Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac Delivers Experimental Support of Windows 8 Consumer Preview and OS X Mountain Lion Developer Preview as Host and Guest

UPDATE (6/4): Looking for information on Parallels Desktop 7 compatibility with Windows 8 Release Preview? Check out our post here: http://bit.ly/JHoOSS

Today Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac was updated to provide experimental support for Windows 8 Consumer Preview, including simple download and automatic installation of Windows 8 via the Parallels New Virtual Machine Wizard.  The update also adds experimental support for OS X Mountain Lion Developer Preview as both a host and guest.  Now Mac enthusiasts and developers alike can safely try Windows 8 Consumer Preview and OS X Mountain Lion Developer Preview in Parallels Desktop 7 virtual machines to protect their Mac from potential mishaps or corruption of important files that can occur with preview versions of software.  

 

  

Additionally, Parallels Mobile users can remotely access and control their Mac and its Windows 8 virtual machine, applications and files, via their iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.

A free trial of the No. 1-selling Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac software is available for download here.   Current Parallels Desktop 7 users can get the update by selecting the Parallels Desktop menu and clicking Check for Updates. 

Parallels makes it simple to get and automatically install the free Windows 8 Consumer Preview by going to the Parallels Desktop menu and selecting File, New and Windows 8 Consumer Preview in the Parallels New Virtual Machine Wizard.  In just a few clicks, Parallels Desktop 7 downloads and automatically installs Windows 8 Consumer Preview (English, German, French, Japanese or Chinese simplified) in a new virtual machine so you can safely discover and play with the dramatically redesigned Windows operating system and use your Mac OS X applications and files at the same time – without rebooting. 

Microsoft released Windows 8 Consumer Preview last week at the Mobile World Conference in Barcelona.  Windows 8 draws inspiration from the new Windows Phone software through a new mobile-inspired tile-based user interface called Metro. Windows 8 is built to run on both PCs and mobile devices. People who prefer a traditional desktop experience without tiles will be glad to know Windows 8 offers that type of user experience as well. Windows 8 features include the Windows app store, integration of touch, Internet Explorer 10, cloud services to link PCs and Windows Phones and new hardware capabilities.

Microsoft recommends that users don’t install Windows 8 Consumer Preview on their primary machine given that is not a final version and could crash, causing the loss or corruption of important files. (See Windows 8 FAQ, click “Are there risks to installing Windows 8 Consumer Preview?”).  If Windows 8 crashes or corrupts files when it is running in a Parallels Desktop 7, you can simply delete the Windows 8 virtual machine and start over without any damage to your Mac. 

Try out Windows 8 Consumer Preview today with Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac and Parallels Mobile. Here’s everything you’ll need to get started:

• ·         Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac – Free Trial
• ·         Windows 8 Consumer Preview
• ·         Parallels Mobile - Recommended

Giveaway! (UPDATE: Congratulations to @MS_nerd, winner of our Windows 8 iPad 2 Giveaway!)

To herald the release of this exciting new update from Microsoft, Parallels will give one lucky reader an iPad! Here’s how to enter:

• Entrants must follow @ParallelsMac in order to qualify to win
• Entrants must mention @ParallelsMac and use the link to be eligible

We’ve made it easy for you. Just click the tweet button below to enter!

Tweet

Winners:

• ·         One winner will win a brand new iPad
• ·         Winner will be announced on 3/8/2012

Sample Tweet:

Play w/ Windows 8 preview on your Mac & iPad w/ Parallels! RT for chance to win an #iPad http://bit.ly/yWPv6d

Comments

[Joe]

Hope I can win!!! :D

[DJEmergency]

Awesome! I'm going to try it out tonight!

[ericacm]

Dang - still can't copy from Mac OS and paste into a Lion guest OS. Works fine in Fusion.

[@pizzalogger]

Thanks for the chance to win and thanks for all of the information you provide

[Non-tweeter]

I don't tweet, & I don't like or value twitter. Thanks for excluding me.

[Dave01568]

You guys are so Great

[Windows MAC Support]

whenever i look to parallels..i stopped my search
thanks