digg

Join DiggAbout

Donkeys and Elephants and Delegates,oh my!
Check out the most popular Elections 2008 content on Digg.

Parallels Desktop for Mac Update Beta2 released

parallels.com — Improvements include USB 2.0 support, full Virtual CD/DVD support, improved Coherence mode, better support for Boot Camp partitions, and new feature Parallels Transporter.

Bury
show profanity settings
expand all
  • xistboi, on 10/12/2007, -6/+23Setting up a mirror now:

    http://dyn2.uneasysilence.com/mirror/ParallelsDesktop3094Macen.dmg
    • TomP, on 10/12/2007, -39/+7anyone got a key or something?
    • xistboi, on 10/12/2007, -7/+12That is pirating... I set the mirror up as service since there site can't take the hits, not to distribute illegal key codes.
    • brendanc, on 10/12/2007, -4/+5Thanks a ton for the mirror. I started downloading from their site before I saw your link and my download slowed to a crawl
    • nixfu, on 10/12/2007, -2/+10No need to take the chance of someone inserting something nasty.... their servers are plenty fast:

      http://download.parallels.com/beta/Parallels%20Desktop%203094%20Mac%20en.dmg

    • michelson, on 10/12/2007, -3/+2HELP -- I installed the new version but now it says my activation code isn't good for this version. How do I roll back to the old one while not losing my virtual machine? I can't find the old DMG I used to install parallels a long time ago. Thanks.
    • monkeybutler, on 10/12/2007, -6/+1I really like the software but I cant pull the trigger on buying a copy because it seems like this stuff will be integrated into future OSX releases. I know its "only" $80 but they've confirmed the next upgrade (v3.0) will not be free so adding the cost of windows then who knows how much this could cost you in the end.

      BTW, they do offer a free yrs worth upgrades if you buy directly from them but thats full price at $80. If you just want the software now then the cheapest price is at Comp USA where its $49.99 after rebate (but then you'll be charged when version 3.0 gets released)
    • clith, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@michelson: you can download previous versions from Parallels' site. Get the latest *stable* release and you should be good.
    • xistboi, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Well the download wasn't soo fast before... You can confirm the Checksum on the DMG, it is a legit file.
  • Barr08, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3This is a welcome update, as coherence is giving me trouble. Nice job Parallels!
    • signal15, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The last update had some major memory leaks in the kernel extensions. Even if parallels wasn't started, kernel_task would consume massive amounts of memory. I uninstalled the beta and put the release version back on, and now all is fine again.

      But, with it installed, my machine was pretty much unusable if I started parallels, as nearly all 2GB of ram was used even before I booted a VM.
    • rodrigo74, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Does Coherence work with any guest OS, or just Windoze?
      It would be sweet to have Amarok straight in my Dock.
  • ruju6, on 10/12/2007, -0/+16Site is long load:

    * NEW! USB 2.0 support - “Plug and play” popular USB devices like external hard drives, printers, and scanners, and use them at full native speed.
    o NOTE! Current Build 3094 doesn’t support isochronous devices such as web cameras, microphones, etc.
    * NEW! Full-feature virtual CD/DVD drive - Burn CDs and DVDs directly in virtual machines, and play any copy-protected CD or DVD just like you would on a real PC
    * NEW! Improved Coherence mode - The groundbreaking feature that lets you run Windows applications without seeing Windows just got better! Now you can:
    o Place Windows applications on your Mac desktop or in your application dock. Just click to launch them directly from OS X!
    o Use Command+tab to cycle through Windows and Mac applications simultaneously, and “hide and show” Windows applications just like you would with Mac applications
    o View the Windows Command Console in Coherence mode
    o Use Coherence in Windows 2000, Windows 2003, Windows XP and Windows Vista!
    * NEW! Better Boot Camp support - Using your Boot Camp partition in Parallels Desktop is now easier than ever. Beta2’s Boot Camp support includes:
    o Full support for FAT32 and NTFS partitions
    o Easy offline configuration. Simply tell Parallels Desktop that you want to create a virtual machine from a Boot Camp Partition and click start. No complicated set up required!
    o No need to re-activate Windows each time you switch between Boot Camp and Parallels. Activate Windows only once inside Parallels and work in both environments
    o IMPORTANT! It is not possible to suspend a Virtual Machine that is connected to Boot Camp as it could result in an unstable system.
    o VERY IMPORTANT! Beta1 (build 3036) users must boot natively into Boot Camp and uninstall Parallels Tools for Boot Camp prior to running it in Beta2 (build 3094).
    * NEW! Parallels Transporter Beta2 bundled - migrate your real Windows PC, or existing VMware or Virtual PC VMs to Parallels virtual machines! Learn more about Parallels Transporter Beta2 >>
    o IMPORTANT! Beta1 users MUST upgrade their Transporter package on their Windows source machine before using Parallels Transporter in Beta2. Failing to do so may result in a system crash and loss of data
    * New Look and Feel - completely redesigned windows and easier to follow dialogues to make Desktop for Mac more user-friendly than ever
    * True “Drag and Drop” functionality - a long awaited feature that lets you seamlessly drag and drop files and folders from Windows to Mac OS X and vice versa
    * Read/Write Boot Camp partition - use your Apple Boot Camp Partition as a virtual HDD for Parallels Desktop for Mac
    * Virtual Machine Catalogue - now all of your virtual machines are available through a centralized VM catalogue which appears on each Parallels Desktop for Mac instance
    * One-click Virtual Machine Aliases - automatically create a desktop shortcut for your virtual machine with the OS Installation Assistant, by dragging-and-dropping from title bar, or by pressing Command-Option keys combination. Clicking on Alias automatically starts the Virtual Machine
    * Resizable Main Window - resize the Parallels Desktop for Mac main window as you do with any other Mac application
    * Auto-Adjusting Screen Resolution - Windows auto-adjusts its screen resolution to the actual main window size
    * Improved graphic performance - up to 50% faster!
    * Connect/disconnect USB devices schema improved - no more annoying “wait 5-10 seconds” message on USB device connecting to Parallels Desktop for Mac!
    * Up to 5 Virtual NICs - now each Virtual Machine can have up to five virtual network interfaces
    * Enhanced Shared Networking Mode - run Cisco VPN and many other complex networking applications in conjunction with Connection Sharing Mode

  • rodrigo74, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I am waiting for my MacBook to arrive, to replace my current G4 Mini, so I got a few questions about Parallels, would be nice if anyone could answer:

    1. There are some rumors around that Apple might buy or license Parallels, but at the same time there's a promotion at Parallels site that allow us to buy it now and get "upgrade protection" for 1 year, which seems to be a good deal since they usually sell it for 60% of the retail price. So, should I wait for Leopard and see if the rumors are true, or buy it now?

    2. Can I use exactly the same installation to run both via Bootcamp or Parallels? Or is it 2 installations? For example, is it possible to install a program while I am running bootcamp and then see the same program when I start Windows through Parallels?
    (well, if the performance of Parallels is so good I might never need to install bootcamp, but it's good to know)

    Thanks :)
    • diggapleeeze, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2You could always wait and see what happens at Macworld Expo for any announcements, but I doubt they'll buy it or incorporate the features. I thought I read somewhere where Apple said they had no plans on including virtual features in to Leopard.

      2. 1 installation is shared between Boot Camp and Parallels. Install a program in either one and access it from either one.
    • blankartist, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Steve also flat out denied the need for a video iPod, saying nobody would want to watch movies on a small screen. But there you have it.
    • dgolding, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1VMWare Fusion is also about to be released, so they'll be competition in the VM market for OS X. That almost certainly means Apple will not buy Parallels. It will mean some very cool competition and a "feature arms race".
    • rodrigo74, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Thanks for the info, I decided to buy it now and have the upgrade protection, since I would probably end up buying it sooner or later anyway.
      Looking forward to have OSX + KDE + Virtue in it :)
  • nickstarr, on 10/12/2007, -4/+3Mirror setup: http://www.nickstarr.com/ParallelsDesktop3094Macen.dmg
    • rodrigo74, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1Does it require a licensed Parallels installation to install this beta? Or is it a free, public beta?
    • rodrigo74, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Nevermind, I should have RTFA
  • boscorelle, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6great NEW feature:

    Improved Coherence mode - The groundbreaking feature that lets you run Windows applications without seeing Windows just got better! Now you can:

