February 12 - 9:30am EST   Codeweavers has released a minor release candidate update for CrossOver Games, one of its virtualization utlities. The software is used to run Windows games on Mac and Linux systems, whose normal virtualization tools may lack the optimization needed to achieve reasonable framerates. Users can install and run Windows games without having to own a copy of Windows. [full story]

September 17 - 10:45am EDT   (Updated with official response) Google may buy Half-Life developer Valve Software to give itself an edge in content distribution, according to a new rumor. Allegedly "well placed" sources of the Inquirer claim the early search engine company is aiming to buy Valve for its Steam platform, which so far has been used as a store for users to download free and paid games as well as a small number of videos and other content. The system has been heralded for making an end-run around traditional retail and provides an edge over some other online app downloads by remembering a customer's purchases should they lose an existing copy to a computer crash or upgrade. [full story]