One of the two software solutions for running Windows or Linux on an Intel Mac (and that’s just about all of them now) has just received a major upgrade. Parallels Desktop for the Mac has just been upgraded to version 4.0 and there are a long list of improvements not the least of which is a claimed 50% boost in Windows Vista performance. Parallels allows the installation of supported operating systems in virtual machines on a Mac that can run on the OS X desktop allowing full function operation of those OSes. Here’s just a sample of the improvements in 4.0:
- Improved user interface
- Faster performance
- 64-bit Windows support
- Multi-core support
- Modality view- allows a scaled down window of the full VM screen to keep an eye on it in a small window
- Speech recognition- control Parallels and Windows via speech
- Inclusion of Atronis Disk Image/ Director- make full image backups of the VM
- Many, many more
The full price for Parallels Desktop 4.0 is $79.99 and those who purchased 3.0 after September 1, 2007 get a free upgrade. Regular upgrade price is just $39.99 for those who purchased an earlier version prior to the September date. I qualified for the free upgrade so I am installing 4.0 on the new MacBook as I am writing this and will install Vista Ultimate on it when it’s ready. Who knows, maybe I’ll put Windows 7 on it. :)
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