    * Place Windows applications on your Mac desktop or in your application dock. Just click to launch them directly from OS X!
    * Use Command+tab to cycle through Windows and Mac applications simultaneously, and “hide and show” Windows applications just like you would with Mac applications
    * View the Windows Command Console in Coherence mode
    * Use Coherence in Windows 2000, Windows 2003, Windows XP and Windows Vista!
    • Seidoger, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4I was going to say that. Coherence mode is really amazing! Now it's even better.
      Now the missing puzzle piece is me having an Intel mac..
    • nofxjunkee, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3With a dual head setup this feature is a god send! This is probably the single best $100 I have ever spent on software. They are doing a fantastic job at not holding back big upgrades till a later version to get upgrade cash. The last 2 betas have really pushed things forward for Parallels and that is going to force VMWare to do the same. Customers of both companies are going to reap the benefits. Capitalism definitely has its perks.
  • Tu13erhead, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3http://forum.parallels.com/thread6768.html
  • kevdotbadger, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1Parallels is great. We all know (at this time) there are programs on windows that us OSX users need to use....like IE6 and IE7...umm i think that's about it.
    • Seidoger, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3Oh all my buddies in Electrical and Mechanical Engineering will tell you otherwise..
    • KibibyteBrain, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Outlook. I have spent hours if not days trying to find a way to be compatible with my Outlook using shop using native Mac apps. Its just not possible, and not using something that can easily import and export to Outlook is not an option.
    • kevdotbadger, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I'm just an average web-dev'r! But point well taken.
    • gr00vy, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1For many games, the top level programs are only on the PC Chess, Bridge, Poker to name just a few. Now that Fritz, and Pokerstars are on my mac, I am happy...
    • fpillet, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1People have different needs. Maybe you don't need Windows apps, but others do. I use Visual Studio for Windows Mobile apps development, and last time I checked there were no tools for that on OS X. Now with Parallels + the latest device emulator (2.0 beta) + VS2005 in a VM, I can do 100% of my work on the Mac. Even better, for some files (like big XML files etc) I set up some shared folders in the VM and I edit them directly in a TextMate window. I love Parallels, it made my life so much easier...
  • toddji, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0The improved USB support will be nice.. I just updated the maps on my Garmin Nuvi from within Parallels, and it took over 90 minutes to transfer.. dog slow. That has been pretty much my only complaint thus far.
    • robertlipe, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0You can't blame that totally on Parallels. Nuvi's USB interface is full speed (a mythical 12Mbits/sec), not high speed (a mythical 480Mbits/sec).

      Stir in that Mapsource isn't exactly blazing when doing a map transfer to a unit that DOES allow you to do the map xfer in high speed (e.g. a 2610 or an X model with the memory card in a high speed writer) even in "real" Windows and you'll be glad you only have to do it once a year on pretty much _any_ of the large mem Garmins.
    • erictheninja, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I'll second that. Garmin's Nuvi USB file transfer speeds are horrible. Just copying mp3s from your mac to the hard drive is slower than 1.1 speeds.
  • totorototoro, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Why doesn't Parallels link their user/help forum on their main web page, under Support?
  • digitallysick, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1*wants an x86 macbook* this sounds so great, sadly im stuck on PPC
  • Shaggy3, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3I never loved Windows as much as I do now.
    • zephc, on 10/12/2007, -0/+10Especially because it can be made to disappear quickly, and you barely have to look at it.
    • bigredgpk, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I'm going home tonight to total rebuild my mac. One partition for OS X, one for XP, VM with Vista, and parallels.... maybe a linux vm too.

      Damn i'm geeking out!!!!
  • bobbydiamondz, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0Any other Mac folks stuck in a PC world use this (or any other recent releases) with VS 2k5? I'm on a MacBook 1.86Ghz w/2GB RAM. Gave up on programming in Parallels early on. Should I give it another shot?
    • CountZero75, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I use VS2005 on Parallels since I got it at Thanksgiving. I use it on my Mac Pro with 868MB RAM assigned to XP VM. Works very well, in fact slightly faster than my Compaq X1000 laptop with 1.5GB RAM.
    • Dolomite, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1as long as you have 2GB of RAM you should be fine. i use VS2005 on a MacBook 2.0GHz w/ 2GB Ram and it works great. Give it another shot.
    • fpillet, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1As others mentioned it, it works just great. MacBookPro here w/2Gb RAM (768Mb allocated to the VM) and a 7200rpm HD. Windows performance is very good, VS2005 runs faster than on my Athon 2200XP+ Shuttle (which has 1.5Gb ram).

