Parallels Desktop for Mac virtualization software goes on sale
Posted by Dennis Sellers 
Jun 15, 2006 at 1:27am
Parallels, a server and workstation virtualization solutions company, has released the final, for-sales version of Parallels Desktop for Mac virtualization software after a long beta testing process.
Parallels Desktop lets Mactel users run Windows XP – or just about any other operating system – simultaneously in isolated “virtual machines” directly on a Mac OS X desktop, offering the ability to use Windows programs at the same time as their favorite Mac applications. This is different from Apple’s Boot Camp dual boot solution, in which users can boot a Mactel to run in either Windows XP or Mac OS X, and must completely shut down one to access the other.
The Parallels Desktop beta program was multi-stage (six betas and two release candidates) and included more than 100,000 users from 75 countries, Benjamin Rudolph of Parallels told Macsimum News. The final product offers such productivity features as fullscreen/dual monitor mode, file sharing, cutting/pasting between operating system (via Parallels Tools, which is included with each copy), and can run any version of Windows (3.1-XP/2003), Linus, FreeBSD, Solaris, OS/2, eComStation and DOS
Parallels Desktop for Mac includes Parallels Compressor, a disk management tool that can purportedly compress virtual hard drives by 50 percent or more. This is a very useful tool, especially if you’re working on a laptop with a relatively small hard drive, Rudolph says. Compressor Server—which has a retail price of US$179.99 and is compatible with Windows 2000, XP and 2003—is the specific version included with Desktop.
Parallels Desktop’s “near native” performance and stability is driven by its “hypervisor-powered virtualization engine” and support for Intel Virtualization Technology, which is included in all new Mac Mini, iMac, and MacBook Pro computers, said Parallels CEO Nick Dobrovolskiy. You can share files and “cut and paste” data between Mac OS X and Window apps.
“As a special thank you to the Mac community for all of their great support, we’ll be making the product available for only $49.99 (a $150 savings versus buying Parallels Desktop and Compressor Server separately) through July 15th,” Rudolph says.
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Dennis Sellers
Dennis has been a newspaper editor/reporter (seven years) and teacher (seven years). He has over 10,000 magazine, newspaper and online articles to his credit. He has also covered the Mac and tech industries for over a decade for such online publications as MacCentral, MacMinute and now MacsimumNews.
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