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Parallels Desktop 5 has just been released, it’s faster, packed with more features…

Now I guess for those that are unaware what this product really does, basically: with Parallels Desktop you can create a virtual drive on your Apple Computer to run Any Windows Operating system (XP, Vista, Windows) this will allow you to use the Programs, such as Microsoft Office, (Word, Excel, PowerPoint if your used to Windows view rather then Macs) and any other program this is provided by Microsoft that isn’t on Mac.

Screen shot 2009-11-04 at 20.54.19

I use Parallels Desktop 4 myself and find it excellent, it brings the simplicity of Mac into the Windows environment, if you have any files on your mac desktop and you want a program in Windows to edit them just simply click drag and drop to the Windows Desktop.

I must admit that I did have some trouble with Vista and getting that to work well, but nothing to sweat about, a few un-ticks here and a few changes there, now it works perfectly.

If like me you have a Macbook, or Macbook Pro, I would purchase an external Hard drive to store the .pvm file. (which is the actual virtual partitions)

Below is a few new additions Parallels 5.0 provides.

  • Copy & Paste fidelity for formatted text and complete layouts including images, even between Windows and Linux guest OSs.
  • Freedom and flexibility to run Windows and Mac applications across multiple monitors.
  • 7 times better graphic performance for games and 3D applications than the previous version with Direct X 9Ex with Shader Model 3 and OpenGL 2.1 support.
  • Superior graphics performance for Linux guests through OpenGL 2.1 support.
  • Full hardware resources can be utilized with support for 8 virtual CPUs, 64 bit Windows and Snow Leopard Server 64 bit.
  • Easily move PCs (including Windows 7) and 3rd party virtual machines to the Mac  with the enhanced Parallels Transporter.

I know, allot of techno babble but trust me Parallels Desktop works well if you need to use Microsoft products that aren’t provided on Mac.

All this for £59 (£34.99 Upgrade)