 flat mobile icon designs for your inspiration.

Check out our other flat design posts:

• Long Shadow Design – A New Trend?
• Freebie: Long Shadow Flat Icon Set
• Showcase of Beautiful Flat UI Design
• Ultimate Guide to Flat Website Design
• 20 Beautiful Flat WordPress Themes

1. Ornage Basket Limited App Icon by Reuben Masaya

2. iOS 7 Camera Icon by Reuben Masaya

3. Official Clover Studio by Reuben Masaya

4. LinkEver App Icon by Reuben Masaya

5. Camera Icon by Daniel Vierich

6. Safari by Slava Beskrovniy

7. Fox Icon by Christoph Gromer

8. Icons-No.2 by Jee

9. Localization In A Shopping Mall by leto

10. Serie A by Danilo Marinaccio

11. iOS 7 Flat Icons by Per Square Media

12. Instagram Long Shadow by Tatsuya Nakafuji

13. Flat Stethoscope by Travis Lee Street

14. New Brand Design (iconography v.1) by Mirco Moretti

15. Long Shadow Icons by Georgi Davitaya

16. Geometric Edit @2x by Mike Beecham

17. Nintendo 8 Bit by Linn Fritz

18. Flat Icons by Patrick M.

19. Mail by Russ Rosenberg

20. Flat Cam by Gevi Marotz

There are productivity apps like Any.Do that syncs its to-do lists across multiple devices, but when it comes to contact lists and events in your calendar, nothing seems to make the cut. And yet having access to these important details on your wide range of mobile gadgets is crucial to your business and freelancing career. In comes Fruux.

Fruux is essentially an address book which you can install into a large number of devices:

• Operating systems: Windows, Mac OS X, Linux
• Mobile: Android, iOS, Blackberry, Firefox OS
• Email and calendar clients, etc

Fruux helps you to manage and unify your contacts and calendar events across the many different platforms and/or devices you own. That way you have all your contact info and calendar events at your finger tips, no matter which device you are tapping, swiping or clicking through.

Recommended Reading: Organize Your Social Media Events With Sunrise Calendar App

Setting Up Fruux On Your Devices

To get it to sync your contacts or calendar events, first register an account with Fruux, then add the ‘devices’ that you want to sync your details between.

Fruux takes you through the entire process of setting up a device with step-by-step instructions, making the setup painless. This is important if you have many devices to add.

You can even add another layer of security by using a different credential and password for each device you want to sync with Fruux.

Once your devices are set up and in sync, any contact or calendar event you add to one device will appear on all other connected devices.

Syncing New Contacts And Events

To illustrate this syncing ability, we have set up an iPhone (as an added device) together with an email client. Initially, the contacts on the iPhone are not shown on the email client.

When Fruux is used as the default account on the iPhone, however, new contacts that are added to Contacts on the iPhone will be synced to the email client. This can also work with other devices that you have added to Fruux.

A Drawback

However, note that all syncing can only be done to new contacts and events that are added on any of the synced devices. Your pre-existing contacts and events will not be synced.

If this is important to you or your business, you will be pleased to know that you can add these existing details via the Fruux website. The site allows you to add contacts, import contact files, as well as add and manage address books.

Pricing

Fruux is free if you just want to sync two devices, but if you want more, you can sync up to 10 devices for a small subscription fee of €4/month or €40/year.

Want to share calendars with a large team? There’s a Team package with extra perks that you can consider, which starts you off with 5 members for €20/month and €4 for each additional member.

Conclusion

Based on our quick testing, the syncing from one device to the next is effortless, making Fruux a handy management service for the busy entrepreneur (or mutli-gadget owner). If you’re in need of the ultimate contact and events manager, give Fruux a try.