Codeweavers Consolidates All Their Products Into One!

Awesome news for those of us that are current Codeweavers Office users! They have consolidated all their products and combined them into one new, super cool version!

Here’s the email I got:

“In the absence of our fearless leader, Jeremy White (who is traveling on business today), I am charged with making the happy announcement that we have shipped CrossOver XI, for both Mac and Linux.

This release of the product marks a major step forward, for two reasons. First, we have consolidated and simplified CrossOver into a single product. The previous Pro, Standard, and Bundle distinctions have been consigned to history. Likewise, we have rolled CrossOver Games into the main product as well. So now there is only a single product: CrossOver. However, customers can still choose the price point that works for them by choosing the length of the support entitlement they want to purchase: 1 month, 6 months, or 12 months.

Second, CrossOver XI runs many more applications than its predecessor 10.0 (“Impersonator”). Perhaps the most important of these is Microsoft Office 2010 (which we are pleased to offer initial support for), but there are dozens more. CrossOver is built on Wine 1.4, which incorporates more than 16,000 patches since version 1.2, meaning that a lot more stuff runs, or runs better, than it did only a year ago.

One important note: CrossOver XI is the last version of CrossOver that will support OS X 10.5 (Leopard). The next major version of CrossOver will require OS X 10.6 (Snow Leopard) at a minimum.

Finally, we have also launched a completely new website to support CrossOver XI. We hope that this new design will make it easier for people to discover what CrossOver is all about, by giving them the information they need to make an informed purchasing decision. We have also greatly streamlined how customers can get support from us.

If you are an existing CrossOver customer with an active support entitlement, you can visit our web site to download this latest version:
https://www.codeweavers.com
You will need to log in with the email and password that you used when purchasing CrossOver. Please write to info@codeweavers.com if you need help with this process.

Thanks again for all your support, and I hope that you enjoy CrossOver XI!

Cheers,

Jon Parshall
COO
CodeWeavers”

Geek Software of the Week: Linux Edition: Bleachbit!

BleachbitOK, so I wanted a “CCleaner” for Linux! I love CCleaner! I can use it to keep my PC clean and tight! So, I “Googled” and viola! Turns out there is a similiar Open Source (FREE!) program that is similiar for Linux! Rock on!

BleachBit

“BleachBit quickly frees disk space and tirelessly guards your privacy. Free cache, delete cookies, clear Internet history, shred temporary files, delete logs, and discard junk you didn’t know was there. Designed for Linux and Windows systems, it wipes clean 90 applications including Firefox, Internet Explorer, Adobe Flash, Google Chrome, Opera, Safari,and more. Beyond simply deleting files, BleachBit includes advanced features such as shredding files to prevent recovery, wiping free disk space to hide traces of files deleted by other applications, and vacuuming Firefox to make it faster. Better than free, BleachBit is Open Source.”

Geek Project: Make Your Ubuntu System Look Like a Mac!

MacbuntuHere’s a cool project if you use Ubuntu and have always wanted a Mac look and feel!

Macbuntu

“Mac OS X Transformation Pack. Macbuntu is an open-source program, designed to transform Linux’s appearance and layout into a Mac OS X environment. Although Macbuntu is dedicated to Ubuntu Linux OS, it could be used in other OS based on Debian/GTK.

Features

  • Attention: Script significantly changes the desktop
  • Attention: Not compatible with Ubuntu Netbook Edition
  • Attention: The Global Menu does not current work correctly for all applications. This is a known issue.
  • Paw-OSX and Paw-Ubuntu Plymouth themes
  • Macbuntu sound theme
  • Macbuntu GTK theme based on GTK Leopard
  • Macbuntu-Icons based on Mac4Lin and Faenza Icons
  • Macbuntu-Cursors based on Shere Khan X
  • Mac OS X backgrounds and fonts
  • Compiz Extras, Global Menu, Docky, Ubuntu-Tweak
  • Preconf for login screen, metacity, compiz, window theme, backgrounds, cursors, icons, docky and top panel”

Geek Software of the Week: Sothink Free Video Converter

Sothink Free Video ConverterI know, I know, I am ALWAYS looking for better and better video converters! And, I confess that as many as I have looked at, I now use ffmpeg on Linux more than anything else! But, this one is really nice!

Sothink Free Video Converter

“Sothink Free Video Convertor is a universal Video Converter freeware that converts rich video and audio formats with high definition and top speed. Let you get excellent video experience on all platforms, from PC, MP4 players to Mobiles and Tablets.

Full Media Formats
Convert AVI, MP4, FLV, ASF, WMV, MKV, MOV, MPEG, H.264, RM, 3GP, M2TS, MP3, WMA, AAC, OGG, WAV, YouTube, CD/VCD/SVCD/DVD.

All Devices Playable
Perfect transfer to PC, laptop, Apple iPad/iPod/iPhone, Sony PSP, Zune, MP4 players, Android, BlackBerry, Nokia, HTC, Xbox, etc.

Support HD
Convert high-definition videos and any other formats, like HD MP4, HD AVI, MOV, MKV, M2TS, M2T, MTS, etc without quality loss.

HTML5 Video Converter
Convert videos to HTML5 video formats (OGG, MP4, WebM). Create HTML5 video codes directly for display, no hand-code required.

Fast & Friendly
Convert multi-files simultaneously with the shortest time in batch. Realize multi-threading video conversion. Recall last settings.

Video Editing
Trim video clips, edit video codecs, dimension, zoom, bit rate, frame rate, sample rate, channel, video/audio quality. Support instant preview.

Mass Effect 3 can’t import completed save game files from the Cloud!

Uh-oh! The Cloud is a problem for gamers it seems!

Mass Effect 3 can’t import completed save game files from the cloud

“EA has revealed an issue that could prevent Xbox 360 users from importing their completed Mass Effect 2 save data into Mass Effect 3.

The series allows players of the latest release to import save data from previous games, ensuring that the look of their character, the decisions and actions they’ve taken, and squad mates they’ve lost remains consistent.

But those who have saved their completed Mass Effect 2 data to the cloud and don’t still have access to the system on which the save was originally made may not be able to salvage the completed endgame file

EA says:

The following scenarios will result in no import functionality:

Moving your save file from the hard drive disc to the cloud.

Moving your save file to another Xbox 360 system via the cloud (instead of a memory card, transfer cable or Xbox 360 formatted USB stick).

Solution to scenario 1:

Move your save file from the cloud back onto the hard drive from which it originated, i.e. the Xbox 360 you originally created the save file on.

Solution to scenario 2:

Move your save file from the cloud back onto the hard drive from which it originated, i.e. the Xbox 360 you originally created the save file on.

Using a memory card, Xbox 360 formatted USB stick, or the Official Xbox 360 HDD transfer cable, transfer the save file to the new Xbox 360.

Currently there is one scenario in which you might not salvage the completed, endgame save file: if you have ever moved your file to the cloud and the original system is not available to transfer it back to.

While it’s possible that one might be able to reload a non-original save game near the end of Mass Effect 2 to ‘re-finish’ the game to populate a new endgame save, we unfortunately cannot guarantee that this will work with certainty. Lastly, you may also experience importing issues if you’ve downloaded or used custom Mass Effect 2 saves, or have edited your own save using a community-created program. We understand this may be a great setback to those impacted who have been following the Mass Effect franchise over the years. We thank you for your patience.

Mass Effect 3 is out now in North America and will be available on these shores from Friday. If it wasn’t clear enough from our Mass Effect 3 review, the third entry in BioWare’s sci-fi trilogy is one of the best games you’re likely to play this year.”