Parallels rolls out Premium Edition for Mac, official Leopard update

Posted:
in Mac Software edited January 2014
Parallels on Wednesday announced the release of Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac Premium Edition in addition to releasing a finalized version of the standard edition that includes complete support Mac OS X 10.5 Leopard.



Both pieces of software allow users to run versions of Microsoft's Windows operating system side-by-side with Mac OS X on any Intel-based Mac.



The new $99 Premium Edition includes a complete virtualization solution that bundles the $79 Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac Standard Edition, plus three easy-to-use utilities from leading third-party software companies that help keep Windows virtual computers safe, secure and running smoothly.



The three included utilities, which retail separately for a combined $175, are as follows:



Kaspersky Internet Security 7.0



To protect against the viruses, spyware, spam and malware that can harm any Windows machine, even virtual ones, Kaspersky Internet Security 7.0 is included with Parallels Desktop 3.0 Premium Edition. Kaspersky offers "Triple Threat" protection, including automated hourly anti-malware updates, intelligent active heuristics that provide proactive protection to investigate all unknown files and real time behavior analysis for consistent monitoring of a system's activities for any malicious behavior.



Acronis True Image 11 Home



Acronis True Image 11 Home is the latest version of Acronis' award-winning backup and disaster recovery software. With Acronis True Image Home, users can easily back up individual files on their Windows virtual machine or take an entire image of their Windows virtual computer. Backups can be scheduled to run automatically at any interval and can be stored on external drives, DVDs and off-site computers via FTP.



Acronis Disk Director Suite



Acronis Disk Director Suite provides the ability to resize, move, copy, split and merge virtual disk partitions without losing data. It includes a boot manager that allows users to boot other operating systems, such as Linux, inside their Windows virtual machine.



Meanwhile, current Parallels Desktop 3.0 customers will receive the finalized Leopard-compatible build of the software as a free automatic update starting Wednesday (today). Those customers can also download the update manually from Parallels' website.



In addition, the company is offering several holiday specials that include free iTunes gift cards and other incentives.
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Comments

  • Reply 1 of 24
    As a user of Parallels from early on, and a very active member of the community I look forward to the new toolset. I do hope they stay good on their promise of the official Leopard update being free... Now off to the Parallels site (AI was just the first tab of the bundle)
  • Reply 2 of 24
    shaminoshamino Posts: 527member
    Of course, the best way to keep a virtual machine secure is to not give it network access. Install your must-have-on-windows apps in the VM and do your web surfing from Mac apps.



    (Yes, I know that's not going to be possible for some people.)
  • Reply 3 of 24
    aaarrrggghaaarrrgggh Posts: 1,609member
    Doesn't seem like much of a value; I prefer to sandbox my VMs rather than have to run virus protection... Isn't this the reason most people switched to Macs? You eliminate the most buggy software in Windows-- the anti-virus programs!
  • Reply 4 of 24
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by aaarrrgggh View Post


    Doesn't seem like much of a value; I prefer to sandbox my VMs rather than have to run virus protection... Isn't this the reason most people switched to Macs? You eliminate the most buggy software in Windows-- the anti-virus programs!



    I thought Windows was the most buggy software in windows! LOL! God - I crack myself up!
  • Reply 5 of 24
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by EruIthildur View Post


    As a user of Parallels from early on, and a very active member of the community I look forward to the new toolset. I do hope they stay good on their promise of the official Leopard update being free... Now off to the Parallels site (AI was just the first tab of the bundle)



    So was I until I tried the free 30 day trial of VMware, it blows Parallels out of the park in every respect.
  • Reply 6 of 24
    aplnubaplnub Posts: 2,605member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by digitalclips View Post


    So was I until I tried the free 30 day trial of VMware, it blows Parallels out of the park in every respect.



    I am right there with you. We have been swapping all our installations over to VMWare Fusion. Parallels does some nutty stuff with no remorse for the end user.



    The start of the end was when I double clicked a Word file on my Mac and it started my VM in Parallels and loaded the document in MS Word for Windows inside my VM. I was livid.



    VMWare is more stable and mature and it is much younger than Parallels. I wish Parallels well but I for one am glad for Fusion.
  • Reply 7 of 24
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by aplnub View Post


    VMWare is more stable and mature and it is much younger than Parallels.



    How Mac-centric! VMware has been doing virtualisation for years on other

    platforms. It's a lot older than Parallels. It's that experience that makes Fusion so good.
  • Reply 8 of 24
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by nospamboz View Post


    How Mac-centric! VMware has been doing virtualisation for years on other

    platforms. It's a lot older than Parallels. It's that experience that makes Fusion so good.



