New Windows 7 RC on Parallels Desktop for Mac

The Windows 7 Release Candidate (RC) was released yesterday. Because it's shiny and new, and I knew a bunch of people would be wondering about it, I gave the new build a test run of my own within Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac (build 3810). Installation was smooth, not much to say. Windows 7 RC started up, Parallels Tools were installed and after a reboot we commenced with what I like to call "Good Time Happy Fun Installation & Test phase" (or GTHFIT phase for short).

 Notice the excellent wallpaper? It's included with Windows 7, and chosen in this case for its capacity to horrify select coworkers of mine.

GTHFIT phase began by installing and setting up a few of my favorite Windows programs, including Google Chrome, Windows Media Player (which of course comes with Windows 7) and a game or two. For those interested in playing Mevo and the Grooveriders while listening to Gorillaz and studying a map of Figi, here's what that experience would look like:

 Google Chrome, Mevo and the Grooveriders and Windows Media Player

Overall, Windows 7 RC ran very well. Everything looks nice, and I personally like the minimalist feel Windows 7 brings by representing open programs in the taskbar with just their icons, plus the ability to drag the order they appear on the taskbar (as if they were tabs in an Internet browser). I've got to say, I’m fairly psyched about the retail release.

The only snag I ran into with the entire process was an unrecognized sound source. It's funny because I had nearly the same experience at home on one of my PCs, natively running Windows 7 beta, trying to use my Creative X-Fi sound card. While I wasn't able to work that out at home, we have found a solution for use in Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac. There's an Intel sound driver which is compatible, and Windows 7 RC recognizes it, so hopefully this helps anyone who runs into a similar issue:

Intel 82801BA/BAM AC’97 audio driver

Update #1: Many AC’97 based drivers seem to work. For those unable to find this or another suitable driver, Parallels e-mail support can provide you with one.

Update #2: It looks like Microsoft has included a compatible AC’97 driver in one of their updates. Make sure you look under “optional” downloads in Windows Updater.

We're officially leaving Windows 7 compatibility in "experimental" status for the time being, so keep that in mind when installing it in Parallels Desktop for Mac. Have comments or questions? Just reply to this blog post, feedback is appreciated!

Beta, Beta, Best for Windows 7 Virtualization

Occasionally people tell us that this blog can be too focussed on Macs so here’s a little something for the PC users out there (we hear there are still a few of you around!)...

Parallels has opened the sign up for the beta test of its virtualization-based Windows 7 migration and integration solution.  There’s lots of buzz around Microsoft’s upcoming operating system, probably because the reports from early beta testers are that it’s "what Vista should have been."  That said, experts predict that many users who upgrade will encounter compatibility issues preventing them from running popular existing applications like Roxio 2009, AOL Instant Messenger and many custom business applications.  

Parallels is addressing this compatibility challenge with a fantastically exciting new product that leverages our high performance adaptive hypervisor, as well as our award-winning, patent-pending technologies such as Coherence and SmartSelect: innovations that enable our users to seamlessly run differing OSs and their applications side-by-side. Customers will benefit from our recognized industry-leading capabilities in 3D graphic support, USB compatibility and unmatched performance. The solution also integrates Parallels’ easy-to-use migration tools, such as Parallels Transporter, allowing users to quickly transfer applications and data from older Windows operating systems such as Windows 2000, XP or Vista to a new Windows 7 machine.

For more information on the beta program, or to sign up, go here.

Parallels Goes Green

Celebrate Earth Day, and do your part to ensure a healthy planet! First off, make sure to visit the Earth Day website for some great tips on improving energy conservation. You’ll see a ton of useful information on how to start living green right in your own home.

On that note, Parallels fans should be proud of themselves, as virtualizing Macs is extremely eco-friendly! Macs are already built to be energy efficient, and running virtual computers on one physical Mac with Parallels Desktop for Mac is far more energy-efficient than powering two separate physical computers. Hooray!

Since our users are doing their bit, we thought we would do something too. After all, it’s so common to go green that even the trees are doing it! (Because it’s Spring, so all the leaves are growing back, see? Alright, I admit that was weak, but our green campaign is cool, so keep reading…). To promote carbon neutrality and help revitalize the rainforests, Parallels will plant a tree for every 10 copies of Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac sold. Okay, we may not actually plant the trees ourselves, but we’re working with OroVerde to make it happen, supporting their great work. Together we will beat our goal of 10,000 trees very soon!

You can help too by spreading the word to your friends, through Twitter or Facebook.

One more Earth Day tip for power saving: If you’re going to take your MacBook out for a stroll, set your Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac to optimize for “Longer battery life” so you won’t have to plug it back in for a little while. To do this, just click “Virtual Machine” on your Mac menu bar, then scroll down to “Configure…” and click to get this window:

Now your virtual machine will optimize to keep your battery running as long as possible, using less energy. By the way, if you are going out, don’t forget to turn the lights off.

 

Parallels Security Bulletin - Update

Quick update to our post about security - VMware issued patches for its products to address the security vulnerability on 10th April.   

