Off to London!

I'll be in London all next week meeting with UK press & partners about Parallels Desktop 3.0 and our upcoming Parallels Sever for Win/Lin/Mac products. As my week is booked completely solid, I may not have the chance to post as often as I'd like, but I'll do my best to give you the view from across the pond.

I also owe you a WWDC/Parallels Server wrapup too (short version: Parallels endorsed in Jobs' keynote + rockin' Server debut = a good week), so stay tuned for that as well.

See you all in a week!

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Intel CEO Paul Ottelini uses Parallels

That's right...the Big Chief at Intel uses Parallels on his Mac!

Check out the video interview where Paul says that he uses his Mac for personal stuff, and his virtualized Windows PC in Parallels for business stuff, which is a similar use case that we're seeing from many of our hundreds of thousands of users.

Its not surprising that Paul's a fan, as Intel is a tight development partner, and because we're the only company in the world that fully and automatically supports Intel Virtualization Technology across the board in all of our products.

The Parallels discussion starts at about 0:40, but be sure to watch the entire interview, as he covers a lot of very interesting topics.


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A letter from a very smart 6th grader

This is an actual letter (a real one, not email) that I received from Andrew, a 6th grader in New Jersey who loves working with Parallels:

Wednesday, May 23, 2007

Parallels Worldwide HQ
660 SW 39th Street
Suite #205
Renton, Washington 98057
USA

To whom it may concern:

My name is Andrew. I'm in the 6th grade and I love your company's products. My family and me use your company's products. I own Parallels Workstation and Compressor. I know how to use Windows XP and Mac OS X Tiger and I intend to learn how to use Vista and Linux.

What I like about your company is the convenience of buying your products online and in stores such as Best Buy. I also like your products because they are easy to use and install.

I started using your company's products when I discovered your website on Google when I was searching for a file compressor.

I think, in my opinion, that your company should open stores nationwide so that everyone can enjoy Parallels and all of it's greatness. I would like to know about Parallels in the upcoming seasons.

Thanks for listening and keep in touch.

Sincerely,
Andrew

Thanks Andrew. We think you're pretty great too.
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Parallels Desktop 3.0 walkthrough on Gear Live

Want to see all the stuff that rocks in Parallels Destkop 3.0? Check out the in-depth walkthrough of the new version that I did with Andru Edwards and the guys from Gear Live:





Like what you see? Then tell the Gear Lives guys (and the world) what you think via an iTunes review, and you'll be entered to win a FREE COPY of Parallels Desktop 3.0! Details on the contest are here.
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See Parallels Desktop 3.0 today at the Apple Store San Francisco

If you're in the San Francisco area or attending WWDC, come by the Apple Store San Francisco (on Stockton and Market) at 1pm today to see a live demo of Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac. I'll be showing off the product and answering questions about what's in this version, and what's coming next.



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Parallels Server for Mac (alpha) debuts THURSDAY at WWDC!

For the first time ever, the Parallels team will be publicly showing off for alpha code of Parallels Server for Mac, the first virtualization solution that will allow users to run Windows and Linux in virtual servers at the same time as Mac OS X Server, all at the same time, on the same Intel-powered XServe!

Join me and some of Parallels’ top engineers at The Westin San Francisco Market Street (formerly The Argent Hotel) on Thursday, June 14th from 9am – 4pm to learn more about this important, soon-to-be-released product (and its Windows and Linux counterparts), as well as learn more about the just released Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac, the next generation of Parallels’ award-winning solution for running Windows and OS X at the same time on a single Intel-Mac.

Just like Parallels Desktop has established itself as the leading virtualization solution for Mac users who need to run applications from other OSes at the same time as OS X on their Mac desktops and laptops, Parallels Server for Mac will do exactly the same thing for Apple XServes by giving IT admins the ability to run OS X Server, Microsoft Exchange Servers running on Windows, Apache running on Linux servers and more all at the same time. It speaks volumes to our commitment to the Mac market and shows that we’re ready to provide the world’s only top-to-bottom, server and desktop, virtualization solution for the Apple community.

Here’s what we’ll be showing and discussing on Thursday as we demonstrate alpha code of Parallels Server for Mac:

• Robust Server Capabilities: Parallels Server will include a number of enterprise-class features, like true virtual SMP (i.e., multi-core virtual servers), type-1 hypervisor, strong support for popular server OSes like Windows Server 2003 and Red Hat Enterprise Linux distributions, local and browser-based management tools, and a completely new, management-focused interface that makes working with multiple real and virtual servers easy and intuitive.
• Open APIs: Unlike our competitors in the space, Parallels will be completely opening its APIs and providing a powerful SDK to enable third-party developers and IT departments to fully leverage virtualization technology in their applications and tools. Providing a complete open API ensure companies can leverage custom tools or ISVs can easily manage Parallels virtual servers as well as servers from other vendors. Our community has always been very important to us, and we feel that by opening the API and providing all of the necessary resources to build great tools, we’ll be helping the community get the most out of our Server offerings. I should also note that Parallels built-in tools were developed using the very same tools that we’re offering to the community, and that we plan to make a number of our in-house developed Server management tools OPEN SOURCE so that anyone, even those not using Parallels virtualization, can get more out of their existing server virtualization infrastructure.
• Powerful Management from SWsoft’s Virtuozzo Tools: Our parent company, SWsoft, has their own virtualization solution. It’s called Virtuozzo and it virtualizes at the OS level, meaning that a real server can run multiple instances of the same operating system in extremely high-performing, totally isolated “virtual environments”. Virtuozzo is an excellent enterprise-class virtualization solution used by thousands of companies worldwide, and its backed up by a very sophisticated, very comprehensive set of management tools that handle server grouping, group activity and prioritization, and automation. These tools are already being optimized via our SDK to work with Parallels Server, which means that from a single console, IT admins will be able to manage both their Parallels and Virtuozzo virtual servers.
  
• The most comprehensive virtualization offerings in the world: Bringing Parallels and SWsoft closer together also means that we can offer our customers the world’s most comprehensive set of virtualization solutions. Desktop or Server, Windows, Linux or Mac, OS-virtualization or hardware virtualization, we’ve got you covered. Now we can truly offer IT admins the “best of both worlds”; Parallels hardware virtualization for tightly integrated multi-OS environments, and Virtuozzo for near-zero-overhead heterogeneous environments.
  

THE WHERE:
The Olympic Room at The Westin San Francisco Market Street
50 Third Street, just south of Market Street
San Francisco, CA

THE WHEN:
9am – 4pm
- Demos & presentation will be held at 9:30am, 11:00am, 12:30pm, 2:00pm, and 3:30pm
- Q& A will take place between presentations

THE WHO:
You! Sign up to be a beta tester and tell us what you'd like to see in the product...and enter to win an AppleTV!


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Parallels in the WWDC keynote

Steve Jobs just mentioned Parallels in the WWDC keynote! He said that "we love these guys" and that we're a great compliment to Boot Camp (which we are, especially now that we support XP and Vista partitions in Boot Camp 1.3). So, its confirmed that there will be no virtualization in Leopard (as I suggested there wouldn't be in a previous post), and we have been formally endorsed by Apple as "a great way to run the occasional Windows app". While I and our hundreds of thousands of users know that Parallels is much more than that, I'll certainly take the nod from Steve.

Pretty impressive that in one year we've gone from no one even knowing who we are to being endorsed on one of the world's biggest stages by one of the biggest names in the industry.

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Here's the big news...Parallels Server (alpha) debuts at WWDC on Thursday!

For the first time ever, the Parallels team will be publicly showing off for alpha code of Parallels Server for Mac, the first virtualization solution that will allow users to run Windows and Linux in virtual servers at the same time as Mac OS X Server, all at the same time, on the same Intel-powered XServe!

Join me and some of Parallels’ top engineers at The Westin San Francisco Market Street (formerly The Argent Hotel) on Thursday, June 14th from 9am – 4pm to learn more about this important, soon-to-be-released product (and its Windows and Linux counterparts), and get an insidea look at Parallels Desktop 3.0

Presentations and demos will be held every 90 minutes starting at 9:30am. Come on by and see what's cookin' with Parallels!


EVENT DETAILS
What:
The first-ever public demonstration of Parallels Server for Mac

Where:
The Olympic Room at The Westin San Francisco Market Street
50 Third Street, just south of Market Street
San Francisco, CA

When:
9am – 4pm
- Demos & presentation will be held at 9:30am, 11:00am, 12:30pm, 2:00pm, and 3:30pm
- Q& A will take place between presentations


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REMINDER: Parallels at WWDC all next week

Just a reminder from your friendly neighborhood Comms guy that Parallels will be at Apple WWDC all next week at the Moscone Center in San Francisco. Track one of us down in our bright orange shirts if you have a question or want to talk, and stay tuned for a BIG Parallels announcement this week!

I'll be writing periodic posts from the conference about what I see and who I run into.

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Q&A about retail orders and upgrades

We (and our publishing partner Nova Development) have received a lot of questions about how to buy and upgrade to Parallels Desktop 3.0 via the retail channel, so I wanted to address them here. If I missed something, let me know and I'll update this Q&A later today.


Q: I pre-ordered the ESD upgrade for Parallels Desktop 3.0 from Nova Development - when will I receive my activation key?

A: The orders are being processed now, but due to the fact that we've had literally tens of thousands of orders in the last 24 hours, it might take a day or two to get them to you. You should expect them in the next 3-5 days (max) but chances are, you'll get them much sooner.

Q: I purchased a boxed copy of Parallels 3.0 from Nova Development - when will I get it?

A: Nova is pressing CDs and printing boxes as fast as they can. New boxes should ship in about 2 weeks.

Q: Can I purchase the retail version at the Apple store and other retailers and receive the upgrade for free?

A: You sure can. There's more information on this on Nova's site.

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