      I compressed the XP image, an XP SP2 w/ VS2005, Cygwin, MSDN lib and some additional tool eats less than 9Gb. I'd recommend you use a separate virtual HD for your source code, though.
  • pixelmixer, on 10/12/2007, -2/+1I'm not a Mac person but that feature list is really impressive.. I was wondering when Parallels was going to catch up with WINE and VMWare on linux but it seems to be surpassing it already... (of course I have yet to try them both to compare them together)
    • signal15, on 10/12/2007, -0/+6WINE is not a virtual machine like VMWare and Parallels. It's an independent implementation of the windows API to allow applications to run natively in the host OS.
  • SleepJunkie, on 10/12/2007, -0/+3Still can't believe how much progress Parallels has made since its debut. This software is amazing and has really changed a lot of things for Mac users around the world.
    • kevdotbadger, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Certainly agree with that. Forget bootcamp, parallels is the king. Certainly enjoy testing sites in IE without having to run into the other room and boot up ye' old 700mhz pc.
  • vackraord, on 10/12/2007, -1/+0great. I rarely boot windows on my macbook but when I need to help a friend over the phone it´s great to boot up windows so that I can get an overview of what to tell the person to click on.

    Big thx to xistboi for the mirror.
  • grahamhutch, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1What's deal with running games through Parallels as opposed to rebooting in Windows? Are you better off booting Windows to play or does it not make much difference? I assume OS X would be sucking up a fair bit of the RAM...
    • signal15, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5Parallels does not have hardware level access to the 3d card.... yet. It's a planned feature, but if you need 3d now, you need to boot native.
    • grahamhutch, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1thx, good to know
  • bjtitus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1I'm sort of confused. Does this mean that I can use my Vista Partition with Parallels now. Their last software did not work with Vista partitions, and it still doesn't say anything specific about supporting it. Does this mean Vista is supported from a Boot Camp partition?
    • joemc72, on 10/12/2007, -4/+2Negative. IIRC, You can't even install Vista using Boot Camp.
    • bjtitus, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2I thought that Boot Camp had started working with Vista. I certainly have Vista installed, the Boot Camp Assistant just doesn't work anymore (so Parallels doesn't seem to recognize it). Someone REALLY needs to fix this.
  • UltimaNut, on 10/12/2007, -10/+3Sorry but Ill wait for VMWare for the Mac. There are a ot of things in Parallels that are "thrown together" even in thier stables.
  • zixxer, on 10/12/2007, -1/+3parallels is awesome...period. the best part about it is that you can do anything you want with your mac with any other os (not just windows) and the fact that like once a month they update it! def worth the 80.00! i use it mainly for pen testing when i need something other than nessus. ill run retina, gfi, solarwinds and anything else i want faster than if it was on its own machine! i even have a "portable" snort box image that i can just jack into the network! best 80.00 ive ever spent. next to the 2000 for the mbp.
  • phytonix, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1i cannot get my USB logitech webcam or build in isight to work.
    • jdwest, on 10/12/2007, -0/+4From the release notes:

      NOTE! Current Build 3094 doesn’t support isochronous devices such as web cameras, microphones, etc.
  • sp0ken4, on 10/12/2007, -9/+1you can get free os x softwares at http://www.freewareosx.com
  • zeppo, on 10/12/2007, -1/+2hmm they still haven't been able to match the usb support in that leaked pre-release of VMware Fusion...
    • ceribik, on 11/17/2007, -2/+2Can that illegal build boot up boot camp partitions? i think not. case closed. parallels > vmware fusion.
  • websyndicate, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2Honestly why do you need boot camp at this point. I dont use it and never will.
  • normalizer, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1ok diggers.... I installed XP with Bootcamp before finding out about Parallels. I then installed another windows partition through parallels. Most of my software is in the bootcamp partition. is there a way to move it from the bootcamp one to the parallels one so that I can delete the bootcamp partition?
    • stephdau, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2@normalizer. Re: moving from bootcamp to virtual disk.

