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 Second 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.

One of the frustrating things about having multiple Gmail accounts is managing them all at the same time. Until recently, I’d been using the Firefox Gmail Manager Plugin but it’s an absolute pain because having two different Gmail accounts open in separate tabs automatically logs you out of both accounts after a few seconds. This is even more annoying if you’ve got other Google apps open at the same time because it logs you out of those too. The best answer I’ve found to this problem is Mailplane.

Mailplane was actually created back in the days when you needed access to your Gmail account from your desktop but IMAP support wasn’t yet available. Nowadays you can consult Gmail from any mail client like Mail.app or Thunderbird but unlike Mailplane, none of them are made specifically for the use of Gmail or make managing multiple accounts so easy.

Like a mail client, Mailplane works outside of your browser. Along the top of the interface, you have buttons for replying, sending, printing, forwarding etc much like any other mail client. There are also buttons for quickly adding photos (with special integration for iPhoto) and managing downloaded items. Alternatively, you can drag and drop attachments such as photos and documents onto mail while you’re composing it which is another very nice feature of Mailplane. A similar feature also works for taking screenshots and sending them instantly via Gmail.

You can add as many accounts as you want using the Accounts button. When new mail arrives, a Mailplane icon in your Menu bar will indicate how many are waiting to be read and each account features a number next to it indicating the amount of mail in that particular inbox. I like the fact that by clicking on the Menu bar icon, a drop down menu shows you the subject heading of unread mail in each inbox. The big advantage I’ve found though is that managing multiple inboxes with Mailplane is so much easier than doing it in your browser.

Although you can’t have more than one Gmail inbox at the same time, Mailplane makes switching between them much quicker and less hassle that in Firefox. In future, it would be nice to see a simultaneous open inboxes feature in the app but until then, it’s the best way of managing multiple Gmail inboxes I’ve found.

Tom and Elena have already explained how to stream movies from your Mac to a PS3 and an XBox. To complete the series, I’m going to explain how to stream movies from Mac to your Wii. The good news is, it couldn’t be simpler using a nifty little app called Wii Transfer. Wii Transfer not only allows you to stream movies to your Wii, but also photos, music and it even allows you to backup your Wii profiles.

Here is how to in 3 easy steps.

1. Download the Wii internet channel

Fortunately, Nintendo have seen sense and stopped charging $10 for it. The browser is now available for free. Just go to Wii Shopping on the main menu to download it.

2. Convert your videos for streaming

In the main interface, click on the “Movie” tab in the left-hand menu and drag and drop your movie files into it. Wii Transfer will then convert your films into a format the Wii can read so you may have to wait a while for this.

3. Setup sharing

Go back to the “Sharing” tab. You’ll see an IP address like: 10.0.1.197:9000. Enter this into your Wii internet browser. Read the rest of this entry »

One of the new features introduced in Windows 7 is the use of themes to customize the system’s appearance in a very easy way. Themes enable you to personalize wallpaper, screensaver, window color and system sounds in just one click. Then, if you want, you can change small details inside the selected theme and create a new custom version of it.

Themes can be selected from the Personalization window, which you can open by right clicking anywhere on the desktop and selecting Personalize. Switching to a new theme is as easy as clicking the theme’s thumbnail. The theme will be immediately applied to your system, so you get the full preview before formally applying it. You can then click on any of the customizable elements at the bottom of the window (desktop background, window color, sounds and screensaver) and change them to suit your taste. Read the rest of this entry »

I watch lots of videos on my MacBook: movies, documentaries, TV shows… but after looking at a 13-inch laptop for 2 hours you really start thinking about how much better that movie would look on a larger screen, like my own TV. The only question was, how could I transfer all the media stored in my MacBook to my TV?

The first obvious answer was buying a multimedia external drive, but I already have enough gadgets plugged to the TV and besides, I didn’t want to spend a cent on this project. Having an Xbox 360 at home, I though about the possibility of streaming video from the computer to the Xbox. You can already use the Xbox 360 to stream video to your TV via Windows Media Center, so why shouldn’t I be able to do it from my MacBook?

