Parallels, Inc. announced today that it has released an update to Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac, the company's award-winning software that enables Mac users to run Windows, Linux, and any other operating system at the same time as OS X on a single Mac desktop, without rebooting.
The update, which is free for all registered Parallels Desktop 3.0 customers, includes several new features, updates and enhancements that make running Windows and Mac software at the same time on a single Intel-based Mac easier and more seamless than ever before:
- Seamless Look and Feel: Coherence, Parallels' innovative view mode that lets users run Windows applications like they are native Mac applications, now offers full integration with OS X's "Expose" feature. This means when expose is activated, each Parallels Coherence window will appear as a separate Window, displayed with its full contents, enabling users to select a Windows application individually. Coherence windows also "stack" in any order with Mac applications and offer drop shadows, just like native Mac application windows. Individual Coherence windows can also be minimized to the Mac application dock.
- Mirrored Desktops, Documents and Media: Users can set their Windows Desktop as well as their "My Documents", "My Pictures", and "My Music" folders to automatically mirror their Mac OS X desktop and the "Documents", "Pictures", "Movies" and "Music" folders located in the Mac home directory. This ensures that important files are at the ready regardless of which Windows or Mac application the user is currently working with. Parallels Shared Folders can also be mapped to Windows letter drives for easier access.
- More Powerful Parallels Explorer: Parallels Explorer, which enables users to view and modify the contents of their virtual machine (VM) hard disk while the VM is off, now recognizes suspended VMs. Users can also choose to automatically mount a VM hard drive to their OS X desktop as a drive that's readable and writable even if the VM is off. This gives users the ability to access files inside their VMs instantly and at any time, without opening Explorer, for increased flexibility and productivity.
- Superior Performance and Lower Overhead: Real-world workload performance has been substantially improved, especially in high stress situations like OS startup and shutdown. This release includes improvements in resource usage, particularly CPU utilization. Users can now also allocate up to 2GB of RAM to an individual virtual machine. Windows Vista performs faster and more smoothly than in previous builds.
In-depth information on the update's new features and major improvements, plus videos and screenshots of key features in action, are available at http://www.parallels.com/en/products/desktop/screens&demos.
Continued Momentum for an Industry-Leading Desktop Virtualization Product
This update further improves the Parallels Desktop 3.0 award-winning desktop virtualization product that powers more than 600,000 Macs worldwide. Since its initial launch in June 2006, Parallels Desktop for Mac has been recognized with MacWorld Magazine's "Editor's Choice" Award (the "Eddy"), PC World Magazine's "Innovation of the Year" Award, and was the first non-Apple product to ever win the MacWorld Magazine Reader's Choice Award. Parallels Desktop for Mac was also named "Best in Show" at the 2007 MacWorld Expo and in May 2007 was ranked #6 and a "Reader Favorite" on PC World Magazine's "100 Best Products of 2007" list.
Availability and Pricing
Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac registered customers will receive the update free and automatically via Parallels Desktop's integrated automatic updates tool. The update can also be downloaded and installed manually from www.parallels.com/downloads/desktop.
Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac is available for purchase online at www.parallels.com/en/buyonline, and boxed copies are available at the Apple Store, Amazon.com, CompUSA, Fry's Electronics, MicroCenter, Office Depot, Staples, select Best Buy locations, and hundreds of other retailers nationwide. The standard retail price (SRP) of Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac is $79.99.
New users are also welcome to download and test a free, fully-functional copy of Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac for 15 days. The trial product and documentation is available at www.parallels.com/downloads/desktop.
Businesses, schools, non-profit organizations and government agencies interested in volume pricing and site licenses should contact their Parallels Solutions Manager at sales@parallels.com or 425-282-6400, or contact their authorized reseller.