Even though we love our Macs here at TUAW and, if you're reading this site, you probably do to, there's some things you might have to use Windows for occasionally. So, what's a Mac user to do in that situation? Well, most of you probably choose one of the popular virtualization applications available for the Mac to accomplish this.

One of these popular solutions is from a company called Parallels, which recently updated its Parallels Desktop for Mac application. During last week's Macworld Expo, TUAW's Michael Rose visited the Parallels booth to speak with Parallels' CEO Serguei Beloussov and get all the latest on the company's plans for "virtual" domination.

Click through to see what he found out.

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.

If you've been considering Parallels Desktop for your two computers, they have a great deal for you: buy one for $80 and get one free. The price effectively gets you two copies of Parallels for $40 each. Not bad. Just follow this link here.

Parallels Desktop is virtualization software that allows you to run a variety of PC operating systems from within Mac OS X.

[Via Smoking Apples.]

Whenever two options are presented, it is often a smart move to weight the pros and cons of each and make a decision based on your needs. If you need to push Windows in a virtualization environment, Daniel A. Begun at CNET Labs has benchmarked Windows Vista running in both Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion. The short of the long? If you really need to push Windows, do it in Boot Camp if at all possible. If Boot Camp is out of the question, VMware Fusion was the winner in heavy duty, multimedia tasks by a landslide, due largely in part to its support of multiple core processors (Parallels, as of this writing, only supports one core per CPU). On the flip side, however, Parallels Desktop is the only virtualization product that supports 3D gaming right now, but as a Parallels owner, I'll still vouch for running your games in Windows via Boot Camp.

At the end of the CNET Labs day, both apps still have their pros and cons. Begun hails Parallels Desktop for being the more usable and intuitive of the two (and during my initial tests of both before deciding to buy, I agreed), though I had a much easier time getting non-Windows OSes installed in VMware Fusion (to this day, Parallels Desktop still won't install Ubuntu, and I have received no response as to why). Still, the moral of this particular story is that if performance is at the very top of your virtualization shopping list, VMware Fusion is, at least for now, the reigning champion. Check Begun's full article for more details on the tests and how they were performed.

After teasing us by announcing a release candidate for beta testers (and a sale that is now over) and posting videos of Quake 4 - a very resource-intensive game - running impressively well in Parallels, this powerful new v3.0 of the leading virtualization suite for Mac OS X has been released. Offering significant new features like we already mentioned, such as the highly-anticipated 3D acceleration (XP for now, Vista to come) and SmartSelect for specifying files types to open in apps across virtualized OSes, this could easily be called the most significant release of Parallels since the advent of Coherence Mode.

Parallels Desktop 3.0 sells for $79.99 and is ready for download now, with 15-day trial keys are available to those who already used trial keys for previous versions.

We've been noting the steady stream of Release Candidates coming out of Parallels, but today finally saw the actual release of latest version of the leading (for now) virtualization solution for the Mac. So now those hardy (or prudent) souls out there who actually wait for a shipping product can jump on this revolutionary piece of software. At this point, there's hardly anything new to say, but the many official improvements since the last release include support for: running a Boot Camp partition as a virtual machine, USB 2.0, built-in iSights, true drag and drop between OSes, Leopard and Vista and more.

The release is free for registered users. Parallels Desktop sells for $79.99 and of course you'll need a Windows license if you want to install that. A demo is available. Unfortunately, the Parallel's site is getting hammered right now, so you may have to wait a little while to grab your copy.

[Via Infinite Loop]

Update: clarified what was released.

The Parallels team today issued Release Candidate 3 of Parallels Desktop, their virtualization software that we've mentioned once or twice. While their announcement blog post only touts two major new features (the ability to seamlessly upgrade a WinXP VM to Vista & a more secure file sharing process between OSes), the beta testing page has quite a bit more to say. A lot of features have been enhanced in RC3, such as better Boot Camp support, ever-enhanced USB support and a new Transporter bundle, but one hidden gem is of particular interest: Parallels Desktop is now ready for the upcoming Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard. To be clear: this doesn't mean you can virtualize Leopard in Parallels Desktop - you can run Parallels Desktop on a Leopard machine.

Head on over to the beta page for all the details and to grab a copy of the new release.

We've all been waiting patiently for Parallels to deliver on their promise to add hardware accelerated 3D graphics support in their Intel Mac virtualization solution, Parallels Desktop. Apparently, however, competitor VMware already has some working code. The above video, featuring 3D accelerated gaming, appeared recently on Youtube, and now it seems that a VMware employee is confirming that for some time VMware has contained a "semi-hidden switch" for activating 3D support on the Linux and Windows versions. Since VMware's still beta Mac product, VMware Fusion, is built on the same codebase as VMware Workstation 6, it too will support Direct X 8.1 (as demonstrated in the video). They are apparently working towards an internal goal of supporting Direct X 9 and thus Vista's Aero. As much as I like Parallels Desktop, this just confirms it: competition is good! Now get back to work Parallels!

Thanks Mark!

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]

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.

I was in an Apple Store here in CO yesterday and noticed that retail boxes of Parallels Desktop have arrived on the shelves. In fact, I had a nice discussion with a customer who was switching because he could now run Windows on a new Mac (he never considered Virtual PC an option - I personally don't blame him). He even used the term 'safety net' to refer to how often he hoped to have to run Windows - if ever.

I also just received an email from Parallels promoting a $20 rebate with the purchase of Parallels Desktop ($80) and Windows XP (either $200 for Home or $300 for Pro). The rebate is good through August 15th, and Windows XP must be purchased within 14 days of Parallels Desktop.