" Welcome to the CrossOver Mac Beta center. We are providing a free time limited beta version of CrossOver Mac to anyone that is willing to test CrossOver.
CrossOver Mac will be the very best way to run your Windows applications on your Intel based Mac. It will let you install and run Windows programs as though they were native, all without having to buy or run a copy of Windows itself.
This beta version will give you a taste of the promise of CrossOver, but should be considered an early test release - we intend to make substantial further improvements before we ship a production version.
If you're not interested in experimental software, you should skip this and wait for notice of the production release.
However, if you are interested in helping us to test CrossOver, we would very much like your feedback.
We strongly recommend that you review the list of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) prior to installing CrossOver. You may also want to browse the forums or search the Compatibility Center to see if your specific needs will be addressed.
Please report your experience with CrossOver, good or bad, in our Beta reporting area (login reqd)"

You can download a 60 day free trial of CrossOver Mac Beta and they're taking Pre-Orders now for $39.95 ($20 off list price, with 15 month support vs 12 months).

"Hi Mike, I purchased a FireWave in June to mess around with it. I still use and prefer my Revolution 7.1 card in my G5 but for the Intel Macs, it's a decent 5.1 audio solution. Here's a quick cut and paste from a post I made in a separate forum:

I have finally plugged the FireWave device in. Here's a quick impression.
The The FireWave is easy to install. There are five connections. Two Firewire and three analog outputs. You plug in your analog outputs (L/R, Surround L/R, and Center/Sub) and plug the device into a FireWire port with the included cable. There are no drivers to install. There is an application called FireWave you can install but it's not required. However, it's useful for configuring Dolby related settings. Note that there is no passthrough digital output to use to connect to a receiver and the FireWave does not encode anything.

There are three basic output settings. Standard 5.1 analog out, Dolby ProLogic II, and Dolby Digital.
In standard mode, Audio MIDI Setup sees it as a 5.1 audio device so it has six discrete channels. This mode appears to use standard FireWire audio drivers. To enable Dolby ProLogic II you use the FireWave app. For Dolby Digital, you just configure an app like the DVD Player or VLC to use the FireWave as the digital output device. The FireWave will automatically decode the audio.

Unfortunately, it had issues operating correctly with my PowerMac G5. None of the Dolby output modes would output audio. It worked fine with my MacBook Pro. After Griffin's tech support gave up trying to help me over email, I decided to try and replace the stock FireWire cable with one I use for my hard drives. It started working fine.

Now, my only gripe is that sometimes, weird sounds will come out of my speakers while plugged into the FireWave. These are often long, drawn out sounds. At first it thought they were some World of Warcraft background soundtrack for an area I hadn't been to much before. But then I noticed them while my G5 was idle with no apps open but the Finder. Other than that, the device works as advertised. Games which use CoreAudio or OpenAL for 3D audio will work great with the FireWave, like WoW, Unreal Tournament 2004, and the new Universal Binary versions of Jedi Academy and Jedi Outcast.
Ciao!
-A.J."

A reader had a question about FireWave that I forwarded to A.J.:

" Q: Many of the QuickTime Trailers on the Apple trailers site have 5.1 audio tracks encoded in AAC format. This has been the case for many trailers for some time. Will a device like the FireWave play such audio properly when played in QuickTime, as the audio is in ACC format and not encoded in Dolby Digital.
A: The new QuickTime Player uses CoreAudio so it will play 5.1 audio properly through the FireWave since the system sees it as a 5.1 device. I actually tried it with the HD Harry Potter trailer when I first plugged it in as well as with my Revolution 7.1. I'll try it again tonight to verify.

Q: My next question would be if your machine already has a built-in optical digital out and you connect your Mac to a surround receiver do you get real 5.1 out with these QuickTime trailers? I suspect not as the optical out is either Dolby Digital surround or Stereo audio, the optical output does not support 5.1 discrete channels as contained in the trailers.
A: This is correct. You'll only get stereo out of the receiver with the QuickTime trailers.

Q: It strikes me as strange that most Mac users will not hear the 5.1 surround on these files, at least without adding additional hardware. What happens when these trailers are played on a PC with a surround capable card installed?
A: I don't have immediate access to a PC with a surround capable card but the next time I do I'll see what happens.
-A.J. "

" Just FYI. Ordered a MacPro with Airport several weeks ago. Order has been sitting with expected ship date of Sept. 7, 2006.
Just got word yesterday that order shipped on 30th of August. I assume this means Airport cards have finally come in as the word seemed to be that hold up was on configurations including Airport card.
W. Robarge
NCSU, Raleigh, NC "

The Bluetooth option was also causing some delay in the past, but the Airport option (and ATI X1900 XT option) were previously the longest delays when I checked/compared shipping times with various options back on Aug. 15th. (At that time Airport showed "2-4 weeks" and X1900 showed "3-5 weeks".)
However checking (US Apple store) today shows adding Airport only or the BlueTooth 2.0 + Airport option to the standard config shows est. shipping of "3-5 Days". (The X1900 option today shows "3-4 Weeks".)

