Dec 31, 2006 Backing up the ~/parallels directory will back up all the VMs, and backing the ~parallels/foo directory (for any value of foo) will back up the 'foo' VM. Not so hard IMNSHO. This is not to say that a dedicated utility isn't handy, of course. With Parallels Desktop, you can switch between Mac and Windows without ever needing to reboot your computer. If you have already installed Windows 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 8, or Windows 7 on your Mac using Boot Camp, you can set Parallels Desktop to run Windows from the Boot Camp Partition or import Windows and your data from Boot Camp into. Parallels Desktop for Mac is a hardware emulation virtualization software, using hypervisor technology that works by mapping the host computer’s hardware resources directly to the virtual machine’s resources.
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With Parallels Desktop 9 for Mac, you can seamlessly run both Windows and Mac applications without rebooting. Innovative and indispensable new features include cloud storage optimizations for iCloud, Dropbox, Google Drive, and SkyDrive.
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Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac
Parallels Desktop for Mac 3.0 virtualization software lets you run Windows XP and Vista on an Intel-based Mac, and includes several enhancements that deepen your ability to run the Mac and Windows operating systems side by side. Its big new feature, support for 3D graphics, allows you to play PC games on a Mac, too--but the number of titles it supports and the resolution at which you can play are limited right now.
We ran the $80 (as of 6/18/07) virtualization software on a 2.16-GHz Core 2 Duo MacBook (see find.pcworld.com/57821) with 1GB of RAM; the minimum recommended is 512MB. After installing Parallels, we installed Windows XP Pro (which isn't included; you have to buy XP or Vista separately). Once the software is installed, you can run Windows in one of three modes: Full Screen, OS Window (where you see the Windows Desktop in a Mac Finder window), and Coherence (which puts a Windows application in a window directly on the Mac desktop).
The new support for 3D graphics means that you can now play PC games and run 3D graphics programs. However, since Parallels supports OpenGL and DirectX 8.1 but not DirectX 9 or 10, newer games are not guaranteed to play. Our experience running games in Windows XP SP2 on a 20-inch iMac equipped with a 2.16-GHz Core 2 Duo processor was mixed. Older titles such as Doom 3 and Far Cry worked well enough running in a smaller window at 800 by 600 resolution, but they still took a significant performance hit by running under virtualization.
Right off the bat, you lose half your video card's memory due to Parallels' configuration, so the 128MB ATI Radeon X1600 graphics cards you'll find on most older iMacs and MacBook Pros are immediately reduced to 64MB--not enough to run today's games well. Virtualizing eats up a chunk of your computer's main memory, too, dropping a 2GB system down to around 1.5GB. On a fully equipped Mac Pro with a high-end graphics board, or on one of the new MacBook Pros with plenty of RAM, that isn't a problem, but DirectX support limitations will still hold you back. For now, serious Mac-PC gamers should stick with Apple's Boot Camp, in part because of its better DirectX support.
A few added enhancements to Parallels improve your ability to share files between operating system environments. Coherence view now allows you to put Windows application icons in the Mac OS X Dock. The new SmartSelect feature lets you open Windows files in Mac OS X and vice versa. If you click on a file icon and choose the 'Open With...' command from the contextual menu, you'll get a choice of relevant Mac and PC applications. Choose one, and the file opens in the correct OS. You can drag and drop files between Mac and Windows folders. And with the new Parallels Explorer, you don't have to start your virtual machine to access a file on the Windows side of your drive; you can simply navigate to the file and drag it to the Mac desktop.
System-level enhancements include the new Snapshot feature, which lets you save and restore your Windows environment at a certain point. Parallels' Security Manager lets you control how much of your Windows installation is visible in the Mac OS. The software supports Boot Camp partitions in Windows Vista as well as Windows XP. Also, we found that USB device support worked much better than in the first version of Parallels that we reviewed.
Parallels 3.0's 3D graphics support gives the software a new level of functionality, but Boot Camp, which lets you run Windows and Mac OS X by dual-booting, is still a much better way to play PC games on a Mac. Parallels' real strength is its ability to share files between two simultaneously running OSs. Version 3.0's enhancements go a long way toward improving that functionality.
Eric Dahl and Narasu Rebbapragada
Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac
Pros
- Superior Windows and Mac coexistence
- Very stable
Cons
- Requires purchase of Windows
- Limited games support
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Parallels Desktop 13 For Mac
Parallels Desktop 9.0.23350.941886 MacOSX l 403,30 Mb |
Performance and Personalization Experience as much or as little Windows as you want. Multiple view modes make it possible for you to customize the level of integration between Mac and Windows without compromising performance.
Version 9.0.23350:
For Parallels Desktop for Mac Enterprise Edition only
Configure Parallels Desktop to start in the background on Mac startup. Virtual machines configured to start automatically also start on Mac startup.
Administrators can set a date and time limit for a virtual machine after which it will stop working. OS X 10.9 Mavericks support
Resolves an issue with system shortcuts not working after upgrading to OS X 10.9 Mavericks.
Windows 8 support
Now you can create virtual machines booting from a Windows 8.1 Boot Camp partition.
Resolves an issue with Windows virtual machines not switching to Coherence after upgrading to Windows 8.1.
Resolves an issue with Windows 8.1 not occupying full screens when running in the non-native Full Screen view mode on multiple displays.
Resolves an issue with Parallels Tools installing two times in a row in Windows 8.1 after upgrading Parallels Desktop.
Integration
Resolves an issue with a guest version of OS X 10.8 not booting correctly after reclaiming disk space.
Resolves an issue with virtual machines crashing accidentally when switching to Coherence.
Resolves an issue with the Windows taskbar showing while Windows is running in Coherence.
Other
Resolves an issue with some notifications and dialogs marked 'Don't show again' still showing each time Parallels Desktop opens.
Resolves an issue with some virtual machines crashing accidentally on startup.
Resolves an issue with Parallels Desktop crashing accidentally while creating a Parallels account or virtual machine.
Resolves an issue with Parallels Desktop not starting after upgrading to a newer version
Parallels Desktop 9.0.23350.941886 (Cracked by, and credit too, HIOb)
- No SN, Patch or Trial Reset needed.
- Its already pre cracked/activated.
- You can have an active Internet connection and it won't be detected its a cracked version. Block with Little Snitch or similar.
- This version cannot be updated to a newer version, you will have to wait for the new version to be cracked before you can update to it!