Parallels Server beta testing starts today!

I'm very happy to let you know that Parallels Server beta testing - for the Windows, Linux and Mac versions - starts today! We figured that this was the perfect way to cap off 2007 and kick off 2008.

For this first go-around, we're releasing Beta1 as a private beta to a select group of users. Once we get their initial feedback, we'll be launching public testing...meaning that ANYONE can register and sign-up to be a tester. Look for the public betas of all three versions very, very soon.

Happy New Year to all; I'll see you in '08!

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Happy (insert holiday here)!

Just wanted to take a few seconds to say thank you (again) for all of your help, support, suggestions, criticism, praise & lambasting over the last year. 2007 has been a heck of a ride, and I'm happy to have been in the car with all of you.

I hope that 2008 is as great one for you! And, in Parallels Blog tradition, I'd like to wish everyone a:

• Happy Hannukah! Belated...my grandmother will kill me for not saying this on time.
• Habari Gani! This is traditional greeting for Kwanzaa, which comes from Swahili phrase for "what's the news?"
  
• Merry Christmas! I hope that this is self-explanatory. :)
  

and of course...Io, Saturnalia! May your harvests be bountiful.

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Parallels crushes the competition in real-world performance and productivity

Yesterday, the crew at MacTech Magazine published a very comprehensive performance and productivity benchmark comparing Parallels Desktop for Mac (build 5160, which is now out of date), Boot Camp, and VMware Fusion 1.0 (build 51348, which is not the current in-production build).

The benchmark not only tested raw performance (i.e., how fast the VM opens applications and performs processing tasks), but also "task tests", which study how long it takes to accomplish a certain multi-platform, multi-step test, such as downloading a PDF in Outlook, but opening it in Preview for Mac OS X.

Here are some key results, as well as analysis of each:

1) Parallels Desktop is faster than either Boot Camp (1% faster, so not much) and Fusion (17% faster) when running Windows XP. This is a very important result, since the vast majority of our 700,000+ users are running Windows XP in their VM. It's the OS of choice for Windows/Mac integration, and we make it run better and faster than anyone else in the game.

2) Most Windows XP applications - especially those that users run most - work substantially faster in Parallels than in Fusion. Here are some key examples:

• Microsoft Excel: 21% faster than Fusion
• Microsoft Internet Explorer: 55-60% faster than Fusion
• Microsoft Outlook: 18% faster than Fusion

We've found that its these types of applications - Office apps, Internet Explorer, etc. - that are most critical to our users because they are industry standard and users rely on them every single day. Making these applications work perfectly and lightning fast is the cornerstone of our products, because we don't want to let our users down when they're on the job (or even just relaxing at home).

3) In cross-platform "task tests", Parallels is 600% faster than Fusion under Windows XP, and 520% faster than Fusion under Windows Vista. This is the result that I think is most important, because it shows that when working with applications from both Windows and Mac OS X (again, most of our user run both OSes every day), you can get more done in less time with our solution than you can with either Fusion or Boot Camp. This is because of Parallels-only integration features like SmartSelect and Mirrored Folders that make working with apps from both OSes a breeze.

I want be completely honest with you and say that Parallels did not win every test. But where we lost, we've already made great strides to improve and if the tests were run today, we'd perform much, much better. Here's the one I wanted to highlight and comment on:

Parallels build 5160 (not the current 5582 production build) is not as fast as Fusion in raw Vista performance. MacTech's study showed that Fusion is about 44% faster than Parallels 5160 when running Vista. However, there are a few very important items that we need to look at when discussing Vista:

• Not that many users are running Vista, either on real machines or via virtualization. By a huge margin, users are working with XP over Vista. Adoption has been, and continues to be, slow across the board.
  
• Those that are running Vista will tell you that its noticeably slower than XP on real and virtual hardware. MacTech's results confirm this.
  
• This test was run using build 5160. Build 5582 (our Leopard Update) improved Vista performance in Parallels by more than 130%, so this benchmark result is out of date simply because we innovate and improve so fast.
  

Even though most of our users are running XP, I agree with Neil that Vista is the future of Windows, whether we like it or not, and that supporting Vista is key to ensuring that we're keeping up with the times and the needs of our users. This is why our recent 130% Vista performance boost is so important, and why we're putting a lot of man-hours into making it even faster.

To summarize all of this: If you're looking to run Windows and OS X applications side by side on your Mac, you can work much faster and get more done in less time with Parallels than Fusion or Boot Camp.

I'd really like to know what you think about these tests, how you're using Parallels (or our competitors) and what you'd like to see us improve on. Leave a comment or email me!

Oh, and don't forget to read the whole article/test results at MacTech.com.


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Parallels Desktop 2.5 Leopard Update is live

Just a quick heads up that the Leopard Update for Parallels Desktop 2.5 (Build 3224) is now ready for download. The previous 2.5 builds should have been working fine for you under Leopard, but this new build smooths out some of the rough edges.

