Similar Models
Top PC Reviews
|
Sponsors »
Parallels Desktop for Mac makes it possible to run Windows XP or Vista, Linux, and more side-by-side with Mac OS X without rebooting. Award-winning virtualization technology lets you run Mac OS X and your favorite Windows applications at the same time. You can even drag-and-drop files between desktops.
Offering more than 50 new features, Parallels Desktop for Mac also comes with a complete suite of essential tools you need to run Windows on a Mac. You get $175 in bonus software including Kaspersky Internet Security, Acronis Disk Director, and Acronis True Image.
Lightning-fast performance
Parallels Desktop takes advantage of Intel Core Duo and Core 2 Duo processors and Intel VT-x hardware accelerated virtualization, for near-native speed and rock-solid performance.
Unmatched compatibility
Enjoy all the benefits of having a Mac and keep running the Windows programs you can’t live without. Parallels Desktop for Mac runs thousands of Windows applications and is compatible with your favorite USB devices including mobile phones, printers, scanners, and GPS devices. You can run any version of Windows, including Vista and XP, as well as Linux, FreeBSD, even MS-DOS, at the same time as OS X. Parallels also supports running Mac OS X Leopard Server in a virtual machine.
Comprehensive protection and privacy
Parallels Internet Security by Kaspersky protects your Windows programs from virus and spyware threats and even includes a firewall and anti-spam tools. Parallels Desktop also includes SmartGuard instant “snapshots” which make backup and recovery easier than ever.
Features
Advanced virtualization engine with lightning-fast performance
Use Windows on your Mac without rebooting
Install Windows XP and Vista in three easy steps
Coherence 4.0 makes Windows programs run and act like Mac applications
Run thousands of Windows applications at near native speed
Support for OpenGL and DirectX 9.0 3D graphics software including games
Drag and drop files between Windows XP/Vista and Mac OS X
Parallels Energy Saver maximizes notebook battery life
Built-in Windows virus and spyware protection
Migrate your existing PC to your Mac; even import Boot Camp partitions and VMware Fusion virtual machines
Use iPhone to manage virtual machines
Speech recognition support; use your voice to control major Parallels commands
Unmatched ease of use
System Requirements
* Mac OS X v10.4.11 or v10.5 or later
* Intel Core Duo processor
* 1GB of RAM (2GB recommended)
* 450MB of free hard-disk space for installation, plus space to allocate your virtual machine
* Internet connection for select features and online updates
* Windows or other operating system (Not included)
Review By Macs.about
Parallels was the first to market with a virtualization system for the Mac, and for a while, the company had the market to itself. Eventually, VMware, a well-known provider of virtualization technology, decided to enter the Mac marketplace, and quickly captured a prominent share. Of course, it didn’t help that Parallels Desktop 3 was known to be a bit flakey. For example, it crashed my Mac Pro a few times a month, something that’s not all that easy to do.
Read Full Review Here
Review By Macworld
Like Fusion, Parallels Desktop allows you to take ‘snapshots’ that effectively freeze the Windows virtual machine and store it so that you can revert to the snapshot in case anything goes wrong with the virtual machine. Version 4.0 now allows you to schedule snapshots to take place at regular intervals, ensuring that you’ve always got recent backups available. You can also run the virtual machine in ‘safe mode’, which asks if you want to keep any changes that you made to the Windows set-up before you shut the virtual machine down. This is useful for testing beta software or trying out software downloaded from the internet.
Read Full Review Here
Review By Pcadvisor
With a virtual machine (VM) running - typically Windows, but Linux and other x86 OSes are supported - you can opt to see a traditional windowed version of the system desktop; or in Coherence mode where open apps appear mixed together on the Mac desktop. Parallels Desktop 4.0 has now added a Modality mode which reduces a VM to a small thumbnail, making it easy to oversee many running VMs. Catching up with Fusion, Parallel’s guest OSes can now be 64-bit, and multi processors are also supported.
Read Full Review Here
Review By Theappleblog
First, in 720p, video playback was smooth in Fusion, only showing some not very noticeable horizontal lines during fast action sequences. In Fusion, audio was slightly behind video on my first attempt, although video playback itself was mostly smooth, with no horizontal lines. Rewinding to the beginning and starting play again resolved the audio/visual syncing issue, and numerous attempts to recreate the problem failed, so it may have been an isolated event. Also, I was only using 128MB of video RAM, so assigning more may have made a difference. Oddly, Fusion would play only audio, no video, in fullscreen mode in Quicktime, while Parallels had no trouble switching from full to windowed playback.
Read Full Review Here
Review By Informationweek
Both Parallels and Fusion let you choose either Windows or Mac OS X applications as the defaults to open specific application types in either environment. For example, you might want to have RTF files open with TextEdit on the Mac, and DOC files open with Microsoft Word on Windows. You can customize your virtual machine settings in either Parallels or Fusion so that the appropriate files open in your chosen apps whether you click on the document icons on the Mac or Windows desktop.
Read Full Review Here
Review By Arstechnica
In addition to the performance improvements, Parallels has made improvements to the hyervisor engine and memory overcommit features. Version 4.0 of Desktop now has support for four-way SMP, and experimental support for eight-way SMP. As mentioned above (and as we saw in September), the new version has support for DirectX 9 and OpenGL 2.0, but video graphics support has also been upped to 256MB. “This is comfortable for at least casual use of gaming, but neither we nor VMware have nailed it just yet,” Kambhiranond told us. “If you’re a hardcore gamer, you’ll probably still be using a native install.”
Read Full Review Here
- Gateway DX4200 Desktop Review
This high-performance model delivers the power of a Phenom 9550 Quad-Core Processor, plus the 64-bit edition of Genuine Windows Vista Home Premium. You'll want... - HP Pavilion Elite m9550f Desktop Review
HP Pavilion M9550F Elite Desktop PC is powered by the 2.5 GHz quad-core Intel Core 2 Quad Q9300. With four cores in a single... - The Gateway FX6800-01e Desktop Review
A new class of performance: The Gateway FX6800-01e Desktop is a barrier-breaking gaming and media workhorse equipped with the latest quad-core Intel Core i7-920... - Ubuntu launches "Hardy Heron"
A Windows-based installer that allows Ubuntu and Windows to coexist on the same machine and a powerful new sound server are the key features... - Lenovo H210 Desktop PC Review
The Lenovo H210 board games that can run Crysis at full resolution. Depending on the configuration. For the basic configuration of desktop Intel Core...
Posted on February 13th, 2009 Written by: PCMAN
Categories |
|