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Virtualization software for Intel Macs

updated 10:00 am EDT, Tue April 4, 2006

Virtualization software

Mac users will soon be able to run Windows along side other operating systems on their Intel-based Macs. Virtualization software company Parallels said it will announce a virtualization product for Intel-powered Macs, with more details becoming available later this week, according to a Techweb report. The company said its virtualization solution would enable users to run multiple operating systems, such as Linux and Windows simultaneously with Mac OS X. "This is not simply a "dual-boot" but instead gives our users the ability to use Windows or any other operating system at the same time as Mac OS X, enabling users to enjoy the comfort of their Mac OS X desktop while still being able to use critical applications from other OSes," according to the report. Parallels, a privately held, US-based software company, launched its first virtualisation tool, Parallels Workstation, last year. Last month, users were able to dual-boot Intel-Macs with Windowx XP as well as run Windows alongside Mac OS X using open-source software.

 
Previous Comments

bo yah

04/04, 10:22am reply

Nice, saves me a lot time repartitioning and doing the dual boot.

Liquidity X

Mac Elite

Joined: Dec 2001

0

NICE!

04/04, 10:31am reply

This could be a revolution in the making! :D

jarod

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Apr 2005

0

Vapor or real?

04/04, 10:44am reply

Let's see this thing ship and let's see how it performs before we get too excited folks.

kerryb

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Aug 2001

0

not actually the point

04/04, 10:53am reply delete

'Let's see this thing ship and let's see how it performs before we get too excited folks'.

I understand your cynicism but this is more a mark of whats to come than specific to the actual performance of this particular product.

Goal posts are going to be changed in a very big way, be it by this, or by future software.

spyinthesky1

Joined:

0

video?

04/04, 10:57am reply

Performance issues aside, I would be interested to see if any of this virtualized operating systems offer native GPU support. This, in my opinion, has been the one thing kneecapping emulators, especially the Windows ones.

ebeyer

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jun 2004

0

.APPs & .EXEs; 1 Mac

04/04, 11:04am reply

What Windows app are you most excited about using via virtualization on the Mac? Business tools like Visio or Access? Games (at full speed) like Thief and Halo? Virii and worms like SoBig and Nimda? (I jest!) Think of the possibilities..



>>>> http://debcentral.org/modules/news/article.php?storyid=111

The next step in this evolution is actually to go down lower to do "real" hardware virtualization. Intel and AMD both have been developing processors that allow multiple OS's to run inside partitions on the system, requiring no additional software and no emulation of any kind. Earlier this week, Intel was the first to announce the availability of this type of virtualization for desktops (it has been available within Xeons for some time now) with Intel Virtualization Technology (VT). These processors currently are single core Pentiums with Hyperthreading, but will be replaced with dual core, Hyperthreaded VT enabled processors next year. AMD is planning to roll out their line of virtualization equipped processors in multiple core designs very shortly. These chips function by providing a layer, called a hypervisor, that allows multiple OS or applications to utilize the host hardware to its full potential without tripping over each other or attempting to share a single memory address among OS's.

Rezzz

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Jan 2006

0

so...

04/04, 11:39am reply

"Virtualization software company Parallels said it will announce a virtualization product for Intel-powered Macs, with more details becoming available later this week"

So they're announcing that they will be announcing a future product sometime soon?

siMac

Mac Elite

Joined: Aug 2004

0

...

04/04, 11:39am reply

* falls off chair *

siMac

Mac Elite

Joined: Aug 2004

0

announcing...

04/04, 12:37pm reply

It's the same as pre-boarding an airplane. How can you get on an airline before you get on?

eldarkus

Fresh-Faced Recruit

Joined: Feb 2004

0

Carlin

04/04, 01:05pm reply

pre-boarding an airplane... Heh I love George Carlin...

Kinda like Preheat an oven to 350 degrees... Sorry but an oven can only be in one of two states... HEATED or UNHEATED, pick one!

Dave

DaveGee

Dedicated MacNNer

Joined: Mar 2001

0

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