    Yes exactly, that's what made me want to try it. They took longer to get to market with a Mac VM than Parallels and perhaps the extra time as well as that experience is why it feels so solid.
  • Reply 9 of 24
    Why is Cross Over not as popular as Parallels and Fusion? I can run windows apps without having to install windows.
  • Reply 10 of 24
    quillzquillz Posts: 209member
    It's a good offer, but seemingly would only add bloat to your virtual machine. But it doesn't really matter to me, as I use and prefer VMware Fusion.
  • Reply 11 of 24
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by shamino View Post


    Of course, the best way to keep a virtual machine secure is to not give it network access. Install your must-have-on-windows apps in the VM and do your web surfing from Mac apps.



    (Yes, I know that's not going to be possible for some people.)



    First, doesn't it open you up to all the nasties just by being there? I mean port probing and whatnot?



    Also, been meaning to ask this, do Parallels and Fusion keep Windows open the whole time, or only when you open an Windows app or window? It seems to me that it would have to be open all the time, with all the problems that entails for Windows users.



    Am I wrong on this?
  • Reply 12 of 24
    noahjnoahj Posts: 4,503member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by donebylee View Post


    First, doesn't it open you up to all the nasties just by being there? I mean port probing and whatnot?



    Also, been meaning to ask this, do Parallels and Fusion keep Windows open the whole time, or only when you open an Windows app or window? It seems to me that it would have to be open all the time, with all the problems that entails for Windows users.



    Am I wrong on this?



    You are part right. however you have the ability to not have any network connection at all on your vm, or even to activate it only long enough to do a few things and then turn it back off. Also, you do not have to run the vm all the time. If you don't need windows you can simply shut the vm off and only run it when you need it. There are lots of options.



    For me, the best option is to create your vm, get it to a perfect running state, take a snapshot of it, then use it. If it gets infected or starts to get buggy, revert to the snapshot and continue on. It will take you back to that perfect state in seconds and you can use the machine once more with no problems. If you install a program that you want to keep and the machine is still in good shape you can either take another snapshot or apply all the changes up to then and take a new snapshot. Like I said, lots of options. (I do all this under VMware, so i assume parallels works like this too.)
  • Reply 13 of 24
    i386i386 Posts: 91member
    I've used Parallels for over a year now, gone through many of it's crap betas. Now version 3.0 seems stable enough, there was times when it would just crash for no reasaon at all. This seems gone now. I use Parallels everyday for .NET development. (However Windows XP still will almost need a reboot every couple of days.)



    Two things, I'm not sure if Parallels supports cores like VMware does and other thing Parallels needs to be compressed using the utility every once and awhile. Don't know if this is Windows growing or Parallels.



    VMware interests me because seems to be more compatible with Ubuntu and other *nix images and VM distros. While parallels sucks at this.



    Is there an easy way to move a Parallel's VM to VMware ?
  • Reply 14 of 24
    jragostajragosta Posts: 10,473member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by digitalclips View Post


    So was I until I tried the free 30 day trial of VMware, it blows Parallels out of the park in every respect.



    I agree - with one exception. VMWare often stops my Mac from shutting down and forces me to manually quit the program. At least Parallels will properly close itself when you choose 'shut down' on the Mac.
  • Reply 15 of 24
    MarvinMarvin Posts: 15,309moderator
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by i386 View Post


    Two things, I'm not sure if Parallels supports cores like VMware does and other thing Parallels needs to be compressed using the utility every once and awhile. Don't know if this is Windows growing or Parallels.



    It's the disk image growing. It can't reclaim space easily so if you write say 1 GB onto your C drive then delete it, you won't get it back again until you compress the image. I would love a disk image format that did that - only use the space that the data is using and preferably have on-the-fly compression too.



    Quote:
    Originally Posted by i386 View Post


    Is there an easy way to move a Parallel's VM to VMware ?



    I didn't see a way to do this so I just installed Windows through VMWare again. It only takes about 30 minutes or so.



    One thing I don't like about Parallels is that when booting from Bootcamp, it allocates a huge chunk of drive space (1.5GB or so) and it requires the password to unmount the partition. Plus it seems slower running from Bootcamp than an image. Not sure if VMWare is the same.



    I still wish they'd come up with a way to run these VM solutions like Crossover. I know there are features like Unity and Coherence but it's not the same. The data is still isolated between systems. Crossover itself isn't good enough as it doesn't have the compatibility.



    What I'd like to see from a VM is simply a set of OS level extensions that run Windows apps transparently. It would act like the old classic used to do where the alternate system sits somewhere and when you load an app for the other system, it boots the VM layer automatically.



    A restore only takes a few seconds from a VM so it could be even faster than classic. For security, they could easily sandbox the software to only have read/write permissions to a certain folder but at least this folder wouldn't waste drive space and files could be easily moved to and from this folder so that both systems can use the files easily.
  • Reply 16 of 24
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by i386 View Post


    I've used Parallels for over a year now, gone through many of it's crap betas. Now version 3.0 seems stable enough, there was times when it would just crash for no reasaon at all. This seems gone now. I use Parallels everyday for .NET development. (However Windows XP still will almost need a reboot every couple of days.)



