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Parallels 4.0 Promises Significant Performance Improvements

I tested this upgrade as a beta tester and have had very good luck with it. Much faster, gobs of new features, new interface, etc.

They are running a $39 upgrade for two weeks. I think that is a good value.

The install and upgrade interface has been improved very much. Mine installed without problem (although Tools took a while to load). If you have problems installing they have an extensive troubleshooting procedure online and they seem to be reacting quickly to questions on their forum.

I don't use Fusion, although I did install it and work with it on my son-in-laws computer. I think this new version of Parallels is better than the Fusion 2.0 I downloaded.

The new version has not yet once tanked on me. The only game I use: Roller Coaster Tycoon now works perfectly with awesome speed and graphics (had problems in Parallels 3.0). Beta users report many more games now work great, but still not ALL games supported.

Modaility view (small view on Mac screen), Smart Guard (auto backup similar to Time machine), Adaptive hypervisor (movement of resources according to whether you are using a Mac app or Windows app), 64 bit support, multiple CPUs, directx-9 and OpenGl, up to 2 cpus, up to 8 mb memory and 256k video memory are all good features. The new interface is also neat and can be customized to what you want. On-line documentation is also very good.

I would recommend using XP rather than Vista because it works very well and if you use Coherence you don't need any windows interface anyway.

I can see the C drive in Mac finder and find any file (such as clip art files) and move them to any MAC folder very quickly (much faster than previous version).

Some beta testers who had problems installing the program just rebooted the entire Mac and then everything worked fine.

All in all, my experience has been very good and I recommend it. Plus you can try it out for free.

P.S. I'm not a Parallels employee, just like the software.
 
Now I wonder if using this AND the latest VMware on my bootcamp partition (running Vista64 on an imac) will screw either of them up.. Has anyone tried that? And how does it cope with Steam stuff in comparison with Crossover Games?

Hmm. Not sure i want to risk it. :( I have Parallels 3 and latest VMware licenses. Will try the parallels 4 trial with a virtual disc and see what that's like...
 
I'm still very happy with VMWare Fusion. Stable, fast, good features. Tried CrossOver recently, and the performance and usability are way worse than the same thing running under Fusion. The only read avantage of Crossover is you don't need Windows to run certain WIndows Apps.
 
Right now if I put a window in a different space it likes to switch whenever it wants.

Installation was pretty smooth.

Supports 2 virtual cores.

Lots of settings to go through.

Still I like how VM Fusion is acts overall.
 
MrCrowbar said:
I'm still very happy with VMWare Fusion. Stable, fast, good features. Tried CrossOver recently, and the performance and usability are way worse than the same thing running under Fusion. The only read avantage of Crossover is you don't need Windows to run certain WIndows Apps.
Click to expand...
Not always; certain games - particularly ones running on the source engine (team Fortress 2!) perform much better in crossover games than VMware fusion. It's nice not having to load up windows to play games.

Saying that though, I'd be happy to load vmware or parallels to play games if they performed nicely. :)
 
Parallels 4 Activation

I was entitled to a free upgrade of 4.0.
Received the download link, downloaded built 3522 and installed.

But...neither the old activation code for 3.0 nor the new one is accepted : (
The support functions on the website are a disgrace, too.
And the text in the email does not make the case clearer: Am I doing a "fresh installation" if I upgrade (because the installer alerts me that Parallels 3 will be removed) or am I upgrading?

Bad performance parallels.

Would it do any harm if I request a trial code now?

Bastiaen.
 
John Jacob said:
:( I'm voting negative on this thread...

...because I just bought VmWare a few days ago. And even if VmWare releases a new edition that competes with the new version of Parallels, I'll have to pay to upgrade to that one.
Click to expand...

I really think this is basically a catchup upgrade for Parrallels. I have Fusion, Fusion just ran all the software that I threw at it.... Parallels did NOT. Fusion was faster as well.

Then again I am interested in testing it out....you could always use more speed when emulating.

Anyone try it yet???

Software I run in Fusion -
Edius 4.6 (like FCP but better)
 
During the installation upgrade it stated that there was an Application for the iPhone available through the App Store to work Parallels through your iPhone, Parallels Mobile.... I cannot seem to find it?
 
I bought Parallels 1, 2 and 3 but migrated to VMWare Fusion when Parallels failed to work under Leopard. I've downloaded the trial version and will kick the tires over the next few days. If the performance improvements are there over Fusion then I'll migrate back again. So far, I've been quite happy with what I have seen.
 
has someone tested Gaming abilites, like Counter Strike: Source?
Is it working or slow like hell?
 
Activation problems

Well, add me to the list of activation problems.

After entering the upgrade code for V4 (which was accepted), I was asked for my V3 code. I entered my V3 code (which was an upgrade code from V2), and it was rejected.

Assuming that the problem was that there is some difference between a "permanent" code and an "upgrade" code, I went to my account on the parallels.com website, where my V3 code is listed as a "permanent" code.

So, my support request is in. I'll let you know how it goes.
 
What is stopping Apple from including a similar feature in their OS? I know bootcamp is currently an option but a lot of people like that Parallels/Fusion allows you to run the two apps side by side and not reboot to use windows.

I'm considering getting either Fusion or Parallels - but how likely is it that Apple will release a similar feature in snow leopard or other OS update?
 
slackpacker said:
But it [Sun] has virtually no support for graphics...
Click to expand...
I've installed v4 and got Vista 64 running pretty easily, bar the graphics.
Perfomance is 1.0 due to lack of graphics performance.

Not been able to work out how best to resolve this issue.
Any suggestions gratefully revealed.
 
shoebobs said:
I'm considering getting either Fusion or Parallels - but how likely is it that Apple will release a similar feature in snow leopard or other OS update?
Click to expand...
Why not ask Apple, they are always very willing to let people know what they are planning! :D
 
Pro-audio software work OK with this software?

Does anyone know if XP based pro-audio software, such as Cakewalk's Sonar and Native Instrument's Kontakt, can be successfully run with this software of would Bootcamp be the only way to use it properly? I'm just trying to plan how I'm going to use my new iMac when I get one.
 
reevo said:
Does anyone know if XP based pro-audio software, such as Cakewalk's Sonar and Native Instrument's Kontakt, can be successfully run with this software of would Bootcamp be the only way to use it properly? I'm just trying to plan how I'm going to use my new iMac when I get one.
Click to expand...

I dont think so! they are so CPU / IO intensive, buy a dedicated PC for sampling

and maybe use logic audio as master
 
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