11/04, 3:00am
Crystal mode makes Windows disappear, 300 percent
The Parallels 5 launch marks the latest salvo in the ongoing battle for those who run Windows on their Macs. The virtualization software has been updated with significant interface and speed improvements aimed at keeping the company's market share lead over the recently updated VMware Fusion. The new software adds substantial interface improvements, allowing users to choose how much, or how little, they want to see of the Windows interface. Parallels 5 is faster, while graphics performance has been substantially increased.
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06/17, 4:30pm
MailServer for Parallels
Kerio says it is bringing MailServer to hardware running Parallels' Mac virtualization software. With MailServer Virtual Appliance, Kerio uses a preconfigured version of CentOS 5.3 Linux as the core operating system, packaged specifically for Parallels. The software can run on any Intel-powered Apple system, including the Xserve and Mac Pro, as long as they are also utilizing Mac OS X Leopard Server.
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03/19, 7:30pm
Troubleshooting Mac OS X
In brief: LaCie has formed a strategic partnership with an online storage provider, while The X Lab has announced a new troubleshooting book and Parallels has opened preregistration to next year's summit. Caleido AG, creators of the online storage solution Wuala have announced that it has merged with LaCie, a manufacturer of external storage devices. Dominik Grolimund, co-founder and CEO of Caledio AG is excited about the new partnership and believes that together the two companies will be able to "build a reliable and secure cloud storage by integrating millions of devices around the world." LaCie believes the collaboration will allow the company to transform into a comprehensive digital storage provider. Philippe Spruch, LaCie's CEO, is looking forward to providing customers with new storage methods.
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03/05, 12:20pm
VMware Fusion vs Parallels
MacTech has released a benchmark study of virtual machines on the Mac, comparing Parallels Desktop with VMware Fusion 2.0.1. The tests were run on four different systems including the white MacBook, unibody MacBook Pro, iMac and Mac Pro. The white MacBook was equipped with 2GB of RAM with a 2.1GHz Core 2 Duo processor, while the unibody Pro contained 4GB of RAM and a 2.53GHz chip. The iMac ran at 2.66GHz with 2GB of RAM, while the Mac Pro utilized 4GB of RAM and an eight-core 2.8GHz CPU. Over 2,500 tests were completed with Windows XP and Vista virtualizations, gauging factors like file and network IQ, footprint, application launch and 3D and HD graphics.
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01/08, 6:20am
Parallels raises the bar
The way Serguei Beloussov sees it, a lower price isn't the key to winning over Mac users with its Parallels Desktop virtual machine software. In an interview with MacNN, the CEO said he's now taking a cue from Apple, positioning Parallels as a premium product with improved quality and service. What he says he won't do, is get in a price war with close competitor VMWare Fusion.
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11/11, 12:25pm
Parallels Desktop 4.0 out
Parallels has officially released Parallels Desktop 4.0, the latest edition of its virtualization software for the Mac. The program lets users run operating systems such as Windows and Linux within Mac OS X, eliminating the need to dual-boot. The fourth edition is said to improve integration with operating systems, in particular Windows, as it now supports graphics technologies such as DirectX 9, Pixel Shader 2.0 and OpenGL 2.0; these are de facto in many modern Windows games.
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10/17, 12:10pm
DisplayLink Mac driver
DisplayLink says it has released the completed Mac OS X driver for its display technology. Monitors and projectors that support DisplayLink are able to receive input from a computer's wired or wireless USB ports; up to four displays are supported simultaneously, and some manufacturers of compatible products include LG, Samsung and ASUS. The technology is also present in various docks and adapters.
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08/26, 4:30pm
Apple enterprise share
Apple has managed to almost quadruple its share of the corporate OS market within a short space of time, says Ben Gray of Forrester Research. The analyst notes that while in January 2007, just 1.2 percent of operating systems recorded in an online client survey were Mac OS X, current figures suggest an adoption rate of 4.5 percent. The figure is more remarkable, says Gray, because Apple does not generally market to the enterprise world and offers little software for it.
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08/19, 5:55pm
DealNN deals MacBook
DealNN roundup: Currently DealNN is featuring a wide selection of great deals on Apple products. Get $75 off a MacBook plus get FREE Parallels Desktop 3.0, and a FREE Epson Stylus printer all for $1,018.99 at MacMall.com. Apple lanyard headphones for the first generation iPod nano have been reduced to $25 from $54 at BestBuy.com.
