Once upon a time, about 10 months ago, a company called CodeWeavers ran a promotion allowing customers to download and install their software fore free. CodeWeavers suite of Crossover apps basically lets users run a number of Windows games and utilities including PhotoShop, Office, and World of Warcraft on Mac or Linux machines. The programs usually run about $40 to $70, but thanks to a heck of a lot of publicity, CodeWeavers wound up giving away an estimated $45 million dollars worth of software in one day.

On the one hand, the promotion wound up boosting CodeWeaver's customer base by 400% (although I'm certain some people downloaded the application without ever getting around to installing it). On the other hand, a huge number of people who might otherwise have paid for the software over the last 10 months might have decided there wasn't much reason to do so.

Now that the 1 year anniversary of the big promotion is coming up, CodeWeavers is sending out emails to the roughly 650,000 people who downloaded the free software asking them to consider paying for ongoing support. The company is also planning on releasing a new version of the software in December, meaning anyone who pays for support will get the update, while those who let their 1 year subscription expire will have to pay full price for the new version.

Do you need support in order to keep using the software. No. But even if you don't need the updates or customer support, you might want to think about taking pity on a company that wound up giving away a ridiculous amount of software in one day last year at the risk of dramatically decreasing revenue for the next year. Last December, the company explained that sales were down 25% since the October promotion, but I'm not sure what the impact has been since then.

It sure seemed like a good idea. CodeWeavers, the makers of CrossOver software that lets you run Windows applications like MS Outlook or games like Half Life on Mac andLinux machines, held a tongue-in-cheek promotion where the company promised to give away free copies of its software if one of a number of economic goals were met in the US. While it's likely that the US government had little to do with the recent dip in gas prices, this week CodeWeavers decided that $2.79 gas meant it was time to give away a copy of CrossOver to anyone who wanted it within a 24 hour period.

And then all heck broke loose. The story made the front page of Digg and was reported on countless tech blogs. The CodeWeavers website crashed, although the company quickly got the download links back online. When the smoke cleared, the company gave away about 750,000 copies of its software.

Let's let that sink in for a second here. A company that many people may not have even known existed, had its software downloaded three quarters of a million times in one day. CodeWeavers sent an email this week stating that the move expands the company's customer base by 400%. The value of the free software given away tops $45 million.

In other words, the whole thing might have backfired and ruined the company's bottom line. On the other hand, it could be awesome news in the long run for CodeWeavers. A whole lot of people who weren't aware of the software are now potential customers. Many of the people who downloaded free copies may not really wind up using it, but those who do may decide to upgrade when a new version is available or pay for another year of support when the 1 year of free support expires in a year.

Still, CodeWeavers has decided to cancel the promotion going forward. There had been plans to do another giveaway if housing prices fell, US job numbers went up, or Osama Bin Laden was captured. But that just doesn't seem like a good idea anymore.

CrossOver is the commercial version of WINE, a tool that allows users to run many Windows applications on Mac or Linux machines. And today, you can download it for free.

You see, earlier this year the CEO of CodeWeavers, the company behind CrossOver issued a challenge to president George W. Bush. If the outgoing president of the US could accomplish one of a handful of goals before leaving office, the company would give away free licenses for all of its software (with a limit of one per license per user). Surprisingly, one of those goals has been met: CodeWeavers CEO Jeremy White recently noted that he was able to fill up his tank with $2.79/gallon gasoline.

In order to claim your reward, just visit the CodeWeavers page today to snag a coupon good for one software license. CodeWeavers makes CrossOver for Mac and Linux, and also has a special CrossOver Games version that brings support for a number of popular Windows video games to those applications. While CrossOver won't necessarily let you run every Windows app on your platform of choice, it does boast support for some programs that won't run under the free and open source WINE utility.

CodeWeaver products typically start at $40. So if you think there's even a chance you might want a free copy, today's the day to grab one. Or you can wait until George Bush meets one of the other goals that Jeremy White has set for him, including capturing Osama bin Laden, creating jobs, or bringing average home prices back to the level they were at last year.

[via OStatic]

I'm reporting in from LinuxWorld, letting the fine folks who read DLS know about the latest & greatest news from the Land of Free & Open Source Software. A few weeks ago, Apple made quite a stir with their announcements about their spiffy new Mac Pro and Xserves, as well as cool new updates to Mac OS X. Lost in all the hubbub, however, was an announcement by a great open source company that they are porting their software over from Linux to Mac OS X. Yes, Codeweavers, makers of the amazingly cool and useful CrossOver Office, are going to release betas of their software for Mac OS X later this month.

What's CrossOver Office, you ask? Linux users have been taking advantage of it for several years now. Basically, CrossOver Office is an easy-to-install, easy-to-use version of the WINE project, which basically fools Windows apps into thinking they're running on Windows. Why is this possibly better than Parallels Workstation, which lets you run Windows itself? Because with CrossOver, you don't need to open Windows; instead, you just click on the Word icon, or the IE icon, or the Outlook icon, and the program opens, just like a regular ol' Linux program. Can you smell the convenience? (Still want more info? Read the posts I made about CrossOver on the now-retired Open Source Weblog: Introduction to CrossOver Office in PC World, CrossOver version 5 released, & More on CrossOver ... and Win4Lin ... but please don't read Codeweavers' CrossOver Office support disappoints and apply it to the company today ... that issue was resolved to my satisfaction.)

Well now, ladies and germs, CrossOver is going to work on Apple machines that use the Intel processor. Want to run ONE Windows proggie but don't want to have to install Windows? Or need to run Outlook but don't wanna go through the hassle of setting up Parallels and then install Winders, being forced to reboot a gazillion times and then deal with the endless hassles of security? Or - and this is sooooooo cool, and it's coming up in the latest version of CrossOver - want to run Half-Life II or many other Windows-only games without requiring Windows? Then use CrossOver! It's a good company and a great product, and it just utterly fantastic that it's now going to be available to Mac users. Now that's great news!

According to DesktopLinux.com, Google is working with Windows-Linux compatability experts CodeWeavers to bring some of Google's Windows apps over to Linux. In particular, CodeWeavers is working on making Picasa, Google's photo organizing and editing software, work on Linux with the help of a WINE compatability layer. Google intends for the Linux version of Picasa to be as easy to install as the Windows version. It should be released "shortly." in addition, Google is reportedly working internally on a Linux version of Google Talk, but details are sketchy.