"Parallels Defines Virtualization"

That's what Galen Gruman of InfoWorld said in today's article, in response to this week's announcement that Parallels Desktop sold its 1,000,000th copy. Here's the full quote:

For the masses (including senior execs who sign IT project checks), Parallels defines virtualization. And that's a good thing, as it works quite well. I believe that the Parallels example will be a key factor beyond the Mac universe: It will show a successful use of virtualization on the desktop, where its benefits are far from widely realized.

Read the whole article here.

Parallels Desktop sells 1,000,000 copies

Wanted to give you the heads up that we (and the Apple community) just hit a huge milestone...we've sold our 1,000,000th copy of Parallels Desktop for Mac! Its been really amazing to see the impact that Parallels Desktop has had on not just the Mac market, but on the personal computer/desktop computer market as a whole.

I wanted to thank you all (again) for your support, suggestions and criticism over the last 20+ months. It's been a heck of a ride, and I really appreciate that you've been in the car with us. You have my promise that we won't be slowing down, so don't let go of the doorhandle just yet!

Speaking of Apple, earnings drop today at 4:30ET, and it is expected to be a good one. This milestone is a clear indicator that the ability to use "Windows on a Mac" has played a significant role in Apple's huge renaissance with consumer and businesses. Frank Bernhard of the Omni Consulting Group agrees...be sure to check out his commentary in our press release.

Meet fellow virtualization nerds on LinkedIn with the Parallels Virtualization Group

Today we launched the Parallels Virtualization Group, a new LinkedIn group that we think will help promote community building among IT professionals and end users who are closely involved with virtualization in their professional and personal lives.

The group is open to anyone who's interested in meeting fellow virtualization nuts. I've already joined as have many of my Parallels colleagues, but we need YOU to join to make the community really work. Join us by signing up for Parallels Virtualization LinkedIn Group now!

BTW, I am always looking to network personally with our partners, users, resellers and anyone else who digs virtualization and Parallels technology. You can find me on LinkedIn here.

Parallels Server Beta 3

Just a quick heads up that Parallels Server Beta 3 is now ready for download. Beta testing is going great and we're moving closer and closer to a final release.

This Beta is all about speed and stability...you'll notice that things move a lot faster than they did in Beta 1 and 2. That's really saying something because those of you who worked with the early Betas know that they were really, really fast to begin with!

Some new stuff in here as well:

• An integrated toolset that includes Parallels Tools (makes your user experience smoother, just like in Desktop), the Parallels Image Tool (tinker with your virtual hard drives) and Parallels Transporter (our free physical to virtual and virtual to virtual migration tool).

• Open APIs and SDK for extensible management. This makes it incredibly easy for 3rd party tools vendors to add support for Parallels Server. Fun fact about the SDK: the one you get is the same one we used to build the Parallels Server Management Console.

• Command line interface (CLI) scripting, including Python. Now you can automate common server tasks straight from the command line! Support for more scripting languages coming soon.

More information on what's new can be found in the Parallels Server Beta3 release notes, and at the Parallels Server Beta Page.

What are you waiting for? Go get it and tell us what you think!

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Have a question?
Then go ahead and Ask Ben Anything!

The Sun shines on Parallels

Many of you have probably seen the post on Virtualization.com that broke the news that Sun is buying Parallels for $205 Million.

Interesting idea, but not true. In reality, its the other way around...Parallels is acquiring Sun!
And, in the process, I've been promoted to "Supreme Lord Chancellor of Worldwide Communications". Needless to say, its been a good day.

Now that we've scooped up Sun, its time to move on to our next acquisition targets. Here are a few that we've got in our sites:

1. Apple. By buying Apple, we can make it even easier for people to get Desktop for Mac by simply bundling a new Mac with every copy. We figure that everyone with a Mac pretty much buys a copy of Parallels Desktop anyway, so why not cut out the middle man?
2. Microsoft. Fingers crossed that our acquisition of Microsoft goes through. These guys are a real up and comer and I think that they could do some really great things. Mark my words, they're gonna be big, and with our guidance, we can make them HUGE!
3. BMW. Because the boss likes BMWs. Simple as that.
   

As you probably understand, not a single word of this post is true (aside from the "Supreme Lord Chancellor of Worldwide Communications" bit, obviously).

Parallels is NOT being acquired by Sun or anyone else! This was just a joke put out by the Virtualization.com guys (and to their credit, it was a good one).

Happy April Fools Day everyone!

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