After a bit of googling, I found the answer in Nullriver and their awesome Connect360 utility. This little great tool is added to the System Preferences panel, under the Other section, and enables you to share your iTunes library, iPhoto albums and of course, all the contents in your Movies folder with your Xbox 360.

The program is really easy to use and doesn’t require any complicated configuration. All the options in the Settings menu are, as you can see, very simple – mainly dedicated to selecting the data you want to share between your Mac and your Xbox.

Once Connect360 is running on your Mac, switch the Xbox on and the program will recognize it immediately. Right after that, Connect360 will start indexing all the content you’ve selected to share. Read the rest of this entry »

The good news is that Windows 7 is out this week and it looks awesome. The bad news is there’s a global financial crisis going on, it’s nearly Christmas, and upgrading to the new operating system is expensive. Don’t worry your pretty little head about this, because you can still experience Windows 7 without actually paying any money, by installing themes and apps that will make your copy of XP or Vista look and feel like the new Microsoft OS. Here’s what you need:

Themes and styles

The most obvious place to start is by installing a theme or a style to mimic the Windows 7 GUI. These programs alter things like the Taskbar, Start menu, windows, and fonts, to make XP or Vista behave like Windows 7. The SevenVG RC Theme for XP is one of the better ones, and includes a wallpaper manager, along with a tool for reducing the size of the program window title bar with a single click.

Windows 7 Style for Vista brings the elegance of version 7 to your Vista PC. The small utility changes things like the height of the System Tray and displays icons for running programs in the tray without the text. Windows 7 Style for Vista also alters the look of the Start menu and comes with a whole bunch of smart new Windows 7 icons. The addition also of the Aero transparency effect helps this style to turn Vista into a work of art.

Wallpapers

If you want to truly capture the look of Windows 7 then you need to get the right wallpapers. Try the Aero 7 Windows Seven Series I Wallpapers, a collection that includes the gorgeous Aero and Aurora designs at different resolutions. A meatier collection is to be found in the Windows 7 Wallpaper Pack. The striking designs inside this bundle include landscapes, animals, oceans and abstract structures. If none of these please you then you might want to put up this Windows 7 Wallpaper, which pays homage to the new OS in fine style.

  Read the rest of this entry »

AVG Anti-Virus Free has been my antivirus of choice for the past five or six years. I like its ease of use, its moderation in system resources usage and the fact that it hardly shows any window or notification. I’ve installed and tried every single new version, including AVG Anti-Virus Free 9.0, which came out only yesterday and works really well – as usual.

But I have to say that this latest version includes also some annoying little features I didn’t like at all, chiefly regarding my browser configuration. For me, browser settings are untouchable and no program should be allowed to mess with that – not even my dear old AVG Anti-Virus. I hope this is not the beginning of the end for our relationship… well, as long as I have a way to revert those changes, it won’t be.

So, what does AVG change in your browser? First, the installer includes the AVG Security toolbar for the browser. There’s nothing wrong with this toolbar; actually, it’s actually a nice security addition for your browser. But if you don’t pay attention, you’ll also let AVG change your default search engine to Yahoo!.

Of course, if you did miss that option and let AVG change the search engine, you can always change it back to Google (or whichever you use) within the web browser. The funny thing is that AVG Anti-Virus will warn you as if it was some piece of malware trying to modify your browser settings!

All you have to do is click the icon on the system tray and confirm the change in the following dialog window.

Another thing AVG Anti-Virus changes – and this time, without letting you know – is the New tab page. Once the AVG Toolbar is installed, your New tab page will look like this: Read the rest of this entry »

October 15th is quickly becoming a popular date among bloggers all over the world. Why? Because it’s Blog Action Day, the one day when thousands of blogs join forces and write a post about the same topic, in order to raise awareness about a certain situation and encourage global debate about it. The first Blog Action Day, back in 2007, was about the environment; last year we wrote about poverty; and today the topic is climate change.

