News from MacDailyNews.com

"Move over emulation, virtualization is in and it's hotter than two Jessica Albas wresting the devil himself in a pit of molten steel. It's no contest, virtualization has it all: multiple operating systems running on the same machine at nearly the full speed of the host's processor with each system seamlessly networking with the next. Add to that the fact that it's cheaper than getting a new machine and you have the guaranteed latest craze. Not even the Hula Hoop can stop this one," Dave Girard writes fro Ars Technica.

"Okay, virtualization isn't totally new–it's just new to Macs and Parallels Desktop is the first out the door with a 1.0 product for Mactels. For those that are just getting to the party, here's a bit of a breakdown on virtualization. The idea is that program acts as a virtual machine (VM) and its job is to be the PC (one of the more boring drama classes), tricking the client OS into thinking it's inside a real x86 machine with a physical hard drive, keyboard, Ethernet card, etc., when in reality, it's merely grabbing unused CPU cycles and RAM inside another OS to do it's thing," Girard writes.

"The benefits are pretty clear over a real PC: It's running on the Mac you know and love but you're not sacrificing access to the occasional Windows-only app that you might need. Maybe you have a copy of Office XP for Windows and don't want to shell out for the Mac version. Sure, you could load up Apple's Boot Camp, but using a program like Parallels–or its competitors VMWare, WINE and MS' Virtual PC–means you don't have to reboot just to use that accounting program at work," Girard writes. " It is a great prospect and now even Apple is recommending running Parallels on their Get a Mac site."

Girard's comprehensive review covers:
1 - Introduction
2 - Installation
3 - Windows XP Installation
4 - Windows application compatibility
5 - Peripherals
6 - Benchmarks vs. Boot Camp
7 - Conclusion

"People pondering the switch to a MacBook can rest assured that with the exception of USB device support and hardware accelerated 3-D applications, their needs will be well met by this little workhorse of a program. Between the networking that just works, the impressive speed and the inability of the client operating systems to know they are running within a "virtual machine," I think you'll be hard-pressed to find software for any x86 OS that doesn't work within a Parallels VM. If you're still not certain, you can always try the fully-working demo and make your decision later. Just keep in mind that the price tag jumps from US$50 to US$80 after July 15," Girard writes.

Full review, very highly recommended for those considering Parallels Desktop 1.0 for Mac OS X, here.