A Time for Giving Thanks

It's that time of year and Parallels wants to take the opportunity to stand up and say some very, very important thank yous.

Let me start by explaining that recently there has been some media pick up focusing on selective comments in our forums from some unhappy customers following the launch of Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac. To date, over 100,000 copies of the new version have been downloaded - thank you to everyone who has supported us.  We're very disappointed though that some people aren't having a great experience and we are working hard to try to address the issues. Huge thanks to anyone who has provided feedback or is working with the support or development teams. While we hope our customers will only have a positive experience, any critical feedback enables us to identify and work on areas for improvement. I hope we have already solved the problems you were experiencing and you are now having a good experience with version 4, but to anyone still experiencing problems, we apologize and thank you for your patience while we help to solve any issues you may have.

A question that I have been asked a few times is whether we properly tested Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac. We did. In fact it was extensively tested internally to begin with and then externally by several thousand users over a period of months, and before it was released to the market it was put through its paces in a battery of acceptance tests. Big thanks also to the beta testers. Unfortunately there are literally millions upon millions of permutations of computing environments, and as such, some users are experiencing problems we didn't encounter in the testing stage. We take this very seriously and are completely focused on addressing any issues reported, which is why we have already issues an update for version 4. This has addressed many of the issues we are hearing about, but we are continuing to work with any customers that are experiencing further problems to address them as quickly as possible, and to refine the product to ensure other users do not experience the same problems.

Despite this, there are still some very unhappy people in our forums at the moment. The complaints are being investigated at the top level of the company, with our CEO personally committed to solving user issues. That said, there are also numerous threads from customers expressing what a positive experience they are having; though Parallels' forums were created to enable people to ask questions or flag issues or make recommendations to other users, so by definition they will be largely populated by people talking about problems. We very much appreciate all our customer feedback: good or bad, we thank you and we take it all very seriously. To this end, and unlike our competitors in this space, we offer free email support at all times, and have made our telephone support free for anyone encountering problems with getting started with or upgrading to Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac. We sincerely hope that you will take advantage of these resources to inform us of any issues that you may have. Parallels proudly stands behind its products and we want to be able to effectively ensure that you have the best user experience with our products. All emails are currently being answered within 24 hours. For full information on our support options, pleas click here.

We recognize people are busy though, so for customers who would rather not pursue the support path and find a resolution to the problem, a full refund is available for up to 30 days after purchase from our website, or up to 90 days after purchase of a boxed copy. For a refund, please click here.

For any other inquiries relating to this matter, you can contact me directly.

Time to get the turkey in the oven.  From everyone at Parallels we offer you many thanks and wish you Happy Holidays!

Between Now and the Next 122 Years

In the year 2130, fission-powered zeppelins will roam the skies. In that time, the cyborgs who inhabit this planet shall invent an early-November holiday to make up for that intolerably huge gap between Halloween and Thanksgiving.

During this holiday, the Master Control Program and his followers shall celebrate two of man's greatest achievements - both of which took place during the month of November 2008:

-The election of a new United States President

-The release of Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac

And the holiday shall be called "ObamaParallels_Day_00000001."

The response for Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac has been amazing, we have a great community out there - thank you all for your support (XOXO). If there are any internet nomads out there searching for a decent place to post comments (being related to Parallels, related to your dog, related to whatever) then you are most welcome to do so either in response to this blog, on our official forums, or on our Facebook and MySpace pages. Take your pick.

As amazing as we are, though, there are one or sixy-five questions I'd like to answer for our faithful fans; first of which being Parallels Mobile, a seperately available application used to start, stop and suspend your Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac VM remotely with an iPhone. This application is ready for use. It's simply unavailable from Apple's App Store until it's reviewed and published. We're currently waiting on that process and when it gets done, Parallels Mobile will be free for everyone to download and, as stated, usable to help manage Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac.

For those out there with an immediate urge to test drive Parallels Mobile, send me an e-mail at Leto@Parallels.com with your iPhone's UDID number (which can be looked up in iTunes) and we'll get you a copy pronto.

Secondly, there has been a wee bit of confusion as to whether Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac supports Intel VT-x2. 

Some of you out there just said "what the heck is a VT-x2?!"

Don't deny it, I heard you. I hear everything.

Simply put, Intel's VT-x2 (Virtualization Technology) is the second generation of virtualization technologies used in Intel CPU chipsets. Being incredibly new, not many CPUs on the market use this. For those that do, Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac will run faster because of it. It's one of multiple factors in making Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac up to 50% faster than Desktop 3.0 for Mac, which already utilized the previous generation: Intel VT-x set.

