Parallels, an SWsoft company, provides innovative desktop and server virtualization software for Windows, the Macintosh, and Linux. Parallels Desktop for Mac was recently ranked No.6 on PC World’s 100 Best Products of 2007 list and already used by more than half a million people worldwide, Parallels virtualization technology is revolutionizing the way we use computers. Parallels Desktop for Mac enables you to run Windows, Linux, and more side-by-side with Mac OS X on any Intel-powered Mac, without rebooting. With Parallels’ award-winning virtualization technology, you can run Mac OS X and your favorite Windows applications at the same time. You can even drag-and-drop files between desktops!
Dedicated to the Mac community, Parallels Desktop has led the industry with ground-breaking innovation since 2005. Used by more than half a million Mac users worldwide, Parallels has built its business on listening to its customers and delivering the functionality they want. The following Must-Have features are only available from Parallels:
SmartSelect
Set your applications free from their OS prisons! Set any Windows or Mac application to be the default for any file from either OS.
Snapshot Manager
Save the state of your VM’s memory, settings, and hard drive with a single click. Create and manage as many snapshots as you want, and revert to any snapshot at any time.
Parallels Complete Shared Folders
Share files between OS X and Windows with easy-to-setup shared folders and “drag-and-drop”. Mount the Windows drive to the Mac desktop for instant access to Windows files!
Parallels Explorer
Access your VM’s files and folders straight from the Mac desktop, even if your virtual machine is shut down.
Kaspersky Internet Security
Protect your Windows virtual machine from viruses and spyware with a FREE 6-month subscription.
Even using applications that perform very complex computations, like Photoshop CS2, you’ll see good results. I applied a complex mesh image filter to the same image on the Core Duo mini in three different environments: in OS X (running CS2 via Rosetta, since Photoshop is not yet a Universal Binary application), in Windows XP under Parallels, and in Windows XP running natively via Boot Camp. As you might guess, the Boot Camp XP machine was the fastest, taking 36 seconds to apply the filter. Close behind it, though, was the Parallels XP machine, at 44 seconds—only eight seconds slower. Trailing badly, at 77 seconds, was Photoshop in Rosetta on OS X.
So for now, if you are a Photoshop power user with an Intel Mac, you may be better off running it in Windows on your Mac, either via Parallels or Boot Camp. Of course, you’ll need to own a second copy of Photoshop to take advantage of the additional speed.
You can also set up shared folders between OS X and your Windows XP/2003/2000 virtual machine, making it easy to move data back and forth. (Other operating systems don’t support shared folders, but you can still use those systems’ networking capabilities to connect to your Mac via file sharing, for instance.) Outside of shared folders, though, your Mac’s hard drive will be invisible to Windows. This is generally a good thing, for it means that any malware or viruses that may infect your Windows virtual machine won’t be able to damage anything on your Mac’s hard drive.
You can run more than just Windows using Parallels. There are at least 20 supported operating systems, many of which are free to download and use, such as Fedora Core Linux or BSD Unix. If you’ve ever wondered what Linux is all about, installing and using a version via Parallels is a relatively painless way to try it out. Download a version of Linux, set up a virtual machine, install the OS, and test it out. If you like it, keep it around. If you don’t like it, just throw away that virtual machine’s file from your hard drive, and it’s gone for good.
Parallels’ ability to run nearly every version of Windows, along with many versions of Unix and Linux, makes it a valuable tool for anyone using an Intel-based Mac who has a need or desire to work with other operating systems. If your job requires Windows, but you love your Mac and OS X, Parallels will truly give you the best of both worlds. If you put your Parallels session in full screen mode, anyone walking by won’t even be able to tell that under the Windows façade, you’re actually running the world’s greatest operating system.
