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Parallels Workstation for Mac RC posted

updated 10:00 am EDT, Fri May 19, 2006

Parallels Workstation RC


Parallels has released a final candidate of its virtualization solution specifically designed to work with Intel-powered Macs. Parallels Workstation for Mac RC allows users the ability to use Windows, Linux and any other operating system at the same time as Mac OS X--either in a separate Window or full-screen. It supports any version of Windows (3.1, 3.11, 95, 98, Me, 2000, NT, XP, 2003), any Linux distribution, FreeBSD, Solaris, OS/2, eComStation, or MS-DOS in secure virtual machines running alongside Mac OS X. The company says the latest release candidate offers a new look and feel, improved performance and stability, better and broader USB support, an improved Shared Folder tool, better networking in virtual machines, better sound support, improved fullscreen mode, resolved Suspend/Resume issues, a new uninstaller introduced, and more. The $50 application, which requires an Intel-based Mac running Mac OS X 10.4.4, is available for $40 during the beta period.

The company notes that some USB devices are still unstable, FreeBSD 5.4 installation sometimes hangs, and that users will need to reboot their virtual machines after installing RC. It also recommends that users update Parallels Tools for guest Windows NT/2000/XP/2003 installed by previous betas (click on menu VM->Install Parallels Tools).


by MacNN Staff

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  1. telem

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Dec 1999

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    05/19, 10:39am | report spam | Reply |

    Which Version?

    Is it Parallels Workstation or Parallels Desktop for Mac? These seem to be two different products with a $10 difference in price currently.

  1. Echo101

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Mar 2002

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    05/19, 10:54am | report spam | Reply |

    Name Change

    The Mac version has been renamed Parallels Desktop.

    This is a neat product but I would like for it to be able to boot Windows XP from a real partition so that I can use the same copy of XP in it and when I boot natively. Another handy feature would be a version for booting Mac OS X in while running Windows (on Apple hardware only of course).

  1. ZinkDifferent

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    05/19, 11:38am | report spam | Reply |

    echo101

    You seem to be a bit confused.

  1. phillymjs

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Jun 2000

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    05/19, 12:32pm | report spam | Reply |

    echo's not confused

    Parallels Workstation (or whatever they're calling it now) uses a big file on the Mac's hard drive as the virtual machine's hard drive. If you want to use Boot Camp to boot an Intel Mac into Windows, that's an entirely separate installation of Windows.

    Being able to use a single installation of Windows to both boot the machine and run a virtual machine within OS X would be an extremely useful feature. I think it's more likely that Apple will support that in Leopard than a 3rd party doing it, though. I guess we'll find out when the WWDC rolls around.

    ~Philly

  1. kirktalon

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    05/19, 12:37pm | report spam | Reply |

    No, No, No and licenses

    Echo just wants it both ways. I suppose one would need a license to first have Windows on one partition of the HD. Then another license for the Parallels virtualization or is it a one machine one license thing?

  1. aristotles

    Grizzled Veteran

    Joined: Jul 2004

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    05/19, 12:48pm | report spam | Reply |

    echo, it won't work

    The HAL (Hardware Abstration Layer) would be different for the Parallels envronment and the native one. Parallels does not provide you access to your gfx card but rather an emulated one.

  1. framedinblood

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    05/19, 01:31pm | report spam | Reply | delete

    License Question

    I think you're supposed to use one license per machine, but you'd have to check w/ the company to be sure on that.

  1. testudo

    Fresh-Faced Recruit

    Joined: Aug 2001

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    05/19, 01:51pm | report spam | Reply |

    Re: license question

    No big deal on the license. Most people just steal a copy of corporate windows anyway, which has no license and activation, right? I mean, you gotta admit, though, that Apple makes it so much easier to pirate their software (not that anyone would do that, right folks!)

    Even if not, just call MS after you get it installed in both 'machines', activate one, then call MS to say your transferring the license to the other (feel free to tell the truth, or lie and say you've swapped out some of the equipment and its not validating it as the same computer).

  1. 010111

    Junior Member

    Joined: Aug 2002

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    05/19, 06:17pm | report spam | Reply |

    it is possible.

    " echo, it won't work The HAL (Hardware Abstration Layer) would be different for the Parallels envronment and the native one. Parallels does not provide you access to your gfx card but rather an emulated one."

    it is in fact possible. just not with anything currently available in OSX. i've read about ways of configuring the Linux version of VMWare to use an actual bootable partition *as* the VMWare volume. so that you could do the exact thing that echo is suggesting.

    *i* am also asking for such a feature. and i hope that is how it works in Leopard... and has been rumored to.

    there are some times i don't feel like quitting all my OSX apps just to do something in Windows. but at the same time... i don't want to be locked into NOT being able to boot Windows natively in order to get the functionality of being able to run Windows in a VM while in OSX.

    i would expect this ability from Apple in the final Leopard version of Boot Camp sooner than from Parallel.

  1. testudo

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    05/19, 07:02pm | report spam | Reply |

    Re: it is possible

    i would expect this ability from Apple in the final Leopard version of Boot Camp sooner than from Parallel.



    Well, I guess you're expecting Apple to be offering emulation/virtualization as well as windows booting, huh? I'm sure the folks at Parallels will enjoy hearing that. All that development work for nothing...

    I wouldn't trust those Leopard rumors. No one knows what's going to be in there. No one has a copy but the Apple folks, and even then, what's being worked on may never see the light of day (see Quartz 2D Extreme as an example).

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