Parallels Desktop Goes Final

Parallels Desktop, the top-notch OS X application that lets users run virtualized operating systems, has reached a final non-beta version. Current Parallels users that have already purchased Desktop won't have to pay for the update and will enjoy many new features, such as Vista compatibility, stable coherence mode and the ability to run an OS installed on a Boot Camp partition.

Here's the complete feature set from Parallels, whose site happens to be down at the moment.

  • New! Installation Assistant built-in tool included.
  • New! Shared Networking
  • Works on ANY Intel-Mac with ANY memory configuration with no system modification. This includes Mac Pro towers with up to 16GB of RAM, and the full line of Core 2 Duo iMacs
  • New! Compatibility with developer build of Mac OS X 10.5, code-named “Leopard”
  • New! Support for Windows Vista
  • Solaris guest OS no longer hangs after suspend/resume
  • An improved Parallels Tools package
  • Full support for OpenBSD 3.8 as a guest operating system
  • G4U hard disk cloning tool now works in virtual machines
  • Better video output improvement and acceleration
  • Added multi interface USB devices support (including Windows Mobile 2005 devices)
  • Added isochronous USB devices support (including WebCam devices)
  • Keyboard support improvement: Eject CD key support, left/right Shift/Ctrl/Alt (Option)/Windows keys difference support
  • Added virtual disk cache policy option: Mac OS X performance optimized or guest OS performance optimized
  • Image Tool fixes
  • Optimized disk cache policy for Suspend/Resume feature
  • Windows ME Suspend/Resume fix
  • Shared Folders first time access acceleration
  • Clipboard synchronization tool fixes (unreadable symbols sometimes added during copy and paste)
  • Sound playback and recording improvement

Unfortunately, Parallels Desktop doesn't have much in the way of 3D acceleration yet. If you've been holding out for a stable release, now's the time to check it out. It goes for 79.99. I'm going to have to update my installation this evening and see if it can actually boot Vista installed on a Boot Camp partition. Update: It can't.

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Paul Stamatiou is a designer who codes. He's the Co-Founder of Rewind AI, previously designed at Twitter for 9 years, and has been writing here for 18 years.