Filed under: Software, Snow Leopard
Parallels Desktop 4 updated
Popular virtualization software Parallels has been updated to build 3810. The software offers many upgrades and fixes, including Windows DirectX 9.0 with Shaders Model 2 support, as well as "experimental" support for Snow Leopard and Windows 7 beta. The "experimental" caution, as you might surmise, means not all features will work. For example, in Snow Leopard, there is no USB support, and Parallels notes there is no shared networking support.
Parallels has been running a competitive race against VMware Fusion as each software solution tries to out-feature and outperform the other.
The Parallels update can be downloaded at this link, or you can select "check for updates" from the Parallels application help menu.
A complete list of the enhancements in this build can be found here. Some users are reporting faster performance and some improvements with use of peripherals.
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
a ham sandwich said 1:16PM on 1-08-2009
so...whens my windows aero support coming?
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Rob Roark said 1:26PM on 1-08-2009
I believe that aero required directX 9, so it should work now
a ham sandwich said 2:11PM on 1-08-2009
true, but it also requires wddm certified graphics drivers which it doesnt have. so no, it doesnt work.
Stu J said 1:49PM on 1-08-2009
Ahh Parallels - now I was going to upgrade when I saw it for $49.99 - good deal (I thought).
However, I live in the UK ... so I go to sign up:
£37.72 for the upgrade. That doesn't ring true - I know the £ against the $ isn't doing well, but with a quick check I can see that it should be nearer the £32.90 mark. Then it adds on an additional 19% tax ... NINETEEN PERCENT? Where did that come from? VAT is high at 15%, but to add on another 4% tax after an awful exchange rate - leaves me saying "Thanks but no thanks".
A $49.99 upgrade quickly becomes £45 if you live in the UK.
I'll stick with my 3.0 for the time being!
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Mo said 3:09PM on 1-08-2009
If the product sold to the UK is sold from another EU country (which it may be), then you'll be charged the VAT rate of the *source* country, according to EU VAT rules. In other words, if somebody from Spain buys something from the UK, they'll pay 15% (at the moment). If somebody from the UK buys something from Austria, they'll pay 20%.
19% VAT is charged in Germany, France (actually 19.6%), Greece, Lithuania, Netherlands, Romania and Slovakia, and so you might actually be buying it from a subsidiary or partner in one of those countries (quite a few EU countries actually have VAT rates well above 19%, too—Denmark’s is 25%)
Mo said 3:11PM on 1-08-2009
Oh and… although 15% may seem high, it's the lowest percentage allowed by EU law at present for standard-rate items.
Brian Allen said 2:07PM on 1-08-2009
I hope that is just keeps improving.
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Jash Sayani said 2:09PM on 1-08-2009
I still prefer Virtual Box!
1. Does everything this does.
2. Its a Freeware.
3. Justified !
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Joseph said 2:37PM on 1-08-2009
M$ even provides FREE vm's for that.
atuck said 2:09PM on 1-08-2009
How does this baby compare to VMware? Neither can actually run games I assume.
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Joseph said 2:41PM on 1-08-2009
I've had too many issues w/ Parallels. I swapped to VMWare and will not swap back.
issues like -
Random Crashes (Gray Curtain of Doom)
needing to install 40 PCI Bridges
Inability to Update using M$'s Site
Resource Hog. Computer runs faster w/ vmware.
I know there was more, but it was a headache and I want to warn people that there could be potential issues.
CaptSaltyJack said 2:19PM on 1-08-2009
I've been a long-time Parallels user (since 2.0), and I recently ditched it for VMware Fusion. I have to say, I'm more impressed by VMware Fusion. It seems snappier to me, plus (if you care), Linux support is MUCH better. Not to mention VMware Fusion's "Unity" feature (like Parallels "Coherence") works for Linux as well as Windows, whereas Coherence only works for Windows.
Let's face it, the VMware guys have been doing this for years and years now. Parallels is the new kid on the block, and they have a lot to learn. Maybe it will be a better product a couple versions from now, but as it stands, VMware Fusion is a far more polished and stable product, in my experience.
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Kennon said 2:19PM on 1-08-2009
Nope.. neither runs games well at all. Crossover Games doesn't do horribly with Half-Life 2 type games, but still not great.
I prefer VMWare Fusion to Parallels. I have tried all the versions of Parallels from 2 on up to 4 and have been with VMWare from 1 to 2. VMWare is a much more solid product. It supports Windows 7 Beta flawlessly. No Aero support, but the fact that their drivers work without a hitch in a beta OS is proof that they have their act together. Parallels 4 is better, but they really need to step it up in the compatibility game. Parallels is constantly crashing for me with Vista and XP (haven't tried Windows 7 on it), and that's unacceptable... especially when I have a great copy of Fusion that works so well.
That's my .02, and I'm sure others have their opinions and find that Parallels is better than Fusion.. but those haven't been my findings. I'll keep trying Parallels though, and maybe one day I'll shell out the cash for it.
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dorian said 3:31PM on 1-08-2009
that's disappointing. I really would some more comptition with CrossOver Games. But it seems like they've been holding off for awhile. I really want better DX9 support in Crossover. Supporting IE7 would be amazing.
atuck said 2:27PM on 1-08-2009
Sounds like everyone is fairly consistent in their preference for VMware. Too bad my company bought me parallels instead... Ah well, I guess I can't really complain, but I wont drop cash on an update if I'm going to have to eventually switch.
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David said 3:22PM on 1-08-2009
#mark
That is not entirely true because Choosy becomes your default browser and therefore it is also pretty great in say NetNewsWire, cause when you control-click a link you can those "Open Link In Default Browser" and this is now Choosy, which I find pretty useful!
But when that's said I think there is a lot of room for development for this thing, but for now I think it's pretty nifty!
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dorian said 3:31PM on 1-08-2009
I really wish CrossOver would update and support Direct X 9c better. I know it's using wine but I really want to see come changes. I only need windows for 2 things, Causal FPS playing and IE6&7 for web design test. I don't want to install windows for that.
That's why Virtual Box works for me to get ie7 and crossover does TF2 and IE6
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David said 3:39PM on 1-08-2009
**Sorry for the comment above, that was a for an other thread**
About Parallels 4, I just did a gaming test just to see if I could start a game up now. To my big surprise did I manage to start Command & Conquer 3 Kanes Wrath and play a quick 2 player match against the computer and win!
I didn't even try to streamline the process in any way, at the same time I had 8 apps up and running in OS X, which of one of them was a torrent client.
the crazy thing about it is that it was completely playable.
Here are some screenshots:
http://img.skitch.com/20090108-x9mwhqh4e8xf3fiye7x18wewga.jpg
http://img.skitch.com/20090108-2s7xptj3q8hgy8c1pacujtt3f.jpg
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Phil Heywood said 3:48PM on 1-08-2009
I'll put in a vote for Parallels. I needed to get my work PC (XP Pro) running on my Mac, and VMWare, using Converter, only resulted in a VM that gave me frequent, random BSoDs.
Parallels works perfectly, and has been extremely stable. It's fast enough, although I haven't tried 4.0 yet.
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Brian said 4:25PM on 1-08-2009
I'll see your vote and raise it by 1.
I use Parallels every day without issue. The one thing that I hate about 4 is that is does not close when you close the last VM which 3 used to do.