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08/12, 3:10pm
DealNN iPod video
DealNN deals for today include the 5th generation refurbished 30GB iPod video for $149 from Buy.com and the MoGo Bluetooth USB adapter for $10. TechOnWeb is offering the Mac compatible Kingston 2GB DDR2 SDRAM memory module for $54.99. Parallels Desktop 3.0 is only $66 at SoftByWeb.com and the HP Photosmart all-in-one printer is available at HP.com for $70.
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06/18, 4:25pm
Xserve-Virtual servers
Following only a day after the release of Parallels Server for Mac, Media Temple has begun a private beta of (xv) (Xserve-Virtual), a new hosting service. The company takes Parallels Server, and combines it with Apple's Xserve hardware to run virtualized copies of Mac OS X Leopard Server. The primary advantage of this is said to be lower price overhead than a dedicated Leopard server, while still retaining access to flexible resources.
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06/17, 9:40pm
Parallels Server for Mac
Parellels on Tuesday formally announced the availability of Parallels Server for Mac, software that the company claims to be the first server-level virtualization tool for Intel-based Macs. Parallels Server offers the company's hypervisor-based virtualization techniques for Macs running Mac OS X Leopard Server, and can serve a multitude of Leopard Server-, Windows- and Linux-based virtual machines. Parallels Server is currently available from the company's website for $1000.
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06/12, 2:05pm
Parallels Desktop 5608
Parallels Desktop Mac Build 5608, the latest build of the virtualization environment for Mac OS X, has been released. This build adds support for guest Parallels Tools for Linux in the latest Linux distributions (including Ubuntu 8). It also includes added support for running 3D graphics in your Windows VM on Mac OS X Leopard 10.5.3. If you're already using Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac, this new build is free download it via the Check for Updates option in the Parallels Desktop Help menu.
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05/09, 10:05am
Parallels Desktop update
Parallels has released a new update to Desktop, its side-by-side OS virtualization app. The software is now at build 5600, and adds "full support" for the latest editions of Microsoft Windows; Vista is now handled up to Service Pack 1, while XP compatibility extends to Service Pack 3. Parallels has also improved compatibility with the MacBook Air.
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05/07, 4:40pm
Parallels with Expression
Microsoft is reportedly strengthening its relationship with Parallels, and will offer Parallels Desktop for Mac for users who purchase a Microsoft Expression Professional Subscription. According to InfoWorld, this allows customers to run the full studio suite, rather than just Expression Media 2, which ships mid-May, which is also bundled with future versions of Microsoft Office 2008 for Mac Special Media Editions. A Microsoft Expression Professional Subscription will be available in June for $1000.
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05/01, 3:45pm
Parallels Server Beta 4
Parallels has released the fourth beta of its Server for Mac software. The program provides hypervisor-based server virtualization, which helps save costs by supporting multiple platforms through the same hardware. Beta 4 is notable for reintroducing Leopard Server virtualization, which had been temporarily removed. The upgraded beta means that Leopard Server can once again be run under a virtual machine on XServe systems, or any other compatible Apple hardware.
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04/28, 11:20pm
Deals on iMacs, refurbs
In light of Apple's updates to the iMac line, MacMall is running a few specials on current and late model iMacs, both the 20- and 24-inch versions. MacMall is also bundling Parallels Desktop 3.0 with the purchase of any iMac, as well as a free Epson printer, and from $50 to $100 off the machine, after mail-in rebates. The online retailer is offering discounts on the newly released iMacs, from $1150 on the entry-model, to $2100 for the high-end 3.06GHz version – $50 to $100 off Apple's suggested retail price.
The 24-inch iMac comes with a 2.4GHz Intel Core 2 Duo processor, 1GB of memory, a 320GB hard drive, Superdrive and an ATI Radeon 2600 Pro. MacMall is selling the 24-inch iMac for $1500 after rebates and aforementioned specials.
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04/25, 5:10pm
KORE 2 Workshop dates
In brief: We have a review of FileMaker's Bento, dates for the KORE 2 workshop tour have been announced, Zerofractal Studios has debuted Tree3D, European Country Keynote themes are available, and 1 million copies of Parallels have been sold ... We have posted a review of FileMaker's Bento. In Bento, you choose customizable forms and a number of containers, each with a specific use. Bento veers away from the more technical database jargon and refers to its databases as Collections in a library and compares them with iTunes playlists. Text entry boxes still use the term fields, like its big brother FileMaker, but Bento includes templates so that you can skip the frustrating design process completely.
