Parallels
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Welcome to Bizarro World: Parallels and VMware running Mac OS X on XP?
OK, the Parallels-dar was apparently down for refurbishment this weekend, since everyone else has this story already: CNN/Money has posted a column by David Fitzpatrick of Fortune that reveals some fascinating tidbits about virtualization in, and virtualization of, Mac OS X.Fitzpatrick announced, apparently for the first time in public, that Parallels is the corporate child of server-side virtualization company SWsoft, makers of VM tool Virtuozzo and server management console Plesk. It's SWsoft's deep pockets that have been keeping the lights on during the cold Moscow winters (most of the Parallels dev team is located in Russia). Even more fascinating, Fitzpatrick quotes the chiefs of both SWsoft and VMware on another topic (emphasis mine):VMware's CEO Diane Greene told me last week that her company's existing x86 desktop product is already being used by some to run Mac OS on computers from Dell, HP and others, though this is not intentional on VMware's part. SWsoft's Beloussov says that this spring, Parallels will upgrade its software further, in a way that by coincidence will make it easier to run Mac OS on a non-Apple computer. He also insists that is not deliberate, but just a consequence of the nature of the technology, especially now that Intel builds virtualization technology into its chips. Really truly? If this is happening, it's a very big deal. With the back-office expertise of both VMware and SWsoft, when Mac OS X (or, more likely, Mac OS X Server) becomes a virtualized player on server-class systems, it's going to shake things up quite a bit for Mac server admins. If any of you out there are already running Mac OS X under VMware on Windows... don't hide your light under a bushel, let us know about it.Update 8 am ET: Several loyal night-shift readers have noted that a hacked version of OS X has been runnable under VMware for some time. I'm aware of this, but -- and no disrespect to the dedicated folks at insanelymac.com that are working to optimize the experience -- this situation is parallel (pun intended) to the XPonMac.com boot loader vs. Boot Camp. When a boxed copy of OS X runs under a standard install of VMware or Parallels, you've entered what I shudder to call the Hack-Free Zone; that's a place where the non-enthusiast community may take advantage of the capability, as happened with Boot Camp. Not to forget, OS X does not require serial number activation... so a Parallels image of OS X would be infinitely portable. That's not gonna last.Thanks David![via Download Squad/Engadget]
Parallels to turn it around, help Mac OS onto generic PC boxen
With the popularity of software like Apple's Boot Camp and SWsoft's Parallels, it's no secret that people want to run Windows and Mac OS on the same box, but who says that it has to be an Apple box? Well, Apple does, and the company has staunchly defended itself from the porting of OS X into the mad world of PC generics (not with total success, of course). But with mounting pressure from users and increasing software support from VMware and SWsoft, Steve Jobs might have to let go of his tight grasp on his shiny blue OS -- or at least turn the other way as OS X makes its way onto those vile, inferior, and cheaper x86 machines without his blessing. On that front, there's good news on the horizon: it turns out an upcoming version of Parallels just so happens to "make it easier to run Mac OS on a non-Apple computer," by some unknown but welcome means. VMware's own upcoming virtualization software for the Mac has been hamstrung by the trouble VMware has gone through trying to get Apple's blessing, and SWsoft's Parallels has been "crippled" in particular ways to make it more difficult to get Mac OS onto a non-Apple machine, but it seems like it's only going to get harder for Apple to have it both ways, and Intel's inclusion of virtualization in its own chips just compounds the "problem." Michael Dell has also reconfirmed his desire to pre-load Mac OS onto his own boring boxes "if customers wanted it and Apple would license it on reasonable terms," but that tantalizing offer doesn't seem to have swayed Apple yet.[Via Techmeme]
Beta Beat: Parallels RC1 (Build 3120) released
Parallels just posted their latest build (Build 3120) for download here (dmg). The new version boasts a lot of improvements, including better USB support for web cams, external hard drives, printers and scanners, virtual CD/DVD drives ("Burn CDs and DVDs directly in virtual machines, and play any copy-protected CD or DVD just like you would on a real PC"), improved Coherence and Boot Camp support, and bundled "Transporter RC" plus lots of bug fixes. In related news, Parallels Desktop won the MacWorld Expo 2007 "Best in Show". Thanks Kevin Duerr.