      How about ghosting the bootcamp partition and restoring it in parallels?
      That should work.
      http://www.google.com/search?q=partition+ghosting
    • fpillet, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0They have a new tool coming up called Parallels Transporter that allows doing just that

      http://forums.parallels.com/thread5999.html

      The trick will be to use Transporter from your Windows install in Bootcamp, and migrate it to a file on a removable drive. Then reboot in OS X and get the vm image from the removable, you should be all set. This software is beta, though.
  • websyndicate, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Not as far as I know.....I know you can use bootcamp partition to run in parallels work good but you cant run the compressor in bootcamp
  • stephdau, on 10/12/2007, -1/+1If anyone wants a pre-installed Fedora Core 6 image for Parallels Desktop for Mac:
    http://tekartist.blogspot.com/2006/11/fedora-core-6-vm-image-for-parallels.html
  • zeppo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+5still need bootcamp because neither parallels nor VMware can play the latest directx games unfortunately.
  • scotty588, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1"Tools for Boot Camp are not needed anymore. If you have them installed, please deinstall prior to first boot via Parallels Desktop."
    http://forums.parallels.com/post33946-4.html
  • wwco, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1No, no... don't do it. The _prior_ beta was wonderful, resizable screens, coherence working great, everything.

    This beta tried to open the guest OS full screen within a short but wide window, stole the keyboard making it difficult to get back to the OS X desktop, stole the processor, and eventually locked the interface requiring a hard reboot (since the process wouldn't die).

    Wait for the NEXT beta, they'll get it back again.
    • DaffyDuck, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1Did you install parallel tools? The window is still resizable (as I mentioned below). Install the tools and see if your issues are still there.
  • kashem, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2This is good. Very good. The first coherence beta worked for a while crashed my Mac Pro hard! This new version is very usable. The only drawback I see right now is that for some reason if I choose to operate parallels in a window instead of coherence mode, the video resolutions are limited to odd (tall) settings.

    Very well done! I look forward to the non-beta release.
    • DaffyDuck, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1The window mode now supports drag resizing. Try it!
  • Jetskileo, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1It works great for me. The ability to add windows applications to the dock is nice. I am still looking forward to better 3d support. Keep up the good work!
  • nothingpretty, on 10/12/2007, -0/+2does anyone know if the zune works with this new parallels? i won one and i'm not going to waste my time selling it, figured i might play around with it.... any help?
  • rtkrum, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I bought a MacBook about a month ago to replace my Dell laptop at work. I've got Parallels installed and its awesome. There are only a couple of things that I need WinXP for, mainly IE for in-house websites. I love Coherence! This beta seems a little more stable than the last one. I've only got 1GB RAM on the MacBook, and the rest of OSX does seem to slow down considerably with Parallels running.

    Very nicely done Parallels! Best software value for the money out there.
  • pjdoland, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I wonder if you can use the Transporter feature to import all the cool free "appliance" images that VMWare offers:

    http://www.vmware.com/vmtn/appliances/
  • meatloaf2002, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1For the most part I like where there going with this. Now if they can get hardware 3d acceleraton going I can see the cohearance mode looking alot better. Anotehr Idea might to be to provide hi-res icons for common application for when there going to be on your doc.

    All in very nice update and cant wait to see the finnished release of this (there are a few memory leaks etc)
  • lowededwookie, on 10/12/2007, -0/+0I haven't ran the Beta2 yet but does the Coherence mode move the stupid Start bar into the Dock like Virtual PC 7 used to do?

    That's the only thing bugging me about Coherence. It's a great feature ruined by the fact that you have a dog ugly Windows bar just above the Dock. Moving it into the Dock would make me run out now and buy Parallels. Until then I'll just keep upgrading the Test license.

    Will try out VMWare to see if that's as good. I tried the non-Public beta but I couldn't get Windows to install. It just locked up at the graphical side of the Windows install. Not real smart that one.
    • DaffyDuck, on 10/12/2007, -0/+1You can put the task bar just underneath the Apple status bar (or whatever it's official name is) at the top which I find to be very unobtrusive. Especially if you use Virtue desktop and have it assigned to it's own desktop.
  •  

    Login or register to add a comment

    Create a new account or login to join in the conversation on Digg. You'll also be able to Digg stories to help promote things you like.


© Digg Inc. 2008 — Content posted by Digg users is dedicated to the public domain.
DIGG, DIGG IT, DUGG, DIGG THIS, Digg graphics, logos, designs, page headers, button icons, scripts, and other service names are the trademarks of Digg Inc.