Parallels Consumer Tech Blog

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September 2006

September 28, 2006

Parallels Desktop Update RC2: works on ANY Intel Mac with ANY memory configuration

With today's release of Parallels Desktop for Mac Update Release Candidate 2, you can now run virtual machines on ANY Intel Mac with ANY amount of RAM, without any limitations or system reconfiguration! This includes Mac Pro towers maxed out with 16GB of RAM, and all possible configs for the new Core 2 Duo iMacs.

Thanks again to everyone who tested the internal build, and to our entire community for bearing with us as we got this important update ready to go. Expect a final release of our Update in the next few weeks!

Get the new build and learn abotu what's included at the Update RC2 Main Page.

Posted at 12:49 PM | | Comments (9) | TrackBack (0)

September 22, 2006

"Ask Ben Anything" -- VT, license keys, & Vista upgrades

Welcome to the first "Ask Ben Anything". Thanks to everyone who submitted questions...keep 'em coming!

1) Ben, VMWare seems to be talking smack about the Intel/AMD virtualization technologies not amounting to squat as far as performance is concerned (http://www.vmware.com/pdf/asplos235_adams.pdf).

What does Parallels have to say about the topic?

I don't think that this is a case of them "talking smack," as you put it, about VT and AMD Virtualization, rahter its an explanation of different approaches towards virtualization, and about which works best. Our solutions were built from the ground up to support these virtualization technologies (via our lightweight hypervisor), and we, and our users, notice pretty substantial performance gains when running our solutions with them - sometimes as much as 150%!

VT support is one of the key reasons that Windows performance via Parallels Desktop for Mac is so strong. VT is included in every new Mac, and Parallels automatically takes advantage of it. When Intel releases then next generation of VT, Intel Virtualization Technology for Directed I/O, performance will get even better.

Want to see for yourself? Try loading Windows in Desktop with VT disabled, then again with VT enabled. I think you'll see that it does indeed mak a difference!


2) Hullo there, I have two simple questions for thee. If I buy parallels for mac, for how long will I be able to receive updates? Can I use the same copy of Parallels on two seperate machines that I own?

Thanks heaps,
Yak Sox

Minor updates, patches and point updates are always free for every user for the life of the product. Major upgrades do require a new purchase, but as a registered Parallels customer, you'll get a very significant discount.

Also, the Parallels License Agreement registers your copy for one machine. So, if you have multiple computers, you'll need a clean copy of Parallels for each.


3) I have XP installed, can I upgrade to Vista?

When this feature is supported by Vista (I believe you need to do a clean install with the betas and RC's), yes, you will be able to upgrade just as you would on a "real" PC. Just pop the disc in and follow the instructions!

As with any upgrade - be it for a "real" machine or a virtual one, its always a good idea to back up your files first, in case you run into a problem during the upgrade.

Posted at 11:04 AM | | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)

Parallels at the Intel Developer Forum in San Francisco, 9/26 - 9/29

Wanted to give you all a heads up that Parallels will be attending - and presenting - at the Fall 2006 Intel Devleoper Forum. The conference runs from September 26th through September 29th, at the Moscone Center West in San Francisco.

Key members of our engineering team will be at booth #507 in the Forum Technology Showcase, running demos and answering technical questions about our Desktop for Mac and Workstation 2.2 for Windows and Linux products. If you're attending the conference, stop by to meet the guys behind the code, and to get a free, extended trial versions of our latest software.

On Tuesday, September 27th from 1:30 - 2:30, we'll also be hosting a technical "chalk talk" titled "Client Virtualiation Done Right" in which we'll be discussing the ins-and-outs of virtualization and how we leverage Intel Virtualization Technology in all of our products.

As usual, we'll be wandering the conference in our bright orange shirts, so we'll be hard to miss. See you all in San Francisco!

Posted at 08:04 AM | | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

September 19, 2006

Parallels Workstation 2.2 Release Candidate

Today's a 2-for-1 day. Earlier this morning we released a new build for Parallels Desktop, and now we're releasing the Release Candidate for Parallels Workstation 2.2 for Windows & Linux!

2.2 RC has a number of improvements, the most notable of which are stronger support for Intel Virtualization Technology and AMD Secure Virtual Machine Technology (both of which drive great performance and stability - see my recent blog post on the subject for more info), and the addition of Microsoft Windows Vista as a guest OS. You can check out the full list of new features here.

