CrossOver Games hits Version 9

CodeWeavers' Crossover Games, $39.95 software that lets Mac users run a variety of Windows games without installing Windows, this week climbed to Version 9.0. The update improves the application installation process, sports a new look, and improves performance and compatibility, the company said.

Further games support in Version 9.0:

Added support for the new Steam GUI Added community-support profiles for Star Trek Online, Lord of the Rings Online, and the StarCraft 2 Beta Many more games now work, or work better

In other Mac game news, Valve's Steam for Mac was released on Wednesday. The company blog reported that Portal will be free for Macs and PCs until May 24.

On subsequent Wednesdays, additional collections of Mac titles will become available, each designed to highlight specific functionalities of Steam on the Mac.

The first collection of Mac titles will demonstrate "Steam Play," which allows customers to purchase a game once and play it on all Steam supported platforms.

Portal, in addition to supporting Steam Play, will be the first of Valve's Source engine based games available on the Mac. Native OS/X support for the Source engine is also available immediately to licensees for use in their games.

Among the initial titles available on Wednesday will be Runic Games' critically acclaimed Torchlight. ...

In addition to bringing the online functionality of Steam to the Mac, Valve will also make its Steamworks suite of publishing and development tools available on the Mac platform. These include product key authentication, copy protection, auto-updating, social networking, matchmaking, anti-cheat technology, and more. The features and services available in Steamworks are offered free of charge and may be used for both electronic and tangible versions of games.