VMWare’s competitor, Parallels, has just released 4.0 of their Virtualization product. It is a Mac only product, but many Windows users (like me) only use Windows in a virtual environment on a Mac.
From Parallels, here is a list of new features:
Redesigned User Interface – provides quick access to all virtual machines. Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac also improves upon earlier iterations by introducing support for video boosters such as DirectX 9, DirectX Pixel Shader 2.0, and OpenGL 2.0.
New Virtualization Engine – Called the adaptive hypervisor, it consumes 15 to 30 percent less resources than previous versions. “The adaptive hypervisor gives our users the resources they need on the fly,” said John Hermes, chief technology officer at Oklahoma Christian University.
Power-saver Feature – it reduces the platform’s drain on battery life by up to 20 percent. The new platform is also specifically designed to take advantage of the capabilities inherent in the latest dual-core and quad-core processors from Intel.
Security and backup – A complete set of antivirus, firewall, scanner, recovery, filtering and identity protection capabilities powered by Kaspersky Internet Security. Even better, the new platform now embraces the latest backup and restore capabilities from disk-management software provider Acronis.
I am downloading a trial right now to take it for a spin…here is the download location for those who are interested:
http://www.parallels.com/download/