http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16832714033 Parallels Desktop 8 for Mac - OEM FREE ESET CyberSecurity for Mac with Purchase--while supplies last! $79.99 Your Price: $34.40 With Promo Code EMCXVWR68
Usually OEM software is sold with hardware, and usually at a lower price than retail. Some OEM software, such as Windows, can only be activated on the original machine it's installed on. This special aside, who would pay $80 for an OEM copy of Parallels 8, when a full retail box can be bought from Bestbuy for $70?
Duff-Man says...while the software *is* in fact quite good and I've been a user since v1, paying full price is almost unheard of given the number of times they have offered deals (macupdate bundles, sales, deal of the day etc etc)...always pays do do your homework a little before paying top dollar for something, unless of course you need it right away....oh yeah!
This is my first foray into virtualization -- I had always done Bootcamp previously but for some reason my MBP hangs when rebooting into Win7 in clamshell mode. But I digress. Parallels seems do do better with more RAM allocated to it. There are also a few little features that attempt to integrate the way one accesses Windows into the OSX interface. I couldn't tell from the reviews which was better VMware or Parallels so I took the recommendation of a friend.
Just missed it As a recent Mac owner, I still don't quite understand one part. With Parallels 8, do you still have to have a copy of Windows to install or does the software come with Windows already?
Yes you need to buy windows too. Although I don't use windows much I have used it for torrents and maybe using some software that isn't avail on Mac. It's nice to keep all that kind of stuff away from your mac and if worst comes to worst then you can just delete the virtual machine and start over. I use Fusion which does the same thing, but I hear parallels is good too, You can't go wrong with either I think.
Groupon has Paralells 7 for 18 dollars right now http://www.groupon.com/deals/gg-parallels-desktop-7-for-mac-1?c=all&p=17 Not sure if it works with Mountain Lion though
macmall has it with a full price rebate, but you have to buy a Mac to go with it! I am still awaiting my money from them.
Thanks for the info! I ordered a copy and I'm anxious to see how well it runs as I've never used a virtual machine on a mac (just bought my first mac).