CodeWeavers CrossOver Free Tomorrow, October 28

Got a Mac? Wanna run Windows apps without having to dual boot? Your primary choice has largely been limited to Parallels, an $80 application that lets you set up a virtual Windows environment inside MacOS.

Another lesser-known alternative is CodeWeavers' CrossOver Mac, a $40 to $70 (depending on version) product that actually lets you run Windows apps without having to install (or pay for) Windows itself. CrossOver supports about 150 Windows applications, primarily games and major productivity apps like Microsoft Office in various versions.

And tomorrow, for 24 hours only, it's free, part of the payoff the company is offering following a gimmicky challenge it issued to the current U.S. government administration. One of those challenges: Get gas prices down to $2.79 in Minnesota before January 20, 2009. That occured on October 14, and now the company is making good on the promise.

To get the software, just visit codeweavers.com after midnight tonight (Central Daylight Time), and you'll be able to get the Pro version of the software for free. You only get one copy: There is also a Linux version of CrossOver that you can choose instead if you don't have a Mac, so make your one selection wisely. The free download includes a year of support, too. (After that, updates and support are $35 a year.)

We've seen these kind of offers before and in many cases the websites serving them up quickly crash, so if you're interested, get it early, before the rush. (Though usually, if there are problems, the offers are extended another day or two.) Come midnight, I'm grabbing my copy!