Unsurprisingly, technology bears much of the blame for climate change: gadgets that are permanently plugged – even when not in use, TV sets and stereos left on standby, computers running 24/7, oh and those airplanes… All these elements not only swell our electricity bill, but also mean an important waste of energy. But is there a way to  use technology and software in a more environmental-friendly way? Fortunately the answer is yes! Pay attention to these easy tips and learn how to do your bit to fight climate change:

1. First of all, be informed. If you want to learn more about climate change, what possible impact it could have on our planet and how we can soften it, use Google Earth. There’s a section in the Google Earth website with information about the UN climate conference in Copenhagen, and a Google Earth layer to track the influence of climate change on Earth.

2. Second, analyze the situation. How much are you contributing to climate change? Do you really care about environment in your daily life? Use a carbon calculator to determine your carbon footprint – that is, the amount of CO2 you produce – and learn tricks to lower this value. Read the rest of this entry »

We’ve been talking about different types of literacy over the last month, taking a look at the best software to help you maximize your skills. There’s more to literacy than just reading and mathematics, however: knowing how to manage your money is just as important.

Most of us have made silly mistakes with our money from time to time. Maybe you’ve spent all of your salary (or pocket money!) before the month is out, or forgot to factor in interest when thinking about a loan. For some people though, these problems aren’t a once-off, they’re a fact of life. If you think this might apply to you, then keep reading.

The key to money management is planning, planning, planning. Everyone should keep a journal of their spending and record absolutely anything that comes in or goes out of their account. Nothing can escape, not even a sneaky latte or newspaper. Presuming that you’ve been keeping up with our series, your math skills should be steadily improving, and in conjunction with the free, reliable advice offered by many governments (Australia, Ireland, Singapore, UK and the US, just for starters), you’ll be well on your way to becoming the next Warren Buffet.

Luckily, the Internet abounds with programs that keep a track on your spending and I’m going to take a look at some of our most popular. There’s no way we could talk about personal finances without mentioning Buddi. This tool bills itself as ’software for the rest of us’ and since its main aim is to make money management as easy as possible for people without financial experience, it sounds like the perfect program. One of the main things that beginners need to keep in mind is to keep your software simple, and Buddi certainly delivers.

I’ve noticed that some developers get over-excited and try to squash enough features into their programs to easily set up a gold trading company on the stock market. Exciting as that might be, if you’re still having problems making your paycheck last long enough to pay the electricity bill…well, you might be overreaching. HomeBank is a good option, a program that will give you the simplicity you need by offering only the most basic functions, without any complicated frills.

Now, I’ll be the first to admit that sometimes all those numbers are just plain BORING. I can’t make them any more fun, but I can suggest a program that will inject a bit of color - Personal Finances. This brightly colored application has all the features you’ll need, accompanied by jazzy colors and some cute illustrations. Hey, it won’t make you any richer, but it might just brighten up your number-crunching!

Part 1: Introduction

Part 2: Math

Part 3: Reading

Here at Softonic we test hundreds of applications each week. In order to keep our computers safe from such an insane deluge of software, we use virtual machines, namely VirtualBox and VMware Player. Both of them are very good at their job, but VirtualBox always had one great advantage over VMware Player: the ability to create virtual systems. Well, that was until now. The next version of VMware Player has just launched its first Release Candidate and guess what: it lets you create virtual machines!

For those of us who work with VMware Player on a daily basis, this is great news. Of course, I couldn’t help downloading the Release Candidate and testing this new feature by myself, and I thought I’d take the opportunity to write a tutorial about how to create virtual machines in VMware Player:

1. In the main screen, click Create a New Virtual Machine and you’ll launch the New Virtual Machine Wizard. This wizard lets you choose between a CD and an ISO file to start creating the virtual machine.

2. In my case, I’ve selected an ISO file with Ubuntu 9.04. As you can see, this virtual machine can be created using Easy Install, which means you can perform an unattended installation after completing the Wizard.

