Parallels 6 Prematurely Appears on Store Shelves

[LagunaSol]

So somewhat OT, what's the best approach for running Win 7 using either of these virtualization tools? Frankly I'm hesitant about moving to 7 from XP because of Microsoft's onerous (and oppressive) activation schemes. What if I buy Win 7 and activate it using Fusion, then a month later I decide the newest version of Parallels is better so I want to use Win 7 there instead? Or maybe I want to Boot Camp it. Actually, these aren't hypotheticals - I've done exactly this with XP over many different install iterations over several Macs I have owned.

I don't want to get caught up in some activation mess because Dear Leader in Redmond thinks I'm trying to install Win 7 on a dozen different machines when in reality I'm just trying to run it on my one iMac.

I actually bought an OEM copy of Win 7 Professional but sent it back to Newegg without opening it because I thought the activation routine was going to be a nightmare over the long term.

For those who harangue Apple over their "control issues" (and pricing for that matter) should consider that I can buy a family pack of OS X at a reasonable price and install them on all the machines in my home without any activation hassles whatsoever. Take a lesson, Microsoft.

 

[JAT]

I seriously doubt that Apple put that up. Amazon frequently puts placeholders in their store for products that they anticipate but don't yet had. Anybody remember Aperture X which was up on Amazon months before Aperture 3 was actually announced?

I think placeholders for Star Wars on Bluray have been up since before Bluray shipped anything.

 

[x0r-lord]

9to5MAc bought a copy, but had to take the post down.
They said it had full aero support, and was a little bit faster along with other things I don't remember.

they should have refused... the DMCA has been revised...
they obtained they're copy legally did they not?
Personally, I'd make them sue me, and make millions on advertising revenues off the traffic.. 9to5mac isn't business savvy

 

[slackpacker]

So somewhat OT, what's the best approach for running Win 7 using either of these virtualization tools? Frankly I'm hesitant about moving to 7 from XP because of Microsoft's onerous (and oppressive) activation schemes. What if I buy Win 7 and activate it using Fusion, then a month later I decide the newest version of Parallels is better so I want to use Win 7 there instead? Or maybe I want to Boot Camp it. Actually, these aren't hypotheticals - I've done exactly this with XP over many different install iterations over several Macs I have owned.

I don't want to get caught up in some activation mess because Dear Leader in Redmond thinks I'm trying to install Win 7 on a dozen different machines when in reality I'm just trying to run it on my one iMac.

I actually bought an OEM copy of Win 7 Professional but sent it back to Newegg without opening it because I thought the activation routine was going to be a nightmare over the long term.

For those who harangue Apple over their "control issues" (and pricing for that matter) should consider that I can buy a family pack of OS X at a reasonable price and install them on all the machines in my home without any activation hassles whatsoever. Take a lesson, Microsoft.

Microsoft will do what they do and sell more copies of 7 in a year than all of the macs out there. But I hear what your saying. Again what your talking about is not so legal. But from what I know you should be able to duplicate or move the Virtual Disk at will without reinstalling because the Computer that your using is the Virtual disc file.

 

[Dillenger]

Do yourself a favor and don't buy version 6. Just wait three more months and version 7 will be out, or if you can hold out for 6 months version 8 will be available. It appears these guys release upgrades faster than new cell phones hit the market.

 

[AidenShaw]

So somewhat OT, what's the best approach for running Win 7 using either of these virtualization tools? Frankly I'm hesitant about moving to 7 from XP because of Microsoft's onerous (and oppressive) activation schemes. What if I buy Win 7 and activate it using Fusion, then a month later I decide the newest version of Parallels is better so I want to use Win 7 there instead? Or maybe I want to Boot Camp it. Actually, these aren't hypotheticals - I've done exactly this with XP over many different install iterations over several Macs I have owned.

The licensing is pretty clear - you are allowed to run one copy. If you change your mind, and it fails to activate, call the Microsoft phone number that pops up and explain the situation. They will disable the earlier activation so that it will succeed.

Note that you have 30 days to activate, so if you aren't sure *do not* enter your key and activate each trial. Once you've decided on your VM, then activate.