" With it being the last day of the month, what better time to run an update to the goodies that are best listed on our clearance page. The latest update includes new discontinued product, open box, used, and refurb goods with warranty as specified. Orders are fulfilled and honored first in, first out and these items are only offered for order via the web. To prevent over sales as best as possible - items delist from the site as they are sold out and basket quantities are limited to what is available.
The current pickings include:

2-Bay eSATA enclosures from $59.00

250GB SATA and ATA HDs from $70.00

2.5" Notebook ATA and SATA HDs 40GB to 100GB from $45.00

SATA Controllers for Powerbook G4s; MacBook Pros from $85.00

PCI SATA Controllers for PowerMacs from $35.00

MiniStack USB2 enclosures kits for $45.00

FireWire/USB2 enclosure kits from $25.00

Sonnet G4/1.33GHz G4 Upgrades for $235.00

Retail Box Radeon Video Cards from $117

SuperDrive DVDRW/CDRW Drives for PowerBook G4 from $45.00

Apple 256MB and 512MB memory modules from $5.50
And plenty more. UPS Ground delivery available for $4.50 or less.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/bargains/ "

" Version 1.6b1 includes a Mac OS X Universal version, the ability to run in a window under Windows 2000/XP, MacOS X native versions of BungieÌs Fear & Loathing tools, and the ability to share the CPU with other processes by capping the frame rate. Myth II 1.6 includes a 1.5.1 compatibility mode allowing online game play with both versions in a single game. There are too many bug fixes to mention."

"Bump up your PowerMac G3, G4, G5; eMac G4; or iMac G4 Optical Drive to a new Pioneer DVR-111D/D-BK for up to 16X DVD, 8X Dual-Layer 8.5GB DVD, and 40X CD burn speeds. Add that 2nd Optical drive your new Mac Pro Quad Xeon....
OWC now offers the Pioneer DVR-111D Beige Bexel and DVR-111D-BK Black Bezel Optical drive upgrades for $42.99 as drive only and from $48.99 bundled with software and media.
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/optical-drives/superdrives/powermac/
Choice Beige of Black Bezel Pioneer DVR-111D is offered in the following OWC Value Bundles:

Bundle#1
EMC/Dantz Retrospect Backup Software
5 Pieces of DVD-R Media w/Jewels
1 Piece of DVD Dual-Layer 8.5GB Media w/Jewel
Was $51.95, now $48.99

Bundle#2
EMC/Dantz Retrospect Backup Software
NTI Dragonburn DVD/CD Authoring Software
5 Pieces of DVD-R Media w/Jewels
10 Pieces of CD-R Media w/Jewels
Was $59.99, now $54.99

New Bundle#3
EMC/Dantz Retrospect Backup Software
10 Pieces of DVD-R Media w/Jewels
2 Pieces of DVD Dual-Layer 8.5GB Media w/Jewel
Was $59.99, now $56.50

Bundle#4
EMC/Dantz Retrospect Backup Software
NTI Dragonburn DVD/CD Authoring Software
20 Pieces of DVD-R Media w/Jewels
25 Pack Spindle of CD-R Media w/sleeves
Was $71.99, now $69.95

New Bundle#5 - iLife 2005 Starter Kit
Apple iLife 2005 Complete Installation set w/manual
10 Pieces of DVD-R Media w/Jewels
2 Piece of DVD Dual-Layer 8.5GB Media w/Jewel
Was $99.00, now $89.99

New Bundle#6 - iLife 2005 Creative Starter Kit
Apple iLife 2005 Complete Installation set w/manual
50 Pack Spindle of DVD-R 4.7GB Media
10 pieces of DVD Dual-Layer 8.5GB Media
30 pieces 'Movie Style' DVD Single disc cases
10 pieces 'Movie Style' DVD Two disc cases
Was $139.99, now $134.99
Above solutions found at:
http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/optical-drives/superdrives/powermac/
Ground Delivery available for $4.50 or less.

Superdrive solutions for PowerBooks, Cube, Mac mini, and other models also available here: http://eshop.macsales.com/shop/optical-drives/superdrives/"

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