Read the rest of this entry »

After reviewing the improved snapshot management functionality in the latest version of VirtualBox, OnSoftware reader Mark contacted us with an interesting question:

I’ve become an avid reader of your weekly newsletter and look forward each week to explore your recommendations. I was interested in VirtualBox after reading about it on your site. I’m running Windows XP. I tried downloading the file “VirtualBox 3.0.6 for Windows hosts x86/amd64″ from www.virtualbox.org but during the installation a warning came up suggesting that I should not continue as the software  is not recognized as being approved with “Windows Logo” and went on  to say that completing the download could corrupt my system. Should I be concerned?

The Windows Logo testing error message Mark refers to is not something that just happens in VirtualBox. It may appear when installing other applications as well, but as long as you trust the software developers and the application you’re about to install, you don’t have anything to worry about.

This error means that some components – usually drivers -  inside the program you’re installing couldn’t be properly tested by Windows during installation. It doesn’t mean that the program is dangerous, or that it’s going to crash your system, erase your hard drive or any of those horrible things you may have thought about… well, not necessarily. It’s just that Windows wasn’t able to complete the test on those particular items. Our advice for Mark then, in this particular case of VirtualBox, is to ignore that message and go on with the installation. I did, and my Windows XP is perfectly fine!

Once again, this message should be ignored only in those cases when you’re installing a trustworthy application, coming from a reputable developer. In case of doubt, do some Google research. It may help you decide whether you should continue with the installation or not.

Don’t forget to keep on sending all your problems, questions and doubts to ask@onsoftware.com so that we can provide handy solutions for you and the rest of our readers!

One Firefox plugin I’ve come to rely on is Gmail Manager Add-On for Firefox. This free plugin allows you to monitor as many Gmail accounts as you want in the Firefox status bar. It never worked perfectly - sometimes new mail wouldn’t register properly for example - but now unfortunately it seems to have stopped working completely.

The inbox counts don’t work at all and clicking on an account simply takes you to the Gmail login page instead of your inbox. According to one blogger, this is due to a security update in Firefox 3 which blocks the plugin and may have affected other Gmail plugins as well.

The only answer is to downgrade to Firefox 2 but that’s not exactly ideal. If like me, you’re lamenting the loss of a trusty Gmail add-on, here are some functioning alternatives to try.

Gmail Notifier Designed by Google, Gmail Notifier is all you need if you just need to check one account. It displays an icon in your system tray to let you know if you have unread Gmail messages, and shows you their subjects, senders and snippets, all without your having to open a web browser. A Mac version is also available. Note that it doesn’t work if you’ve got the Google Toolbar installed which leads me onto…

Google Toolbar This is worth installing for several reasons of which one of them is the Gmail checker. It isn’t very sophisticated however. An open envelope notifies you when you’ve received new mail and clicking on the drop down arrow next to it reveals all the subject headings of mail in your inbox. Clicking on any one of them, or the envelope itself, takes you to your inbox. Shame their is no inbox count reading or customizable sounds for when new mail arrives though.

Gmail Notifr A Mac only extension which sits in your Menu bar and supports multiple accounts. Gmail Notfr displays in digits how many e-mails you have waiting for you. It conveniently supports Growl alerts and doesn’t install any daemon background processes unlike Google’s Gmail Notifier. However, you can’t define how frequently you want it to check for mail (so it might be a bit slow at notifying you of new mail).

Gmail+Growl This works with Gmail Notifier and as the name suggests, is a very simple plugin for Mac users that uses Growl alerts to notify you of new Gmail. Unfortunately, it only supports single accounts but the great thing about using Growl is that you can customize the alerts.

GmailAssistant A third party Windows only application which supports multiple accounts. If you want a Gmail checker that’s completely independent of your browser on Windows, then this is a good choice although the configuration is very limited. You can’t define the frequency you want it to check for new mail or save your preferences for each account.

There’s something special about Polaroid photos that make them still attractive these days – even after having been discontinued for more than a year now. Maybe this is why there are a few websites and software tools that let you create Polaroids from your digital photos, and keep that endearing look from last century alive. It may not be the same as the real thing, but it’s a quick, simple effect that can make any standard photo more attractive.