Too much XP may melt your brain and power cord
Ever have one of those Tim (The Tool Man) Taylor "More Power!" moments? Ryan Tomayko did last week, while using two instances of Parallels Desktop on his MacBook to do site testing against Internet Explorer. After about ten minutes of running two virtual machines, Ryan detected the unmistakable odor of burning plastic. He later determined that about 1/2 inch of his power cord had melted (a symptom noted by some very ticked-off Canadian Apple Store customers), which led him to reconfigure Parallels for lean running to lower his CPU load and hence his power consumption.Now, a good power supply should never melt -- ever! -- and you can't really blame IE for this one, as it's likely any CPU-hungry app would have triggered the same flaw. Still, Ryan is justifiably annoyed about the whole thing. Check out his post, and also his explanation of REST to his wife: downright Hofstadterian.[via digg]
Beta Beat: Parallels Desktop for Mac Update Beta3 (Build 3106)
The coding elves at Parallels must not sleep. They have released just another beta of Parallels Desktop for Mac (this is Beta 3 for those keeping score at home). In case you haven't used the previous Beta, there is a new UI for Parallels, which I am not too crazy about, and a number of bug fixes as well as support for USB 2.0.New in this beta is the inclusion of Transporter Beta3. What does Transporter do? It allows you to migrate an existing Windows install on a PC to a Parallels install over a network. It will also convert VMWare and Virtual PC disk images to Parallel Disk images.
PC World's 20 most innovative products of 2006
PC World has just released their '20 Most Innovative Products for 2006,' and there isn't an Apple product in sight. Why, then, am I writing about it you might ask. Because 3 Mac related items did make it on the list: Intel Core 2 Duo: This little chip powers the most recent crop of Macs and it clocked in (get it?) at number 2 on the list. Parallels Desktop for Mac: Entering at number 3 is Parallels Desktop, the Mac app of 2006. No other app has received such good reviews, buzz, or accolades. The best part? All the praise is well deserved. Google SketchUp: Google's relationship with the Mac has been rocky, but they are really working hard to patch things up. SketchUp is available for both Mac and PC and it is darn fun to play around with (and I bet it is even useful to some folks). Congrats to everyone who made it onto the list this year, and boo to PC World for spreading the article across several pages.[via the Official Parallels Virtualization Blog]
Beta Beat: Parallels puts beta 2 goodness in stockings
Mere days before the big sleigh ride, Parallels has kicked out Beta 2 of the next Parallels Desktop. This build features improvements to Coherence mode, Boot Camp compatibility, USB2 high-speed support (no audio/video in, but HDs and printers are OK), CD burning, Coherence mode app-docking and hide/show integration... busy busy busy.The beta support forum at Parallels is pages deep with issues and caveats on the first round of the beta, especially with respect to Boot Camp partition support. Apparently the bug that prevented use of FAT32-format volumes has been corrected, but please proceed with caution; you can track issues with the new build on this thread. Owners of the current PD release can use existing activation codes with the beta, and newbies can request a trial key.[via MacTech]
Buy Parallels now and get one year free updates
Here's a holiday deal from the folk who brought you Parallels. If you buy Parallels by the 23rd of December, you qualify for free upgrades for a year. Here's how it works or at least, here's how it works according to the Parallels salesperson I talked to on the phone this afternoon.You have to buy your copy either through the Parallels website itself or through one of their approved outlets like CDW. People like me who purchase from normal retail places (I bought mine from Amazon) are not qualified to get in on the deal.When you buy your copy from the Parallels site (or approved outlet), you'll be sent a special key that will activate upgrades for the year. When upgrades are released, the software will autoupdate and activate those enhancements.Parallels estimates this at a $50 value for a single upgrade, and more if they release more than one major upgrade throughout the year.