Get it here, and get the new Transporter build here.

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Webinar: "Top Reasons to Choose Parallels Desktop"

Tomorrow we're running a webinar on the "Top Reasons to Choose Parallels Desktop" if you're looking at running multiple operating systems on your Mac. Our product team will walk you through Parallels' latest features and the benefits you can realize from each.

The webinar kicks off tomorrow at 1:00pm ET and will run for about an hour.

Want to join in? Register for the event here.

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"Team Orange" is now "Big Red"...SWsoft changes its name to Parallels!

I’ve often told you that we have “big news” in my blog posts, but today, the word “big” is a remarkably understated. “Huge” would be more appropriate. “Massive” might be even better.

Today’s news is that SWSOFT IS OFFICIALLY CHANGING ITS NAME TO PARALLELS! We’ll be be renaming all of its virtualization and automation products to fit that new master brand, and are unveiling a brand new logo and are laying out our desktop-to-datacenter vision, which integrates all of our products and services across all of our business lines. More on that later.

So why the change? Lots of reasons, but here are the big three.

• Parallels has real meaning (since via virtualization you run stuff in parallel)
• It’s easy to pronounce (unlike SWsoft, which I've heard pronounced every way from "swissoft" to "swooft" to "swoft")
• Its very, very well known, largely due to the fact that there are more than 700,000 people running the original suite of Parallels Desktop/Parallels Workstation products every day.

I want to expand on this last point, as it’s in my opinion the most important reason. The Parallels brand is in rarified air, because almost everyone who has one of our products installed simply says "I'm running Parallels", rather than dropping the full name of the product. There are only a few brands that have pulled that off (Google, Xerox and Kleenex come to mind), and I’m totally blow away that Parallels has become one of them. Everyone on the Parallels team is entirely in the debt of our customers, because without you, this would NOT have happened.

This is the new Parallels logo. It brings together the Parallels and SWsoft
brands under one heading.

Now, about that vision stuff. Along with the new brand, we’re unveiling our new “Optimized Computing” vision, which brings together all of our products in both virtualization and automation to drive savings and productivity at all levels of an organization. This is the crystallization of the “desktop to datacenter” vision that we started evangelizing more than a year ago, and its backed up by the forthcoming release of Virtuozzo 4.0, Parallels Server, and more.

Very cool stuff; if you want to learn more about the vision, head to the new Optimized Computing page.

Here's the important question…what do you think about the new brand, logo and vision? Let me know by leaving a comment. Feel free to leave questions here as well; I'll post a Q&A entry tomorrow or Friday.

Parallels Premium Edition - Upgrades

I realize that in yesterday's press release and blog post I failed to let everyone know that there WILL be an easy, low-cost upgrade path for 3.0 users who want to upgrade to Parallels Premium Edition. This means that if you're already a Parallels Desktop customer, you'll be able to get the Parallels Premium Edition bundled tools (Acronis Disk Director, Kaspersky Internet Security and Acronis True Image Home) WITHOUT spending $99.99 on a full version. After all, man of you already have Parallels Desktop, so charging you the same price as a new customer wouldn't be fair.

When's it coming?
The build is being prepped right now and will be available sometime next week.

What's it cost?
Upgrading to Parallels Premium will cost only $30, but if you buy it through December 27th, the Upgrade costs only $20. Now that's a good deal, considering that you're getting 3 award-winning, best-selling tools.

Stay tuned for info on when exactly the build will go live!

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More great user stories

From David in Roseville, CA:

Wanted to send quick note praising Parallels. I'm a web developer and before Parallels, I would have to set up a PC laptop on a seperate table in my home office and go back and forth between it and my Mac. Now, with Parallels, I was able to send the laptop back to my company and use my Mac for all my contracting work. Thank you Parallels team!

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Leopard Update & Parallels Premium Edition are LIVE

Two big pieces of news today!

First, the Leopard Update that’s been in beta testing for the last few weeks is now live. This build works seamlessly with both Tiger and Leopard, and resolves the issues that popped up in Parallels when Leopard went live. As with all minor updates, its 100% free to all 3.0 customers and will be delivered via auto-update. Or if you'd rather, you can download it manually here.

For those of you keeping track of such things, the Leopard Update is build #5582.

Second, and more importantly, Parallels is launching a brand new product bundle! Called Parallels Desktop Premium Edition, it includes the most recent Leopard-ready build of Parallels, as well as 3 award-winning Windows tools that make working with Windows on your Mac easier and safer. They are:

• Kaspersky Internet Security (Complete Malware and Virus Protection)
• Acronis True Image Home (No-brainer backups)
• Acronis Disk Director Suite (Easy disk management)

The bundle only costs $99.99, which is a huge savings over the $254 that it would cost to buy Parallels Desktop and these three tools separately. I've personally used all of these tools on a number of PCs and VMs, and I can confidently say they're the best in the business. There's more on the Premium Edition and a link to the online store to get your copy here.


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