If you have any questions regarding the security of virtualization in general or Parallels' products in particular, please feel free to contact me.

Parallels Security Bulletin

You may have seen news of an advisory statement from VMware regarding a security issue affecting some of its virtualization products, including VMware Fusion.  We wanted to reassure Parallels Desktop for Mac users that this is NOT a concern for them.  We recognize that security is a huge priority for you, particularly when it comes to running Windows on a Mac, so we have made our guest operating system as isolated as possible from the host (and any other guests being run).

 

As the Coherence mode of Parallels Desktop for Mac cleverly makes Windows (the guest OS) appear as though it is integrated with the Mac OSX (the host OS), it may seem like the two have merged, but in fact they are completely isolated from each other (as they are in any other view mode). Further, virtualization is actually a safer alternative to running Windows than a hard partition, because it keeps data contained within a single file. For Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac this file is kept within the Mac OS X documents. That means if anything were to happen to one VM, the problem would stay isolated, and vice versa a Windows VM would be isolated from Mac operations. 

This general approach is common to Mac virtualization solutions; however, VMware has reported a flaw in their approach that means the guest operating system in Fusion is able to execute code on the host so an attacker that gains access to the guest operating system would also be able to compromise the host.  Parallels Desktop for Mac does not have any such vulnerability: each operating system remains completely isolated from all others, be they guest or host. We also want to assure our users that we will continue to be vigilant and actively monitor the situation to safeguard our customers.

Security is paramount to us, which is why we include Parallels Internet Security powered by Kaspersky free with Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac, giving Mac users more comprehensive internet security than any other desktop virtualization solution (it includes firewall, anti-virus, privacy control, anti-spam, parental control, etc).  We will continue to do everything we can to protect our users against security risks, and we’re very happy to report that Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac remains the safest way to run Windows on a Mac!

MacTech: Parallels up to 20% faster than competition

Parallels loves feedback, and fortunately I get to see a lot. There are a ton of fans out there who believe Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac is the best way to run Windows on a Mac, and a recent benchmark test from MacTech helps show why. 

MacTech compared Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac and VMware Fusion 2 side-by-side in what developed into a huge undertaking for their benchmark team, and the results verify one thing for sure:

"In the majority of overall averages of our tests, Parallels Desktop is the clear winner running 14-20% faster than VMware Fusion"

I'm not sure why that's my favorite quote from the article, but it is. Their study compared both programs in a clean test environment and found Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac outperformed VMware Fusion 2 in nearly every task, operating system and hardware configuration.

To be clear, this article isn't a user review. This is a report from a team which ran over 2,500 different tests and collected the data. A comparison of that data showed one product performed faster than the other in nearly every situation. A reviewer can have personal preferences; a benchmarking program can't - though scientists are attempting to make one that can love.

As mentioned in the benchmark, there were some key areas where VMware Fusion 2 failed to a large degree, so in order to show a more competitive benchmark, the tests were removed from final analysis. This included testing Internet Explorer, where Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac loaded a large and complex HTML web page in about nine seconds compared to VMware Fusion 2's two minutes. Fusion was also unable to play a DVD with the current Windows Media Player (which is the default option that comes with Windows. Duh).

Even with those tests removed, the process still tested a variety of workloads (a fancy way of saying they ran a bunch of application test cases). Personally I found the battery life (power saving) and video game tests to be particularly interesting, because to me one stresses efficiency while the other stresses compatibility and sheer horsepower. The games chosen were Sid Meier's Civilization IV: Colonization and Valve Software's Portal. The results were up and down on both sides depending on the configuration, but MacTech ended saying that, "In our tests, MacBook users will have a better experience with Parallels Desktop," compared to VMware Fusion.

Again, the full benchmark article is HERE. I recommend that readers take a look at MacTech's results for themselves, especially anyone who wants the best bang for their buck. Considering that on top of the performance advantage, Parallels includes bonus Windows anti-virus and data backup software, your bases are well covered.

It's Not Rocket Science. Oh, actually, it is...

NASA ramping up (literally) to launch the Kepler observatory spacecraft. The Kepler has been strapped to the Delta II rocket which will carry it into space on Jolene Blalock's birthday (also known in some cultures as March 5th). The Kepler's mission: to explore strange new worlds and to seek out new life and new civilizations. Though, it won't be boldly going anywhere most of the time.

(EDIT: Turns out the launch was bumped to March 7th at 3:50 Universal Time (UT), which is both Rachel Weisz and Laura Prepon's birthday, so hey I think we're still in good shape.) 

 

Kepler's mission involves staring at the same spot for 3.5 years, watching a select group of about 100,000 stars, some of which are similar to our Sun. By watching long enough, it can determine which of the stars have planets orbiting it, and how long it takes each planet to make a full orbit. Kepler is looking for planets with Earth-like orbits and a temperature that's right for liquid water - a key component to possible life forms, says NASA; though personally I believe they're neglecting the possible mercury-based life forms out there which will one day invent the Galaxy's finest thermometers.

