June 17 - 4:30pm EDT   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. [full story]

June 16 - 5:55pm EDT   CodeWeavers has released an update to its Windows virtualization software, CrossOver Mac 8.0. The latest version now supports a number of new programs including Internet Explorer 7 and Quicken 2009. Performance has been improved while running Microsoft Office 2007, particularly with Outlook. The company attributes a significant portion of the expanded compatibility to the growing Wine Project, an initiative that is working to allow Windows-coded programs to work on other operating systems. [full story]

May 15 - 9:30am EDT   Leopard owners upgrading to Mac OS X 10.5.7 have been experiencing critical errors, discussions on Apple's support forums show. At times problems have begun as early as installation, with digital signatures being registered as invalid despite multiple download attempts. Other users have reported subsequent looping errors, which may require powering down a system and rebooting one or more times before control can be regained. [full story]

April 17 - 2:55pm EDT   Codeweavers has published an initial public beta for CrossOver 8.0.0, an upcoming release of its virtualization software. Users are able to install and run a number of Windows applications from within Mac OS X, eliminating the need to dual-boot a system or confine Windows software to a single window. Selecting a Windows-only file in Finder triggers the appropriate program automatically. [full story]

April 3 - 10:20am EDT   VMware has released a new patch for Fusion, its Mac-based virtualization software. Although only described as a maintenance release, the download solves several major issues, for instance by restoring printer sharing. Mac printers should once again be accessible within Windows virtual machines; the compatibility was temporarily broken as a result of Apple Security Update 2009-001. [full story]

March 5 - 12:20pm EST   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. [full story]

February 12 - 9:30am EST   Codeweavers has released a minor release candidate update for CrossOver Games, one of its virtualization utlities. The software is used to run Windows games on Mac and Linux systems, whose normal virtualization tools may lack the optimization needed to achieve reasonable framerates. Users can install and run Windows games without having to own a copy of Windows. [full story]

February 3 - 11:45am EST   VMware has posted the View Open Client, an open-source version of its virtual desktop tool. The software accesses Windows desktops hosted in a remote datacenter, allowing users to carry personalized settings across multiple machines. Though only Linux clients are supported in the initial release, VMware is actively encouraging businesses to develop clients for other platforms. [full story]

January 10 - 3:10am EST   Developers at Citrix have been doing some guerilla marketing at Macworld Expo, holding impromptu demonstrations of forthcoming app allowing iPhone users to run Windows. The app is actually an iphone version of the company's XenDesktop thin client software. The virtualization software supports most Windows XP and Vista applications. [full story]

November 14 - 3:55pm EST   Citrix will bring its XenDesktop and XenApp applications to the iPhone, the company has announced. XenApp is used to virtualize individual Windows programs such as Excel or SAP, which can then be run remotely in a client-server configuration; XenDesktop expands this concept to cover an entire XP or Vista system. For the iPhone the software will be mainly be tweaked to use multi-touch commands, such as pinching and panning. [full story]

November 13 - 5:30pm EST   Ever since Apple switched to Intel processors, Macs have been able to run the most popular operating systems for the x86 architecture including Linux and Microsoft Windows. Apple offers Boot Camp for free, which lets you create a dual-boot partition, but forces you to choose between Mac OS X or Windows each time you turn on your computer. For a solution that lets you switch between Mac OS X and any other operating system without rebooting, you need a virtualization program such as Parallels 4.0. [full story]

November 11 - 12:25pm EST   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. [full story]

October 28 - 9:50am EDT   As a result of a promise if gas prices fell to $2.79 in the Twin Cities, developer CodeWeavers says it is giving away free licenses of CrossOver, its Windows virtualization software for the Mac. The software places Windows apps into virtual containers called "bottles," which lets users run the apps without having to load Windows separately or as a complete virtual machine. Under the terms of the giveaway, people visiting the CodeWeavers site between 12AM on October 28th and 12AM on October 29th can pick up a special serial code entitling them to one free copy of CrossOver. [full story]

September 18 - 1:55pm EDT   VMware has officially released Fusion 2.0, the latest version of its Mac virtualization software. The software adds a host of new features, such as multiple and/or automatic "snapshots" of virtual machines, which let users regress to earlier states as needed. Others include automatic detection and use of multiple displays, and the ability to open Mac files and URLs in a virtual machine, or vice versa. [full story]

September 18 - 10:05am EDT   No matter how much you may love your Mac, there may be at least a handful of Windows programs that don’t have an equivalent Mac OS X version. Rather than buy a separate machine, of course, you can always use Boot Camp to turn your Mac into a PC. However, a more practical solution may be to run Windows inside a virtual machine using Fusion 2.0. [full story]