Lifehacker takes on Parallels Coherence
We've already covered the insanely feature-rich Parallels beta, including Scott's post on the new Coherence (Windows apps on the Mac desktop) mode. Now Adam Pash at Lifehacker has done a pretty complete runthrough of setting up Coherence mode for best effect, including proper desktop config and some strategies for launching Windows apps from the Dock. The beta is available free for download from Parallels' forums. If you have an Intel Mac with enough RAM and an XP2 license, and you haven't tried it yet, you should.The remarkable thing about the Parallels story is that a program that nobody in the Mac world had heard of before April of this year has become, in only eight months, not only a best-of-breed virtualization tool but also a strategically important product for the entire Mac platform. It's the tool that Virtual PC wanted to be but never truly was: a genuine productivity solution for cross-platform work and a real argument for the success of the Mac in enterprise environments. Very exciting, and the beta bodes well for an equally lively 2007.Thanks Gerry!
Screencast shows off Parallels' new tricks
Mike blogged about the new Parallels Desktop beta yesterday, and he mentioned a number of the new features that he is excited about. He didn't mention 'Coherence' mode which lets you run Windows apps along side your Mac application. However, I couldn't get this working on my MacBook Pro (I'm running Vista RC 2, and that might have something to do with it). Luckily for me, video blogger Michael Verdi has put together a great screencast showing off Coherence and a bunch of other neat new features. Check it out and marvel at the wonders of virtualization.
Intel GM has "religious experience," buys a Mac
Hexus has an interview with Pat Gelsinger, Intel's GM of their Digital Enterprise Group, in which he describes crossing "the religious boundary" by purchasing a Mac. Note how the interviewer reacts and grimaces around 1:41 when Pat drops the bomb, and how he has to interrupt Pat to announce his newfound "Mac fanboy" status. Pat also mentions he's buying a second for his wife, along with a copy of the upcoming Windows Vista and Parallels Desktop, of course.This is a really interesting statement to hear from someone so high up on a business ladder, especially since he's specifically spending the money to buy Parallels, instead of using Apple's free but workflow-intruding Boot Camp. Pat joins other business notables - like the recent CIO who picked Mac OS X after comparing to Linux and Windows for a month - in voicing their fondness for Apple's OS, even while the big fruit seems to be spending most (if not all) of their marketing on advertising to the home creative crowd.I'd link the actual interview, but it seems almost the entire Hexus site is done in Flash (grrrr). As of this writing, the interview is at the top of their list.[via Macworld UK]
New Parallels beta on the street
Man, the development team at Parallels must have a secret stash of Jolt. While they're not quite finished with the two big-ticket features for the next release (USB 2 and 3D acceleration support) they have a laundry list of other items rolling out with the latest beta build: Boot from BootCamp partition directly into Parallels Desktop for Mac (my personal favorite) Read/Write Boot Camp partition (if this supports NTFS, another big win) Parallels Transporter Beta - migrate a Windows PC image, VMWare or Microsoft Virtual PC VM to Parallels Drag and drop files/folders between Windows and Mac OS X Graphics performance improvements and more. Once the Direct3D support comes along, this product will move from the "wicked excellent" category into the realm of "simply unstoppable."Update 5:20pm EST: The Parallels support forum post detailing all the changes & linking to the download is here.Thanks Kender!
Use VMWare virtual appliances with Parallels
We know that VMWare's Mac client, Fusion, is in private beta at the moment but if you want to use one of the coolest things about VMWare now, you can. Virtualization Daily shows us how to use a VMWare virtual appliance (basically a virtualized machine meant for one specific use) with Parallels.This isn't for the faint of heart, but if you're comfortable with the Terminal and are itching to stretch the boundaries of virtualization on the Mac this is for you.
Beta Beat: VM2Go Utility for Parallels Desktop for Mac
Parallels user Mark (aka) Clalron has whipped up a nifty little utility called VM2Go and he just released it as beta in the Parallels forums. The app provides a list of all the virtual machines on your Mac, shows their actual disk space usage, allows VMs to be transferred to iPods or external drives, allows you to backup your VM to CD or DVD and restore it from CD or DVD as well. Although I haven't had a chance to try it yet since I won't be on a Mac that has Parallels on it until later today, but it sounds like it will be quite useful! If any of you get a chance to try it out, please let us know your thoughts - and be sure to also send feedback and bug reports to the developer also so he can improve upon future releases.The user guide and mac.com download link location are temporary, as is the icon - which is a good thing because the icon currently looks like the Transmit icon with a bad case of food poisoning.More info and the download link can be found in the Parallels support forums.