For anybody in need of some extra help running, learning, or writing about Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac, go to our resource page where you'll find more information than you ever wanted to know about our software. There are also some really shiny feature highlights over at our ParallelsTV channel on YouTube. Keep your eye on that channel, there's still plenty more to see.

...And There Was Much Rejoicing

 

Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac is now OUT! And by "OUT" I mean "IN".... stores!

Now, I'm just a simple sandwich man (read: "Blogger"), but for the purposes of this particular blog I feel qualified to speak for the entire Parallels team, and it's because when talking about Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac, you'll get the same answer from each of my co-workers:

We're extremely proud of this product. We've been waiting for its release for a long time, we've been waiting to tug our suspenders and brag about it for a long time, and we're ever-so excited now that it has launched. The reason for all the excitement is simple; it's quality work. Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac is easy, fast and powerful. It not only trumps our own previous software and that of our competitors, but it exceeds many previous expectations of what virtual machines are capable of.

We took our time developing Parallels Desktop 4.0 and tested each feature several times over (with much help from our generous beta testers). Time well spent. You don't just go out and sell fission-powered roller-skates without testing them first; someone will get vaporized. Okay, it's a lengthy process, but our end result is an awesome virtual machine program built on a brand new engine. We took the best things people loved about Desktop 3.0 and designed 4.0 with those in mind, plus some sweet extra features; designed to utilize the most up-to-date hardware, and protected by the best software.

If Iron Man were a Mac application, he'd be Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac. I'm serious, just think about it. He's smart, fast, and powerful. He has a hundred useful gadgets, and he protects people from harm... and he shoots lasers... just like Parallels.

Ah yes, now that the software is out in stores, there is going to be so much to talk about. There are so many features; I'm not sure whether I should rant about the optimization of our Power Saver, which now gives a 20-30% increase in laptop battery life, or rave about our built-in voice recognition. Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac has faster and more stable application support, better device recognition, better hard drive management for repartitioning, better 3D graphics support... Not to mention the free Kaspersky virus protection.

I'll tell you what, here's the product feature page for the new version. Beautiful isn't it? Now go try Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac out for yourself and tell us what you like the best. After all, our best features began as suggestions made by Parallels fans in the first place. When you get back from playing with the new toy, come back here and I'll have written an entire novel.

I'll title it: The Machine That Thought it Was Two

Who approved this ad?!

With Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac right around the corner, the team has put together a little spoof for those watching around the web. It has been added to quite a few video sites out there, and if you think it's funny, feel free to post your remarks either here or in the comments area for the video itself.

So without further ado, the Parallels team presents:

MAN'S GREATEST ACHIEVEMENT!

Links:

http://www.youtube.com/user/ParallelsTV

LiveVideo
Viddler
iFilm / Spike
Crackle
Truveo
Howcast

Enjoy!

Scared? Insecure? NEVER!

Happy Halloween!

… And for those of you who don’t celebrate Halloween, happy last-Friday-of-the-month!

It can still be a spooky last-Friday-of-the-month, right? Even without celebrating Halloween. Spooky but happy, we can do that.

Speaking of spooky, and according to my sources, file insecurity is ulser-iffic!

After reading different articles around the web, it seems to me as though we have a rather wide range in views regarding data and Internet security. Some people are secure, some people are not. Some people think the Internet is great, and some people are too busy pulling their hair out, fearing that Internet Explorer is going to magically deliver their bank account numbers to homeless people on the other side of the planet.  No, these hairless people aren’t extremists; just extremely-scared-ists.

But we, on the other hand, are secure and sane humans, are we not?

Of course we are. We are Mac users and we can run Windows as safely as we can run OS X. We have free Kaspersky protection included with our Parallels Desktop software. That means any time you boot into Windows using Parallels Desktop for Mac, you won’t just benefit from running two operating systems at once, you’ll benefit from the full protection Kaspersky grants you against viruses, Trojans, worms and spyware by scanning all of your Internet traffic and stored files, including all e-mail attachments.

If that weren’t enough, Parallels Desktop also lets you take snapshots just in case you feel like tinkering with your Windows system. I’m sitting next to tech support right now and apparently a gentleman on the line thought it would be fun to install .NET Framework 3.0 during an electrical storm. Good news is:

    1) He survived the lightning.

    2) The Mac is still in one piece.

    3) He made a snapshot in Parallels Desktop last Monday.

Within 10 minutes he was as right as rain (minus the charged ions), all thanks to his snapshot restore.