    Two things, I'm not sure if Parallels supports cores like VMware does and other thing Parallels needs to be compressed using the utility every once and awhile. Don't know if this is Windows growing or Parallels.



    VMware interests me because seems to be more compatible with Ubuntu and other *nix images and VM distros. While parallels sucks at this.



    Is there an easy way to move a Parallel's VM to VMware ?



    Yes, they have an additional utility which migrates it on the VM web site.
  • Reply 17 of 24
    MacProMacPro Posts: 19,718member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by jragosta View Post


    I agree - with one exception. VMWare often stops my Mac from shutting down and forces me to manually quit the program. At least Parallels will properly close itself when you choose 'shut down' on the Mac.



    I have not see that so far on the MacBook which is running 10.5.1. However on my G5, nothing to do with virtualization obviously, many applications are refusing to close without a forced quit recently. I am thinking 10.5.2 might fix this.



    By the way does anyone know if has VMWare got the ability to run early Mac OSs or are they considering it (I mean OS 9 and earlier)? It would be neat to have the ability to play some old Mac games again.
  • Reply 18 of 24
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by NoahJ View Post


    You are part right. however you have the ability to not have any network connection at all on your vm, or even to activate it only long enough to do a few things and then turn it back off. Also, you do not have to run the vm all the time. If you don't need windows you can simply shut the vm off and only run it when you need it. There are lots of options.



    For me, the best option is to create your vm, get it to a perfect running state, take a snapshot of it, then use it. If it gets infected or starts to get buggy, revert to the snapshot and continue on. It will take you back to that perfect state in seconds and you can use the machine once more with no problems. If you install a program that you want to keep and the machine is still in good shape you can either take another snapshot or apply all the changes up to then and take a new snapshot. Like I said, lots of options. (I do all this under VMware, so i assume parallels works like this too.)



    So, if I'm following you, the VM is not active unless you open it? And you can give it internet access on the fly and then easily turn it off again?



    If that's true, I am more interested in a VM solution than I was. I was concerned about having to buy RAM that would, in essence, be for Windows only in a VM set-up. I need Windows about 2-3 times a week, not everyday, or often enough to justify the cost of Fusion and RAM.



    I had thought that Boot Camp was the better route for me, but if a VM solution can be easily turned on and off, releasing the RAM when not in use, then that would be a lot more convenient.
  • Reply 19 of 24
    pbpb Posts: 4,255member
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by digitalclips View Post


    By the way does anyone know if has VMWare got the ability to run early Mac OSs or are they considering it (I mean OS 9 and earlier)? It would be neat to have the ability to play some old Mac games again.



    As of November 26, no. The problem is that instruction translation needs to take place, like in the VirtualPC days (x86-to-PowerPC), but conversely now (PowerPC-to-x86).



    I remember having read somewhere that there are other solutions letting you run old Mac OS versions on Intel. I never tried anything in that direction. But it is true that it would be nice to have all your virtual machines running through the same application. But after seeing the list of guest OS under VMware, I am not holding my breath to see one day support for older Mac OS. In no way this could justify the development cost.
  • Reply 20 of 24
    Quote:
    Originally Posted by donebylee View Post


    First, doesn't it open you up to all the nasties just by being there? I mean port probing and whatnot?



    Not if there isn't any virtual network hardware. Any VM solution (unless it is totally brain-dead) gives you the option to configure what virtual hardware will exist and what will not exist. If you configure the VM to not have any network interfaces, then there will be no network connectivity - regardless of whether Windows opens up ports or not.



    It's just like my Windows PC. I normally leave the Ethernet wire completely disconnected (everything I use that computer for runs off of the hard drive and is installed from CD), only occasionally hooking it up just long enough to update my virus scanner and pull down system patches. There's no way any malware can get in when the wire is disconnected, unless it came on some CD I purchased. (And the firewall in my router provides protection during those times when I connect the wire.)

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by donebylee View Post


    Also, been meaning to ask this, do Parallels and Fusion keep Windows open the whole time, or only when you open an Windows app or window? It seems to me that it would have to be open all the time, with all the problems that entails for Windows users.



    The VM is launched and terminated like any other application. You can choose to leave it running all the time, but that's your choice. You can also shut down Windows and quit it (or suspend it to disk) when you're not running Windows apps.

    Quote:
    Originally Posted by diskimage View Post


    Why is Cross Over not as popular as Parallels and Fusion? I can run windows apps without having to install windows.



    CrossOver's application compatibility is pretty spotty. Go look at their compatibility list. Be sure to click on the radio button "show all applications" so you don't only see the ones they officially support. There's a lot of stuff that doesn't work, or has a "bronze" rating. (For example, only MS Office 97 and 2000 have a "gold" rating. XP is silver and 2003 is bronze. 2007 is known not to work.)



    If you or your business depend on Windows apps, you really have to run the app on a real copy of Windows, whether natively booted or running in a VM.
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