 

This potential discovery is a huge deal Humanity, because as it stands nobody has any clue how rare the Earth climate is on a Universal scale. There could be millions and billions of Earth-similar planets out there, or there could be just us. NASA Science Principal Investigator William Borucki had this to say during a CNN video on the Kepler mission objective:

 

"Kepler is designed to find hundreds of Earth-sized planets if such planets are common around stars, dozens of these planets if they're in a habitable zone. And If we find that many, it certainly will mean that life may well be common throughout our galaxy, because there's an opportunity for life to have a place to evolve. If on the other hand we don't find any, that will be another profound discovery."

 

So while the eventual results gathered by Kepler will be extremely interesting for humanity to discover, there's one certainty about the observatory's mission. Sitting in empty space, watching the same stars for 3.5 years, the Kepler observatory spacecraft will without a doubt have the most boring space mission of all time. Meanwhile, the Hubble has happily cruised over Earth since 1990, taking photographs and basically sight-seeing the galaxy for the past 18 years. Some telescopes get to have all the fun.

Leapfrogging

It's been a while since we highlighted a product review on this blog, and so very quickly, I'd just like to mention this recent article written by Andrew Harrison for PC Advisor and published earlier today. Andrew tested both Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac and VMware Fusion 2 with WorldBench 6 real-world test suite. Here's a snippet:

"With new features added in version 4.0, Parallels Desktop 4.0 has not only caught up with VMWare but in many cases leapfrogged its competitor. The wealth of new features may overload a casual user, but the marginally higher overall performance should please all users of this worthy crossover program." 

Better yet, being an avid gamer it was great to see this reviewer test the products with Monolith Productions' F.E.A.R. with good results on both platforms, though Fusion 2 had more glitchy artifacts (improperly rendered elements) appear during gameplay. 

It was actually nice to see the original F.E.A.R. get a little attention as well. When it was new on the market, quite a few high-end PC benchmarkers used the game for testing. For those involved in the wide world of video games, you know that F.E.A.R. 2 just released a few days ago. One of the big reasons I can't wait to play the sequel is because the first one was so amazing. Great graphics, great enemy A.I. and most importantly a huge library of creepy in-game audio that keeps you on the edge of your seat.

For those who had been curious about F.E.A.R. but didn't own a PC, now would seem as good a time as any to check it out on your Mac through a Windows VM in Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac. Make sure the kiddies are in bed first, though. You wouldn't want them to see you fall out of your chair.

For all the little details, you can read Andrew's full product review right here:

http://www.pcadvisor.co.uk/reviews/index.cfm?reviewid=110756&pn=1

Monolith Productions' F.E.A.R. website is here (Age 18+ only):

http://www.whatisfear.com/

F.E.A.R. Wiki page here (Less scary than actual website):

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F.E.A.R.

Unix Doomsday

February 13th is also Friday the 13th this month. The almighty Wikipedia (from which I receive roughly 82% of all my trivial information) tells us that fear of Friday the 13th is called paraskavedekatriaphobia (and that fear of just the number 13 is called triskaidekaphobia). Most people consider fear over this day to be based on pure superstition, and I totally agree. What I am afraid of, though, is the fact that this particular Friday the 13th is also going to pass 1234567890 in Unix time, also known as POSIX time.

As my good friend Adama would say, grab your gun and bring in the cat. This is an omen for nerds everywhere. Something big is going on - could be good; could be bad. Personally I think I'll lay low and keep my finger on the ESC key.

Tekserve - Parallels 'Partner of the Year 2008'

Parallels attended the 5th Annual Apple Specialist Marketing Co-op (ASMC) conference during Macworld 2009 last month. There are some images from the event:

 

As you can see, the latest in Parallels server technology was on display - The Parallels LLX 9000 Spectrum Clock device!

 

Only... hmm, that's strange. That doesn't look like the Parallels LLX 9000 Spectrum Clock device; more like a modified Nintendo Wii. Well either way, this is what was given away at the conference. The lucky recipients are now either turning solid matter into inverse photons, or they're playing Super Smash Bros - if the former, please don't submerge the device in liquid, even partially - if the latter, please forget my mention of the top secret Parallels LLX 9000 Spectrum Clock device.

One other very important thing was given away at the event: a Parallels award to Tekserve for "2008 Reseller Channel Partner of the Year for North America Business and Consumer Sales," which is a mouthfull, so I just call it the Parallels Partner of the Year award. Congratulations, and a big thank you to Tekserve for your critical role in helping Parallels meet and exceed customer needs. Tekserve has helped raise the standard for sales and marketing innovation, solutions selling as well as customer support.

About Tekserve:

Tekserve is a private company held in New York with over 200 employees. They primarily specialize in Apple computer repairs, as well as services for both casual and business graphic, audio and video professionals. Tekserve has grown to be New York's authority on Apple sales and service; we're proud to have them as a partner!

For more information on Tekserve, visit their website here:

http://www.tekserve.com/