'Lame Duck challenge' met, so software is free

StarTribune ^ | 10/26/08 | Randy Salas

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

President Bush gets a lot of grief over the economic woes that have occurred under his watch, but now people can thank him for something spiffy: Free software. It comes courtesy of the Great American Lame Duck Presidential Challenge.

In July, St. Paul software developer CodeWeavers came up with the gimmick to make its products available free for a day if any one of five positive (but seemingly unlikely at the time) things happened during Bush's last six months in office: gas drops to $2.79 a gallon, milk drops to $3.50 a gallon, U.S. jobs exceed 138 million, the Twin Cities median home price returns to $233,000 or Osama bin Laden is captured.

Bingo on No. 1.

>>>SNIP<<<

So on Tuesday, all of CodeWeavers products, which allow Mac and Linux users to run Windows applications, can be downloaded for free -- instead of $40 each -- at the company's website, www.codeweavers.com.

[Swordmaker]

I’m relatively new to Macs, anything on here worth downloading?

The most important thing is Crossover Mac. It works only with Intel based Macs (Sorry PowerPC users). It allows a Mac to run some Windows based software without having to have a Windows license or a copy of Windows.

Photoshop? Sorry, no.

[Big Giant Head]

I got my code, and apparently so did forty million other people. I can’t get into the website.

[steve86]

I can’t get in either. Will try at 4 in the morning or so.

[steve86]

THEY HAVE DISABLED THE MAIN WEBSITE!!! If they don’t re-open it a lot of people are going to be peeved (permanently).

[Swordmaker]

They've been forced to shut down the main server because of overload. You can download the "Trial version" still... and then activate it with a code later. They are extending the period to get the code because of the overwhelming demand.

"You will be able to unlock your serial number that was emailed to you for an extended time, (an additional 48 hours), due to this downtime. We will simply stop giving out new serial numbers at 23:59 (Midnight) Central Standard Time."

I just downloaded the Mac version of Crossover Mac Pro and also got my registration serial number. I just can't register it yet. So, go ahead and download now, register it later.

[antiRepublicrat]

Download and get a registration code from where if the site is down?

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

So, this means they'll email you a serial number but the software must be installed and the serial number used within approximately 3 days?

What if I hadn't planned on installing my Linux and the Crossover package for another couple of months?

[Swordmaker]

For the registration code, go to;

Get the registration code by email.

To download your selected software.

Download the software.

I think that once you have the product registered, you can install it any time. It's not like Microsoft where you have to "activate" the software. They give you a registration code that will work with your software.

[Bloody Sam Roberts]

Ok...sounds good. I must have misunderstood this tidbit:

"You will be able to unlock your serial number that was emailed to you for an extended time"

[antiRepublicrat]

Thanks. I requested my serial. I’ll wait a few days to download to give their servers a break.

[Vinnie]

Thanks for the heads up. Got’em.

[steve86]

Has anyone got through to the registration server? What is the supposed time/date before which the registration must take place? The registration server seems to instantly reject any connection attempt; isn’t just slow.

[SunkenCiv]

Thanks! The d/ls are running right now. :’)

[ButThreeLeftsDo]

UPDATE>>>http://blogs2.startribune.com/blogs/technobabble/2008/10/30/500000-downloads-codeweavers-surveys-damage-after-software-giveaway/

[Hot Tabasco]

wearing potato sacks and standing in line for squirrel soup,

he says that like its a bad thing......It wasn't till I was 15 that I was finally able to add shoes to the wardrobe.