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Parallels Desktop 5 for Mac Released

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Apr 12, 2001
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Parallels today announced the launch of Parallels Desktop 5 for Mac, an updated version of the popular virtualization software that allows Mac users to run Windows, Linux, and other operating systems alongside OS X. The update reportedly brings over 70 new features to the software package, along with significant performance enhancements.According to performance research conducted by Crimson Consulting Group, Parallels Desktop 5 for Mac performs 22% faster than the nearest Windows-on-Mac competitor in standard productivity testing of Windows 7 64-bit on a MacBook Pro. In addition, version 5 is up to 300% faster for virtual machine operations than the previous version. For 3D and graphics performance, tested under the industry standard 3Dmark 2006 Professional test suite the new version performs up to 7 times better.Among the new features in Parallels Desktop 5 for Mac are full Aero support for Windows Vista and 7, the addition of more "Mac-like" features in Windows such as trackpad gestures and horizontal scrolling, copy and paste of formatted text and layouts across operating systems, and multiple monitor support.

Parallels Desktop 5 for Mac is priced at $79.99, with upgrade pricing of $49.99 available for current Parallels users. Customers who purchased Parallels Desktop 4 for Mac on or after October 1st, 2009 are eligible for a free upgrade to the new version.

Article Link: Parallels Desktop 5 for Mac Released
 
Article Link
https://www.macrumors.com/2009/11/04/parallels-desktop-5-for-mac-released/
Hopefully there is a trial available, as I have my system working just as I want it right now.

Shame that they do not make a mac version of AutoCad, until then I will have to live with Parallels.
 
Now if Apple would just release the Boot Camp for Windows 7 drivers already, things would be groovy.
 
Make a snapshot first!

Before upgrading, make a snapshot first! My first attempt caused the Windows XP Pro image to BSOD over and over again. It couldn't even go into safe mode. I had to revert back and I am trying again.
 
Yay, free upgrade. But since I bought from a retailer, I have to get the mail-in rebate. :rolleyes:
 
Eidorian said:
I haven't had any problems running Windows 7 64-bit by just forcing the retail disc Boot Camp 3.0 installer.
Click to expand...

Me neither..

I game and the performance is good. I use nVidia's drivers and everything else works fine.. trackpad, tapping, keyboard shortcuts for brightness and sound. USB stuff like game controllers, hard drives etc all work fine too.

Guess there is issues, but I'm not experiencing anything.
 
Awesome. I've been waiting for this one. 4 was starting to show its age compared to the feature-rich VMware.
 
Kilamite said:
Me neither..

I game and the performance is good. I use nVidia's drivers and everything else works fine.. trackpad, tapping, keyboard shortcuts for brightness and sound. USB stuff like game controllers, hard drives etc all work fine too.

Guess there is issues, but I'm not experiencing anything.
Click to expand...
My only complaint is that the two fingers for right click is really sluggish to respond. Otherwise everything else works. Windows Update even piped down newer drivers for some of the components.
 
They are taking the p.iss. I only upgraded to version 4 in May and to be honest that was worse than version 3. They are not getting another upgrade fee out of me, if 4 starts to have problems I am going to Fusion.
 
Crap company

Signed up to this forum just to post this. Normally, I just lurk and read the page 1 and page 2 news, but this time, I feel that I have a duty as part of the consumer community to report my experiences with this miserable company.

I've been using Parallels from v1 to v4. The product in itself is actually okay...until something goes wrong (like, for example, when there's a new Linux distro release). Good luck getting them to even acknowledge the problem. It took months for the Parallels team to get Parallels 4 tools working with Ubuntu's hardy heron, for example. They wouldn't even acknowledge the issue on their user forums, and it was the biggest thread during this period.

Their user community forum is a joke. They routinely screen for negative comments...those posts just never show up on the forums. And they don't acknowledge problems for weeks or months, even as the community struggles to help each other out.

VMWare Fusion now does OpenGL acceleration...which was the missing feature that made me choose Parallels in the first place. Now there's no good reason to choose Parallels over VMWare. VMWare is just so much responsive to their community. The two products, I would say, are comparable to each other.

The other alternative, which is the one I use, is VirtualBox. The guest integration isn't anywhere near as tight as Parallels or VMWare Fusion, but it gets the job done for me.

Seriously...unless you have a free upgrade...it's time to jump ship, in my opinion.

P.S. I use a WinXP guest and an Ubuntu guest (now running karmic koala) for development of OpenGL applications. Just so you guys get a sense of what I do with my VMs.
 
Nice of Parallels to force users to upgrade to 4.0 for Snow Leopard at the end of August, and not offer those users a free upgrade to 5.0 two months later.

I finally switched to Fusion 3. How many paid updates has Parallels had? I know I paid for at least two from its introduction to 3.0 and regretted both.
 
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