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04/11, 4:50pm
Mac, iPhone threaten MSFT
Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard is being labeled a threat to Microsoft's platform dominance, with the operating system's new features such as Spaces, and the Mac's ability to run Windows, being cited as symptoms of the effect. BusinessWeek writer Gary Morgenthaler states that Apple's OS is loosening a "20-year death grip" that Microsoft has had on the industry, especially when combined with VM solutions such as VMware Fusion or Parallels.
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04/09, 2:15pm
Parallels Server beta 3
Parallels Server Beta 3 has been released, adding an integrated toolset that includes Parallels Tools, Parallels Image Tool and Parallels Transporter (a P2V and V2V migration tool) to the hypervisor solution for server virtualization. Parallels Server includes support for Intel Virtualization Technology (Intel VT-x) hardware acceleration technologies, 32- and 64-bit platform and guest OS support, and 4-way guest SMP and multi-core CPU support. The new release also adds open APIs and SDK for extensible management, allowing third party tools vendors to add support for Parallels Server. Also new is a command line interface (CLI), and scripting (including Python) allowing automation of common server tasks from the command line.
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03/05, 2:05pm
Parallels Server beta 2
Parallels today announced it is offering Parallels Server beta 2 for public download, after positive feedback based on private testing. Parallels Server takes advantage of hypervisor-based virtualization techniques, and supports over 50 different x86 and x64 operating systems, including Windows Server 2008. The beta also features Parallels' toolsets for enhancing, transferring, and backing up the resident virtual machines. Parallels Server beta 2 is available from download from Parallels' website.
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01/21, 5:00pm
MS Virtual Machine Changes
Microsoft today expanded its virtual machine rules for Windows Vista in a way that will match similar competition from Linux and Mac OS X, based on changes to its end-user agreement. While having previously allowed only Vista Business or Ultimate software to run within a virtual environment, the update allows a "licensed device" to run both Vista Home Basic and Home Premium versions inside of such code, regardless of the actual operating system. The license bars the use of Microsoft-made digital rights management (DRM) such as protected Windows Media inside the environment but is otherwise unrestricted.
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01/21, 3:05pm
Parallels Server for Mac
SWsoft gave Macworld Expo patrons a demonstration of its upcoming Parallels Server for Mac – a product that earned it the expo's Best of Show award. Due to ship in the coming weeks, Parallels Server allows users to run any number of different virtual machines on the Mac, including Apple's own Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard Server. The new software will be also be able to run on a server cluster, according to Benjamin Rudolph, director of corporate communications for SWsoft.
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01/09, 3:30pm
Parallels Server beta
SWsoft today released the beta version of Parallels Server, the company's hypervisor-powered server virtualization software. Parallels Server is the first virtualization solution designed to run on Apple hardware -- including Mac Pros and Xserves -- and is the first to run multiple copies of Mac OS X Server 10.5 Leopard on a single Apple computer, according to the company. Parallels Server is available in private beta testing, and the company is accepting registrations for new beta testers.
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12/19, 4:10pm
VM Test
New benchmarks reveal that while Boot Camp is still the fastest way to run Windows on your Mac, the virtual machines offered by Parallels and VMWare offer increasingly decent performance -- depending on which flavor of Windows you choose to run. MacTech, in an extensive benchmarking of the different Windows-on-Mac methods, found that Parallels was somewhat faster in general than VMware Fusion for XP, but if you want the best virtualization performance for Vista, then VMware Fusion is the way to go. Overall, however, the results show that XP is, by and large, a much better VM performer than Vista.
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12/04, 9:05am
Parallels Desktop Premium
Parallels has released a new Premium Edition of Parallels Desktop 3.0, its popular virtualization software. Introduced with the program is the latest Leopard-compatible build of Desktop, which is now also a free, automatic update for owners of the regular package. The Premium Edition bundles three applications for users' Windows virtual machines: Acronis Disk Director Suite lets users move, merge and recover partitions, while Acronis True Image Home lets users backup all Windows data, including the OS and settings.
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