There's some interesting discussion going on at Ronald Heft's blog regarding the Parallels virtualization software. Parallels software has become very popular among Intel Mac users, letting them simultaneously run Windows. The latest Parallels beta has a spiffy Coherence mode that lets you run Window applications on your OS X desktop and not be confined to a little window. Ron talks about how Parallels has been working hard to add more and more features to their product without charging extra.
I might be completely wrong, but to me it looks like something is going on behind the scenes. If Apple has purchased Parallels, I think that explains why the Parallels team has been releasing features out the wazoo without charging for them. This won't be the first time Apple has included third party software in one of their offerings, so I think this scenario is completely possible.
While I believe that Apple once tried to compete with their Boot Camp offering, Parallels has come a long way and has accrued many more users than Boot Camp. Parallels is almost necessary for web developers, such as Jeff Croft, to utilize for Internet Explorer 7 testing.
Do you think there's any possibility of Apple purchasing a company like Parallels? Well then again if Apple was interested they would likely just license Parallels' OS X virtualization software as Parallels also makes Windows products. I think there is a slight chance that Apple is interested in Parallels. Remember CoverFlow? Apple bought that for use in iTunes 7, so why not integrate Parallels into Leopard?