Late last week, NVIDIA rolled out GeForce 314.21 Beta software suite with the single intention of improving performance and stability (eliminating artefacts) on Tomb Raider (2013). When it was released, enthusiasts observed a performance gap between comparable NVIDIA and AMD GPUs on running the game, particularly with features such as TressFX enabled. The new driver works to close the gap. In addition, NVIDIA added some new SLI and 3D Vision profiles.

DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 314.21 Beta

For those interested in taking Crysis 3 Open Beta (multiplayer) for a spin, NVIDIA released the new GeForce 313.95 Beta drivers, which addresses known issues, and is features optimizations for the game. NVIDIA expects performance increments as high as 35 percent. The driver also packs performance enhancements for other AAA titles, such as SLI and single-GPU performance gains of up to 27 percent with Assassin's Creed III, up to 19 percent for Civilization V, up to 14 percent in Call of Duty: Black Ops 2, up to 14 percent in DiRT 3, up to 11 percent in Just Cause 2, and up to 10 percent each in Deus Ex: Human Revolution, F1 2012, and Far Cry 3.

DOWNLOAD: NVIDIA GeForce 313.95 Beta

AMD has now made available an updated version of its Catalyst 12.11 graphics drivers. Known as the Beta11, this latest release features all the goodies of previous Catalyst 12.11 Beta builds and brings improved performance in Far Cry 3 (up to 25% with 8xMSAA, SSAO enabled @ 1600p, and up to 15% with 8xMSAA, HDAO enabled @1600p) (the newly-released AMD Catalyst 12.11 CAP2 must also be installed)

To download the Catalyst 12.11 Beta 11 and Catalyst 12.11 CAP2 see this page.

NVIDIA has today made available a new beta-tagged graphics driver, the GeForce 310.61 which is a small update from the GeForce 310.54 offering improved compatibility for PlanetSide 2 and Hitman: Absolution.

The GeForce 310.61 Beta supports GeForce 8, 9, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 and 600 Series cards and is available for Windows 7, 8 and Vista, in both 32-bit and 64-bit flavors.

AMD has now made available a fresh beta version of the Catalyst 12.11 drivers. Known as the Beta 8, this latest release features all the goodies of previous betas and brings the following additions:

● Improved performance up to 5% in Max Payne 3
● Single GPU performance updates for Far Cry 3
● Improved CrossFire scaling for Planetside 2 (Crossfire scaling is still limited to ~30% at 2560x1600)
● Resolves the Skyrim lighting issue (missing a lighting pass) for the AMD Radeon HD 7900 Series
● Resolves the hang encountered playing Dishonored on the AMD Radeon HD 6000 and AMD Radeon HD 5000 Series
● AMD Catalyst 12.11 Beta 8 for Linux includes significant performance improvements for Left for Dead 2

The Catalyst 12.11 Beta 8 can be found on this page.

AMD released Catalyst 12.11 Beta 7 software suite. The release is specifically designed to improve CrossFire scaling for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2. It includes all changes of older Beta releases, and is based on the "Never Settle" Catalyst 12.11 driver, which is proven to improve performance on Radeon HD 7000 series graphics processors based on the Graphics CoreNext architecture.

DOWNLOAD: AMD Catalyst 12.11 Beta 7

You can now sign up to test Steam for Linux, with Valve announcing an open Beta of the client. Valve is looking for users with generally high experience with Linux, so don't expect the Beta to be click-and-run. Interested users with Ubuntu 12.04 (and above) can sign up here. Steam for Linux targets Ubuntu, and the company plans to launch the platform with Left 4 Dead 2 with SteamPlay enabled, porting other Valve titles later.

AMD rolled out two successive quick fixes to issues related to Medal of Honor: Warfighter, when running its performance-optimized Catalyst 12.11 "Never Settle" drivers. An application crash was observed when Medal of Honor: Warfighter is run on systems with Radeon HD 7000 GPUs running in CrossFire configurations, with anti-aliasing enabled at the same time. The company pulled Catalyst 12.11 Beta 3 from its websites, AMD Support and AMD GAME, replacing it with the new Beta 4.DOWNLOAD: AMD Catalyst 12.11 Beta 4

Countering AMD's ' Never Settle' driver (the Catalyst 12.11), NVIDIA has today rolled out a new graphics driver that delivers performance improvements of up to 15% for GeForce GTX 600 Series cards. The driver in question is called GeForce 310.33, it comes in beta form, and it features support for GeForce 8, 9, 100, 200, 300, 400, 500 and 600 Family cards.