TUAW Tip: Disconnect Parallels CD-ROM
Yesterday I wanted to do something simple with my MacBook Pro: burn a CD. Nothing fancy, I just had a 200 meg file that I needed to give someone and there wasn't a USB drive to be found, so a CD it was. I inserted my blank CD into my MacBook Pro and nothing happened.I thought, perhaps, I had a bum CD so I tried a few more (5 to be exact). Each time I got the same result: nothing. I double checked my prefs to make sure I had 'Ask me what to do,' when inserting a blank CD, and I did.What the heck was going on?I was running Parallels, and it was being helpful by taking over the CD burner of my Mac, just in case I wanted to burn a CD from Windows. That's why it wasn't showing up in OS X! Luckily, this is a simple thing to fix. If you go to the lower right hand corner of your Parallels window you'll see a little CD icon. Click on it and the menu pictured at the top of this post comes up. Click 'Disconnect.' Boom, OS X sees your blank CD and asks for instructions.
Parallels update brings memory enhancements
Parallels (a virtualization solution for OS X) users that own Mac Pros or the new Intel iMacs will want to download the latest Parallels release (as will most other Parallels users). Why am I specifying the Mac Pro and the Intel iMac? Well, Parallels had a nasty little problem with being able to access all the RAM on those systems. A number of hacks had to be put in place in order to get things working properly, but no more.The latest update addresses the RAM issues on the 64 bit Macs, as well as introducing support for Leopard as a primary OS, and official Vista support. The rest of the enhancements can be seen here.
Parallels posts new build of Parallels Desktop for Mac
Parallels just posted build 1898 of Desktop fro the Mac. This new build brings with it a number of changes that my Mac Pro using friends will enjoy. You still need to limit RAM for this to work on a 64 bit Mac, but there is now a GUI tool to do this, so you don't need to run the commands from the command line.This build as introduces support for Windows Vista RC 1 as a guest OS (which I am installing right now) and clears up some issues with kernel panics on Mac Pros.Look for a version of Parallels Desktop that will work on any Intel Mac using any amount of RAM in the next couple of weeks.
More Mac/XP woes
Recently, I detailed the trying ordeal I endured while installing Windows XP on a MacBook via Boot Camp. While many of you shared your success stories, I've found at least one other IntelMac owner who had a less-than-pleasant experience. Julio Ojeda-Zapata at the Your Tech Weblog had a dog of a time getting XP to behave nicely on his Mac Pro. When Parallels resulted in "...numerous" kernel panics, he went to Boot Camp route, only to find that the Mac driver CD he was prompted to burn during the installation process wouldn't install (unsupported hardware).Isn't it nice to see all this frustration and wasted time become a part of the Mac experience?
Walkthrough: Running Windows Vista on your Intel Mac with Parallels Desktop
I managed to get Vista running on my MacBook Pro in both a copy of Parallels Desktop and Boot Camp, but this post is only going to cover the Parallels side of things; my Boot Camp post is still in the kettle.For the most part, I would say Vista runs in Parallels Desktop just 'ok,' as opposed to 'really well' or 'it made an un-switcher out of me.' Unfortunately, it doesn't seem to offer full support for high-end graphics cards yet, so you won't get any of the fancy 3D effects or what I like to call Translucent Everything Technology™ (TET) that Vista boasts.Read on for a walkthrough of setting up, installing and running Microsoft Windows Vista on your Intel Mac via Parallels Desktop, including some catches to watch out for and just how far you can actually push this software, given Vista's still more or less beta/RC1 status and Parallels' as-yet experimental support.
Parallels now supports Mac Pro, Leopard, and Vista
I was just talking to someone about how neat it would be if I could install the latest Vista built in Parallels, he agreed and hoped that his Mac Pro would soon be able to run Parallels in 64 bit mode soon (he has it hacked to run in 32 bit mode at the moment). Imagine my glee (yeah, I get gleeful over software updates) when I saw this post on Parallels blog.Parallels Desktop for the Mac can now run on Mac Pros with up to 3.5 gigs of RAM (things get funky with more RAM), it supports running the developer previews of both Leopard and Vista, and USB support has been improved. Get the full details here.This update is free.