The addition of Vista is a really great feature for our Windows and Linux users, since they now have the ability to test Vista and play with configurations without having to sacrifice an entire production machine.

As with all updates, you won't need to reinstall your guest OSes, nor will you lose any saved data. You should, however, reinstall Parallels tools after updating your Parallels Workstation build.

Posted at 09:22 AM | | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

New build for Mac Pro available now

Just a few minutes ago our developers posted a new build (1898) for Desktop for Mac that substantially improves Mac Pro and 64-bit iMac performance and eliminates kernel panics and major bugs.

For those users who have Mac Pros and 64-bit iMacs with more than 2GB of RAM, you've had to manually limit your RAM via the instructions I laid out in my "Q&A about the Update RC" post. In this build, we've included a tool that will help you take this action without any command line coding. With a single click you can limit your RAM and make your Mac Pro fully compatible with this build. You can easily revert your memory back at any time to the full configuration with the same tool.

Its very important to note that limiting your RAM configuration to run Parallels Desktop will NOT prevent you from running any other OS X application (although they may run slightly slower). It simply helps our hypervisor "play nice" with the Mac Pro.

This build also adds support for Windows Vista RC1 as a guest OS, and adds an improved Parallels Tools package for all of the Vista builds that improves mouse movement, and video resolutions, and beefs up networking. I highly recommend you install it if you're running Vista!

Originally, I told you that we'd have full PAE support by year's end. Now, I'm pleased to let you know that we are working on a new RC version that will be compatible with ANY Intel-Mac with ANY amount of RAM, and will have it much sooner than originally anticipated. The engineering team tells me that this build should be available in a week or two.

Thank you again to all of our loyal Desktop users and beta testers. Everyone here appreciates your feedback and your patience.

If you recently purchased Desktop from a retail store, be sure to upgrade to the new build before you install any operating system on your computer. This will ensure that you've got a build that works with whatever Mac you're using.

Posted at 06:39 AM | | Comments (31) | TrackBack (0)

September 18, 2006

Parallels in NYC on Wednesday

For those of you in New York, I'll be presenting at the SoHo Apple Store on Wednesday, September 20th from 6:30 - 7:30pm. This is a good opportunity for new and experienced Parallels users to ask questions about the product and learn more about the technology that powers it.



If you're an Apple Store employee or business consultant, I'll be at the SoHo store for about 2 hours prior to the presentation for employee training. Call the SoHo store to reserve a spot...they're going fast.

Posted at 01:08 PM | | Comments (0) | TrackBack (0)

September 15, 2006

"Ask Ben Anything" starts next week

Starting next Friday, I'll be writing a weekly post called "Ask Ben Anything", in which I'll select a few (i.e., 3-5) of the dozens of weekly questions and comments I get about about Parallels products, virtualization, OSes, hardware, and technology in general. I'll post the questions and my answers, along with any reference materials or media features I can find that help explain the technology or concept in question.

Of course, I will continue to write back as often as I can in the comments sections of each post, so keep those questions and comments coming!

I borrowed this concept from my friend Walt Mossberg at the Wall Street Journal, who writes a weekly Q&A column called "Mossberg's Mailbox". The column is published every Thursday in the print edition of the Journal, and is also available online at Walt's Personal Technology website. As with all of Walt's stuff, its good reading if you're looking for practical, real-world tech advice. Check it out.

Me and Walt. Two guys who dig technology and have weekly Q&A columns.

Posted at 12:01 PM | | Comments (3) | TrackBack (0)

September 11, 2006

"Superior" has a nice ring to it

Be sure to check out the October edition of PC World Magazine for an excellent, objective review of Parallels Desktop for Mac. Narasu Rebbapragada, PC World's Senior Review Editor, took a whack at Desktop and gave us an almost unheard of score of 90/100, earning us a "Superior" ranking.

Desktop received the highest score of the issue and one of the highest scores given to any software or hardware product reviewed by PC World this year. This is doubly impressive considering that this is from the leading PC magazine (with more than 5 million readers monthly), and NOT from a Mac-focused magazine!