Download: GeForce 310.33 Beta (Windows 7/8 64-bit)

With September drawing to a close AMD has rolled out a new graphics driver, the Catalyst 12.9 Beta which brings an improved Catalyst Control Center, support for the mobile-focused Enduro graphics switching technology, some fixes, and a 10% performance boost in Lost Planet 2 (for single-GPU setups).

Download: for Windows 8, Windows 7 & Windows Vista / for Windows 8, Windows 7 & Windows Vista (with .NET 4.0) / for Windows XP / for Linux

EA has confirmed reports that a beta invite to Battlefield 4 will be included with pre-orders of the Medal of Honor: Warfighter Limited Edition. The announcement claims the Battlefield 4 beta will be available sometime in fall 2013, so you have a while to wait. EA points out that the two games are very different, but touts the shared heritage of the Frostbite engine. Yesterday, the rumors started churning from a leaked ad that promised the beta. Today you can actually order the Limited Edition from Origin, which costs $10 more than the standard edition.

Intel released a new beta driver for processors with integrated graphics, for the Windows 8 Release Preview. Carrying the version number 15.28.0.64.2770, the driver supports Windows Display Driver Model Version 1.2 (WDDM 1.2), and enables features such as stereoscopic 3D, optimized screen rotation detection, and DirectX 11 (on select graphics controller models). It supports Intel HD Graphics 4000/3000/2500/2000 (Core "Sandy Bridge" and Core "Ivy Bridge"). Intel recommends use of its Windows 7 driver for reliability with OpenGL 3.3 applications.

DOWNLOAD: Intel HD Graphics Beta Driver for Windows 8 Release Preview

AMD just released the AMD Catalyst 12.6 Beta. With the release of the Catalyst 12.6 Beta driver, AMD would also like to announce that we are moving away from our Monthly Catalyst release plan. Our goal is to ensure that every Catalyst release delivers a substantial benefit to our end users; as we have today with the release of the Catalyst 12.6a Beta. We will still continue with the Catalyst naming convention; Catalyst: Year.Month., You just won't see a new driver every single month. We are confident that this will only benefit the end user; you'll only need to upgrade to a new Catalyst driver, when it makes sense.

We would also like announce the introduction of our new AMD Issue Reporting Form. We made a number of improvements to the older Catalyst Crew Feedback form, making it more comprehensive, ensuring we get the best feedback possible. Feedback is very important in every product company's life, especially in our fast paced environment. This is not just a check-box for us - we take these reports very seriously. We will review every report posted here and investigate every issue encountered. Please use this form whenever you encounter something worth mentioning.

DOWNLOAD: AMD Catalyst 12.6 BETA | AMD Catalyst Windows 8 Feature Preview Driver

Bid farewell to the misery of being at work when a highly anticipated game is launched, and you have to wait hours at home for the game to be pre-loaded. A new beta version of Steam allows you to manage and install your purchased games remotely, provided your gaming PC is running and has its Steam client connected. The feature allows you to remotely initiate downloads and manage them, via any PC or mobile computing device.

Not wasting much time following the Firefox 12 launch, Mozilla has now made available the public beta version of its next browser release. The Firefox 13 beta features an updated default home page (providing quicker access to bookmarks, history and settings), a tweaked new tab experience (users are presented with their most visited pages), smooth scrolling, the SPDY protocol which is enabled from the get-go, experimental support for ECMAScript 6 Map and Set objects, and a few more dev-oriented goodies.

Firefox 13 Beta is available here for Windows, Max OS X and Linux.

Opera Software today released the beta version of Opera 12, codenamed "Wahoo", the latest entry in Opera's long line of desktop web browsers. Opera 12 is both smarter and faster than its predecessors and introduces new features for both developers and consumers to play with ahead of the final launch. Discover Opera 12 for yourself at www.opera.com/browser/next/.

It's a theme, not a meme

Themes give you an easy way to change the look of Opera to suit your tastes or your mood. Just select a new theme and - voila! - your new-look browser awaits. To try a theme for Opera 12 beta, visit addons.opera.com/themes.

Today Shacknews is reporting that Diablo III will be open to the public for beta testing. The open beta weekend begins this afternoon at 12:01pm Pacific, then will run until 10:00am on Monday, Blizzard explains in a Diablo blog post. All you need to play is a Battle.net account. You can download the client in advance, so you don't miss a second. The beta is relatively small, packing the first part of Diablo III's first act, but you will be playing Diablo III. Unlike proper closed beta testers, open beta players won't receive 'Beta Bucks' to spend in the auction house and cannot post in the beta forums.

Diablo III launches for PC and Mac on May 15. The closed beta test will wrap up on May 1.