Lastly, as many of you know our latest version, Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac, is in the works. I can’t tell you much about it right now, but let’s just say if the version 3.0 software package were the equivalent of a steel door of file security, the version 4.0 package is a steel door with a steel beam across it, and an eight foot tall Ogre guarding from the outside.

Yes, there’s even a doorbell for the trick-or-treaters.

The best is yet to come...

It's about two weeks since the competition launched their new version, and of course we've started to see reviews of it.  We all read them avidly - after all, we do have our own new version coming up and it's not for nothing we let them put theirs out first!  Indeed I did just twirl my moustache in a cunning and rather cavalier manner.

Of the reviews we see, the ones that have interested me most so far are comparisons of their new product with Parallels Desktop for Mac 3.0.  Last week, Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal published just such a piece and I found it pretty fascinating.

You see, the competition has been heavily pushing the message that they have incorporated 100 new features into their new version.  That sounds impressive, worrying for us even.  Yet Walt found maybe 5 features that aren't in Parallels Desktop for Mac 3.0.  5 out of 100 new features in a product that was launched two weeks ago compared to a product that was launched 15 months ago.

Maybe I missed something, but erm... does that not suggest that the other 95 features were all about playing catch up?  I'm obviously biased here, but really the implication to me is that for 15 months (since version 1 of their product launched at much the same time as the last version of Parallels Desktop) our product has had a LOT more to offer.

Now given that as I've already mentioned, we're working on a new version of Parallels Desktop for Mac, I don't think I'm giving too much of the game away to say we're probably also going to introduce a whole bunch of new features fairly soon.  As I say, I am biased, but it really seems clear to me that, as the saying goes, the best is yet to come...

 

Amazing Grace (Period)

To clarify, that's "grace period", not "grace.".   Clarification is in fact the name of the game today as it has been brought to my attention that the blogosphere and various Mac forums are alive with the question of whether big bad Parallels (us) plans to make all those poor innocent customers (you?) currently buying Parallels Desktop for Mac 3.0 pay for the next version when it comes out.

I'm slightly puzzled by this to be honest... it's not like we've been particularly secretive about it.  In fact, our good friend Apple has advertised it for us.  Perhaps the word just hasn't got around yet, or we've not made a loud enough noise about it.  In any case, let's correct that now.  [Drum roll please]

Any customers that have bought Parallels Desktop for Mac 3.0 from September 1st, 2008 automatically qualify for a free upgrade to version 4.0 when it ships.

Hopefully that's made it clearer, but please do let us know if you have any questions.

It's AMAZING that this was becoming so contentious really.  Oh OK, I admit it, that was a cheap shot just so I could use that title.

E-fficiency

I should apologize, I've let my blogging slide, and this after I promised I would write some posts on what issues and concerns are facing Mac users.  I haven't forgotten though - I've been asking around and getting as much feedback as possible, and what I'm hearing is pretty interesting.

One of the things people have always looked to technology for is greater efficiency.  I know, it's such a  horrendous buzzword now, particularly with financial and environmental pressures building, but hey much of the technological revolution and evolution I wrote about last time was driven by the desire to be more efficient.  At Parallels, we seem to talk about this topic a lot as virtualization offers far greater utilization from hardware, which is indeed much more efficient. 

Take me for example, I have two laptops: one is the snazzy little MacBook I am writing this on, and the other is the Windows-based laptop I used before I got the Mac.  Nothing wrong with it, in fact it has many a bell and whistle and has performed invaluable service during its time.  That said, since I got my MacBook and loaded it up with Parallels Desktop and Windows (XP of course), I haven't so much as started up my other laptop. 

The truth is that running two laptops is an unnecessary expense and hassle.  Charging both makes me feel like I can feel my carbon footprint swelling by the second and waiting for the PC to boot when I have everything I need already in front of me is a total waste of my time.  At the end of the day, efficiency for me is about convenience, and conveniently I am able to run Windows apps next to the Apple stuff I like with minimum fuss or cost.   

Well, I have got to thinking about this and looking at other ways people use software for efficiency.  I guess all software is designed to create some kind of convenience, but some more apparently so than others.  Some of my colleagues caught hold of this idea and we thought maybe people would be interested in a bundle of efficiency-oriented applications (try saying that 3 times very quickly.  Actually, don't, it isn't very efficient).

We're calling the package the Parallels Green Computing Bundle since greater efficiency in the way we use our electronic gadgetry can help us all save the planet.  Cue images of lone polar bears etc.  Oh OK, it's also cheaper.  Feel better?