• Instantizer - Fill in a simple form with a photo from your hard drive, a custom message and an optional rotation degree, and you’ll get an instant Polaroid with a link that’s valid for 24 hours. Simple, yet effective.
• Photo Notes -  Select a photo from your PC or a website and transform it into a Polaroid with a few extra options: custom text message, image position, rotation, text font, etc. You can also share it by email or publish it on a web gallery.
• Rollip - A popular website that lets you create Polaroids with color effects, decorations and a custom message in three easy steps. The image is immediately available for download or sharing online in an email, IM or blog.
• Poladroid - If you prefer using software, this is the tool you need. Drag and drop any image on Poladroid’s interface and the program will transform it into a Polaroid right away. You can even shake the file to make it appear faster, like the real Polaroids!

Last but not least, here are a couple of Photoshop tutorials I wrote a while ago that also let you apply the beauty of Polaroids to your photos: one tutorial to create a nice Polaroid collage with different images, and another one to transform a single photo into a bunch of Polaroids scattered all over the screen.

Yesterday I made an appeal to OnSoftware readers and you came through in flying colors. The appeal was to help fix my Acer Aspire laptop which, after an over zealous cleaning session with CCleaner, refused to boot.

Even safe mode wouldn’t work and to make matters worse, my CD/DVD drive is damaged meaning I couldn’t boot from a Windows disc. Fortunately, one of you pointed out that most Acers usually have a “hidden” recovery utility known as PQSERVICE which can be activated by pressing “Alt” and “F10″ on startup.

I’ve had the Acer Aspire 1414 for over 4 years now and had no idea this facility existed. For some strange reason, the bios does not allow you to boot from the USB drive in Acers (at least on my model) so PQSERVICE was my only hope. PQSERVICE is actually a hidden partition of your hard disk designed for exactly these kinds of emergencies. Note: activating it wipes your entire hard disk - any files, folders or programs you had installed will be automatically deleted.

As soon as I saw the bios screen, I pressed Alt-F10 and it immediately launched “Acer Recovery Tool 1.0.0″ a rough screenshot of which you can see below.

It appears to be a Symantec tool which works very smoothly and quickly. Within 10 minutes and a few auto-restarts, I had a completely new clean install of XP and wasn’t prompted to enter the Windows XP CD key at any point. It was a darn sight faster than reinstalling XP from a CD.

Although I lost some of my non backed-up files, folders and photos, it was a small price to pay to regain a functioning laptop which would otherwise have had to be thrown-away. Thank you OnSoftware readers and Acer - all is forgiven.

Here’s a conundrum for you. Normally we’re full of hints and tips at OnSoftware but this is an appeal for help from you the readers and also a warning of the dangers of using  CCleaner. Basically, I’ve got myself into a lot of bother after an over zealous cleaning session with it and can’t start Windows on my Acer Aspire 1414. Since my CD/DVD drive is broken, I can’t use a Windows XP disk to boot so the only option available to me is to perform a Network Boot.

Unfortunately, I have no idea how to do this which is why I’m appealing for help. Why on earth the bios won’t let me boot from a USB drive I have no idea but it’s a glaring error by Acer. The problem started after using CCleaner to uninstall programs, clean the hard drive and “fix” the registry. On restarting, my Acer Aspire booted as far as the Windows XP logo before going straight to the blue screen of death and now won’t even let me start in Safe Mode. The Acer bios gives me only one other boot option - a Network Boot - which I’ve been unable to figure out. A search on the internet reveals network booting involves a scary world of PXEs and DHCP which I’ve found very hard to understand. All that I know is that I have to connect my Acer laptop to another laptop with an ethernet cable!

The blue screen of death error code I’m getting is a “C000021a (fatal system error) The session manager initialization system process terminated unexpectedly”. It’s clear that the problem is related to the session login part of Windows startup i.e. the bit where you click your username and enter your password to use Windows. I don’t see why this should stop me at least starting in Safe Mode but if I ever do get it started again, I’m going to remove the session manager completely. Beware all those that currently use it and CCleaner at the same time. Read the rest of this entry »