Roll-up all CrossOver fans. Developers CodeWeavers are bidding one last goodbye to George Bush with their "Lame Duck President Challenge Offer" because he's only fulfilled one solitary election pledge in his last 4 years in office. According the CodeWeavers:

This is a fully working, fully supported copy of either CrossOver Mac Professional, or CrossOver Linux Professional. No hooks, tricks, timebombs, or gimmicks: it's the real deal.

To get your free software, simply enter your email here and agree to the terms and conditions. An email will be sent to your email address containing a serial code. Once you receive your serial code, go to the CodeWeavers website and register your software. Once you've done that, you will be able to log into your account on CodeWeavers' web site, and download your product.

CrossOver is an excellent temporary way to run Windows programs within Mac OS although it's obviously not as good as installing Windows in Boot Camp on with Parallels.

If you're having problems downloading CrossOver because of the high traffic, you can also download it from Softonic here.

There are probably few releases more eagerly anticipated on Mac this year than the release of games download manager Steam and final details of the Mac version have now emerged.

The bad news for Power PC Mac users is that it will only work on Intel Macs running OS X 10.5 or higher. In addition, the release date has now been pushed back slightly to May. According to The Unofficial Apple Weblog, among the more interesting details to emerge are:

Source games require 10.5.8 or 10.6.3 or higher, and are not supported on the X3100 or 900-series Intel chipsets (the integrated graphics chipsets in older MacBooks) You will not be required to purchase separate versions of Windows and Mac games. One purchase will work on multiple platforms Steam and Source will run natively in OS X - no emulation whatsoever Source will run on OpenGL Mac and Windows users will play on the same servers and join the same lobbies

It's going to be interesting to see whether or not Steam works well on Mac but if it does, it could finally dispel all the myths that Macs aren't suitable for gaming. Applications such as Crossover Games that allow Mac users to play Windows games on their Mac may become a thing of the past.

If you want to know what Steam is all about, then check out our review of the Windows version.

[image from Wired]

One of the only major disadvantages of switching to Mac is that there are far fewer games available for OS X than Windows. For example, Steam is a hugely popular gaming application on Windows which allows users to download and update an array of great games from developers Valve - the makers of Half Life.

Sadly it's not available on Macs and usually, the only way to use it on a Mac is to install a virtual environment such as Parallels, VMware or boot in Windows using Bootcamp.

However, the former is expensive and usually results in poor game performance and of course, both methods require purchasing Windows. It's far better - and cheaper - to run games natively in OS X if possible. But how?

That's where CrossOver Games comes-in. CrossOver Games is based on what's known as the "Wine" platform which means it allows you to play Windows games on Mac (or Linux) computers without purchasing a copy of Windows. Best of all, it's only around $40 which is a snip compared to buying a virtual environment or Windows. CrossOver Games comes from the same makers of CrossOver which allows you to run many Windows applications on your Mac in a virtual environment. The advantage of CrossOver Games however is that it squeezes every last drop out of the Wine platform in order to handle the demands of games.

The app is designed for those with little technical knowledge and holds your hand throughout the setup process. You should be up and running within a matter of minutes. It won't work for all games but the good news is that all the major ones - such as World of Warcraft, Half Life and the Steam platform, work perfectly and have been awarded "platinum" status for their stability on the Wine platform. You can find a full list of the specific games that work within Steam (most of which have been awarded at least silver status) here.

If you've been disappointed by gaming using a virtual environment or with Boot Camp and only miss Windows for gaming, CrossOver Games is a great solution.

Mac: One of the only bad things about switching to Mac from Windows is the loss of games. Despite everything, PCs are still more popular than Mac for gaming. CrossOver Games comes from the same makers of CrossOver which allows you to run many Windows applications on your Mac in a virtual environment. Like CrossOver, CrossOver Games is designed for those with little technical knowledge and holds your hand throughout the setup.

Windows: Believe it or not, there are people who need to be reminded of when it's time to leave work... and TimeStamp is the perfect app for them! This cute little program lets you mark the time you start work and the time you finish as if it was a real punch clock – it even features a "punching" sound effect. A great way to control your working hours.

Mobile: Take control of nitro charged monster trucks, and charge of danger filled courses in Stunt Car Racing 99 Tracks. This is a 2D game, where the aim is to compete courses in the best time possible, with the highest score. Mix care with speed for the best results, there is a surprising amount of subtelty needed here to succeed!