NVIDIA has today made available a new graphics drive, the beta-tagged GeForce 301.24 which includes support for the GeForce 6, 7, 8, 9, 100, 200, 300, 400 and 500 Series cards, as well as for the GeForce GTX 680.

Download: Windows 7/Vista (32-bit) | Windows 7/Vista (64-bit) | Windows XP (32-bit) | Windows XP (64-bit)

Despite the less than mind-blowing title Rage, gamers who have been around long enough have come to know not to take id Software and its upcoming games lightly, especially if they're from one of its star franchises such as Doom and Quake. AllGamesBeta posted what it claims to be leaked screenshots of Doom 4, which it also goes on to claim as being "doomed" (cancelled), citing rumors. Close to two dozen of these screenshots can be found at the source. They reveal what [could have been] the setting of Doom 4, probably of the horrors unleashed on Mars (in Doom 3 and Resurrection of Evil) finding their way to Earth.

Google has now made available a new beta Chrome release, a build known as 18.0.1025.33 which includes an updated V8 JavaScript engine (version 3.8.9.6), an improved omnibox, as well as the fixes for the following issues:

All

- Sync: Conflicting sync entries should not be committed
- Back button frequently hangs
- Speech input bubble borders don't closing

Mac

- Gap between download shelf and vertical scrollbar

Chrome 18.0.1025.33 is available here for Windows, Mac OS and Linux.

The highly anticipated first person shooter/Mech simulator Hawken is stated to be released on the 12th of December this year. 12-12-12. What makes this an interesting development is the game will be released under the a free-to-play model. Normally a free-to-play model is really just a pay for extended content model. How Adhesive Games the Hawken developer is going to set this up is unknown. What is known is the game looks to be quite beautiful with a slight Quake 3 feel to it. Luckily for the Mech junkies in the PC community we will have access to a beta before we make the plunge in December. If you sign up three friends Adhesive Games will reserve your call sign when the game finally debuts. Open enrollment has already started. You can sign up here.

So what are you waiting for? Get to blasting!

Don't worry if you just installed Firefox 10.0 cause there's a new Foxxy browser craving your attention, the Firefox 11.0 beta. This fresh build comes with an updated migration tool that can also import Chrome bookmarks, history, and cookies, and features add-on syncing capabilities, redesigned media controls for HTML5 video, and support for the CSS text-size-adjust property and the outerHTML property.

Firefox 11.0 also brings some goodies for devs like the Page Inspector 3D View, the new Style Editor tool, SPDY Support and more.

To download the Firefox 11.0 beta (for Windows, Mac OS or Linux) see this page.

Leaving AMD to deliver on the hardware front, NVIDIA has today rolled out its first official graphics driver of 2012, the beta-tagged GeForce 295.51. This build has support for GeForce 6, 7, 8, 9, 100, 200, 300, 400, and 500 series desktop cards and for ION GPUs, it comes with updated versions of the PhysX software (v9.11.1111) and HD Audio driver (1.3.12.0), and it brings new and up-to-date SLI and 3D Vision profiles.

Windows 7/Vista 32-bit / Windows 7/Vista 64-bit / Windows XP 32-bit / Windows XP 64-bit

Today Shacknews is reporting a new beta patch available on Steam. This is what they had to say, "Covering its back and yours, Bethesda recommends that you only install the patch if you're affected by issues fixed in the patch, and that you backed up your saved games before installing the beta. If you're still ploughing ahead with it, here's what to do:

1. Log into Steam
2. Click on Steam in the upper menu
3. Select Settings
4. Under the Account tab, go to the Beta Participation section and select Change.
5. A drop down menu will appear. Select Skyrim Beta.
6. Select OK.

Steam will now restart. After Steam restarts, Skyrim will be updated to the Beta version currently available.

The beta patch adds an option for Skyrim's Steam Workshop, a portal which will allow mod makers to upload their creations directly to Steam, but the Workshop won't work it and the mod Creation Kit actually launch later this month."

A list of changes can be found here.

Microsoft has revealed the top 20 most popular games played on the Xbox 360 in 2011 based on numbers of unique users logged into Xbox LIVE (Silver and Gold members). Note that this gives a different result to the total playtime for a particular game, which has not been disclosed here. Unsurprisingly, the Call of Duty series dominates the chart, but what is sure to irk CoD detractors, but make fans very happy, is that a massive five of those positions are taken up by CoD - that's 25% of the rankings. Even CoD4: Modern Warfare which was released way back in 2007 sits at a very respectable number 14. However, top games Battlefield 3 and Skyrim did very well nonetheless, sitting at five and six respectively, with only Halo beating them at number 4. Can you guess which CoD game hit the top spot before looking at the chart?