Pick up your copy at any news stand (I got mine at Barnes & Noble), or read the full review online at PCWorld.com:

Posted at 06:43 AM | | Comments (2) | TrackBack (0)

September 08, 2006

A quick fix from the QA team

If you updated your build and tried to launch Parallels Desktop from the original shortcut icon your placed in your dock or on the desktop, you will not be able to load Parallels Desktop properly.

You MUST either run this beta build of Parallels Desktop directly from your Applications folder, or delete the original shortcut on your desktop/dock and replace it with the newer one that appeared in the Parallels Application Folder. Parallels Desktop is located at Macintosh HD -> Applications -> Parallels -> Parallels Desktop.

Keep that feedback coming to macbeta@parallels.com, the forum, and the online support form; I'll have more updates for you soon.

Posted at 07:51 AM | | Comments (1) | TrackBack (0)

Q&A about the Update RC build

Lots of readers have emailed me questions about the Desktop Update RC, (mainly about RAM and Mac Pro support), so I decided to answer them here, rather than do so in the comments sections. I hope this helps clear things up about Mac Pro support!

  • Why did you announce that Parallels Desktop is compatible with Mac Pros outfitted with only up to 4GB of RAM?
This is an issue related to Physical Address Extension mode, which, as defined by Wikipedia, "allows for up to 64 gigabytes of memory to be used in 32-bit systems, given appropriate operating system support."

Right now, Parallels offers partial support for PAE mode, which is why RAM is limited to 4GB (3.5 to be safe). Our next version, due in beta around the turn of the year, will offer full PAE support.

  • My Mac Pro has more than 4GB of RAM. Does that mean I can't use Parallels at all?
No, it doesn't! There's actually an easy workaround that will let you use Parallels on any Mac Pro, regardless of how much RAM you have.

This is accomplished by limiting your memory size with a boot-loader oprtion. Directions are as follows:
  1. Load your Terminal window. You can find this application in Macintosh HD -> Applications -> Utilities
  2. Enter the following command: sudo nvram boot-args="maxmem=3500".
    3. Hit enter.
  3. Enter your administrator password. Hit enter.
  4. Reboot your Mac Pro
  5. Get to work with Parallels!
To refresh your Mac Pro so it can use full amount of memory you have installed, just repeat steps 1-4, substituting the amount of memory you have (in MB) in the command line sudo nvram boot-args="maxmem=YOURMEMORYTOTAL".

  • Does this new build work on the just-released 64-bit Core 2 Duo iMacs?
Yes. We've had positive responses so far from the lucky few who have 64-bit Core 2 Duo users.

  • I see you're running Windows Vista Beta 2. What about RC?
Vista RC has been out for less than a week and we haven't had a chance to fully test it. Beta 1 and Beta 2 do work right now, and we should have support for the RC builds shortly. I'll circle back with QA on that one and see what the timeline looks like.

  • When I load Parallels Desktop on my Mac Pro, I see that VT mode is disabled. Why?
This is actually an Apple bug, not a Parallels bug. You may remember that when we first launched Desktop in Beta back in April, some Mac Minis had VT inside, but it was disabled due to a firmware glitch. The same thing is happening here. We've already contacted Apple about this, and they're working on the problem.

  • I've seen in the comments and on the forum that some users are having some complications with this build. What's the deal?
Short version: its beta software! Betas are there to be tested and evaluated, so we can work out all of the issues before we go "live" with the final release. Its completely normal to find bugs and other glitches in beta software. Also pkese remember that Apple does not provide anyone - not even some of their own teams - early access to hardware. We got our Mac Pros (and this week, our 64-bit iMacs) the same time as the rest of the world. That doesn't give us a ton of lead time on fixes.

  • What do I do if I find a bug or other technical issue?
You've all been a huge help in making Parallels Desktop what it is today, and I hope that you'll continue to offer your advice, point out bugs, and give us your suggestions on how to make things better and more usable.

If you do want to let us know what you think about the beta, you've got three ways to get your comments to us:
  1. Submit your comments via our online support form.
  2. Email them to macbeta@parallels.com.
  3. Discuss them on our online support forum.
A note on the forum: While our QA and Engineering teams may not be able to respond to every post, they're always monitoring the forums and will definitely see your comments.

Posted at 06:13 AM | | Comments (7) | TrackBack (0)

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