For those who harangue Apple over their "control issues" (and pricing for that matter) should consider that I can buy a family pack of OS X at a reasonable price and install them on all the machines in my home without any activation hassles whatsoever.

Yes, but if you install on more than 5 machines you are being dishonest and pirating OSX - which depletes Apple's dangerously low cash reserves.

Windows 7 has a 3-user family pack as well - but it counts the activations.

If you are honest, there is little difference. If you want to steal software, Apple makes it easier.

But from what I know you should be able to duplicate or move the Virtual Disk at will without reinstalling because the Computer that your using is the Virtual disc file.

Not at all. VMware/Parallels only partially emulates the CPU. The virtual machine can see that the MAC address changes, or that the CPU capability mask (SSE vs SSE2, for example) changes, or memory changes, or it can simply check that it's running in a VM. Copying the virtual disk file is usually safe on the same system (since CPU is the same), but copying between systems can alert the software that you are violating the license terms.

Personally, I would prefer user-based licensing. Let me install the software on all of my systems and VMs, but limit logins to me alone for as many concurrent copies as I've paid for. Let me use 20 VMs if I want, as long as I don't try to boot more of them at once than my license permits.

 

[ChazUK]

Wirelessly posted (Mozilla/5.0 (Linux; U; Android 2.2; en-gb; Nexus One Build/FRF91) AppleWebKit/533.1 (KHTML, like Gecko) Version/4.0 Mobile Safari/533.1)

So somewhat OT, what's the best approach for running Win 7 using either of these virtualization tools? Frankly I'm hesitant about moving to 7 from XP because of Microsoft's onerous (and oppressive) activation schemes. What if I buy Win 7 and activate it using Fusion, then a month later I decide the newest version of Parallels is better so I want to use Win 7 there instead? Or maybe I want to Boot Camp it. Actually, these aren't hypotheticals - I've done exactly this with XP over many different install iterations over several Macs I have owned.



I don't want to get caught up in some activation mess because Dear Leader in Redmond thinks I'm trying to install Win 7 on a dozen different machines when in reality I'm just trying to run it on my one iMac.



I actually bought an OEM copy of Win 7 Professional but sent it back to Newegg without opening it because I thought the activation routine was going to be a nightmare over the long term.



For those who harangue Apple over their "control issues" (and pricing for that matter) should consider that I can buy a family pack of OS X at a reasonable price and install them on all the machines in my home without any activation hassles whatsoever. Take a lesson, Microsoft.

This may help Laguna, you can essentially "try" windows 7 for 120 days.


If you are unsure on what virtual machine you will use permanently, 120 days should hopefully be enough time to decide.

http://www.windowssecrets.com/2009/08/20/01-Use-any-version-of-Windows-7-free-for-120-days

 

[LagunaSol]

If you are unsure on what virtual machine you will use permanently, 120 days should hopefully be enough time to decide.

Unfortunately I am 100% certain that I will not be sticking with a single VM indefinitely. I'll probably use Parallels for awhile, then Fusion will leapfrog it in performance and features, so I'll switch to that. Then I'll find some app that for whatever reason just won't function properly in any VM and I'll want to install Boot Camp for awhile. I doubt any Windows activation scheme will accommodate this kind of flexibility, and I really don't want to be on a first-name basis with Microsoft's customer support people.

"Hi Samir, it's me again. How's the wife and kids? Yeah, I'm switching to another VM this week - VMware just released a Fusion update. Sorry about that. Would you mind resetting my activation again? Thanks! Talk to you next week."

 

[imageWIS]

Now that AutoCAD is coming out for Mac OS, why would I ever need Windows again?

 

[slackpacker]

I really thought we would have heard something by now from Parallels on this ....

What the heck ? All I can think is that the supposed iOS app is delaying the release date because Apple has not Approved it yet.

The problem is I keep checking all the websites and its driving me crazy waiting

Edit: Crazy no more 9/10

 

[87vert]

Personally, I'd make them sue me, and make millions on advertising revenues off the traffic.. 9to5mac isn't business savvy

not everyone is like Gizmodo.