The bundle offers 9 applications for just $50, a saving of about $250, which ain't bad.  As I say, the focus is really on convenience: time, cost and energy savings.  Here's what you get:

- Parallels Desktop for Mac

- MacScan

- Password Wallet

- MacExplorer

- Macaroni

- Drive-in

- PageSender

- Default Folder

- docXConverter

You can get all the details here.  The offer runs until September 30th, so you'd better act efficiently if you want in.

Technology: Revolution or Evolution?

Recently I've been seeing a lot about virtualization being this revolutionary technology that will completely change the way we use computers and it's got me wondering why there is often this expectation of technology. Perhaps I'm imaging it, but at times it seems as though the common consciousness is just waiting for some breakthrough technology that will completely change everything, revolutionizing the way people behave, interact and generally live their lives. Surely the revolution has already happened though - the Industrial Revolution (the clue was really in the name) - have you heard of it?

Actually, come to think of it, even that was a pretty slow process given the suggestion of incisiveness and explosiveness in its name. The thing is, technology doesn't tend to just appear overnight and create a sensational about-face in The Way Things Are Done. Rather it's an endless process of refinement and one good idea building on another, ironing out issues, improving on the steps taken before, until something that once seems ground-breaking can become utterly obsolete. Even if something arrives in a form that is a complete departure from what existed before, total adoption will never be rapid enough to represent an instant cultural coup.

That said, we can all think of numerous technologies that certainly seem to have changed the way things are done so completely that they must surely be described as revolutionary. For example, working in an office all day, I literally can't grasp how business got anything done without email, let along - gasp - without the telephone. No really, how? From what I can gather, it was a matter of burning barely enough coal to keep the employees from hypothermia (or a really nasty cold) while they sat around and waited for a carrier pigeon to turn up.

Even these technologies were continually evolving though, and adoption was a process, not an over-night phenomenon.  Now virtualization is being hailed as the next revolutionary technology, transforming the way we use computers, setting the Earth on a collision course with the Sun and bringing about the total destruction of our galaxy. OK, maybe that's not exactly what the industry analysts are saying, but you get the gist. It may not be as big as the telephone or the Internet, but many industry commentators reckon it will result in a mighty big change in the way we use computers, and not just the ones in our employ. Commentators I mean, not computers.

Maybe I shouldn't be flippant; perhaps for some virtualization has already transformed the way they do things.  I'm sitting here writing this on my MacBook after all; something I would never have been able to get had it not been for software like Parallels Desktop for Mac addressing the Apple/ Windows compatibility issue. That's a big change, and very cool even if I do say so myself, but it's hardly revolutionary.  Rather, Apple took the evolutionary step of making their computers Intel-based, refining and building on what they already had.

Parallels responded to this development with software that directly addressed  a user problem: incompatibility between platforms.  This again was developing the capabilities of technology and by extension, the way  it is used. Macs now see far greater traction in the enterprise than ever before; in fact, new figures from Forrester Research show that Apple's share of the corporate OS market has almost quadrupled in the past 18 months. Again, this is not a revolution - heads at Microsoft won't be rolling (though there may be some short haircuts) - but it is an interesting development given that Microsoft recently announced it will spend $300m in ads for Vista to challenge Apple's growing influence.

The great thing about "evolution, not revolution" is that it doesn't stand still. It's a continual shift, and ongoing mission - as the saying goes; "A journey of a thousand miles begins with the first step". For technology companies like us, continued development is our responsibility to our customers and also the key to perhaps finding new customers. Evolving the product line is a necessity to stay in business and keep up with your peers (just ask VMware, they'll tell you), and it is imperative if we are going to continue to meet customer needs.

It's common knowledge that we're working on the next version of Parallels Desktop for Mac, though our lips are sealed about what's coming up. I like to be mysterious... you can imagine me twirling my mustache, but I'm not confirmed whether or not I have one. Mysterious indeed.

You can rest assured though that our development is aimed at evolving the product to meet evolving customer needs and concerns. We set up our forum so people could tell us what they are looking for, what improvements they are after, what problems they are facing. I'm extending the invitation here. Tell us what's bothering you or what you want to see. Are you frustrated that you can't play the games you want? Is security something that worries you? Do you just want everything as super-speedy as possible? I'll be continuing along this theme with a regular series of posts on common issues I'm hearing about. Watch this space.

Parallels Server for Mac Update

There is a new update for Parallels Server for Mac!  Parallels Server for Mac Update (Build 2173) provides fixes for the following known issues to improve the performance (remember – these are fixed): 

• Kernel panic when playing sound inside a Mac OS X VM with two virtual CPUs.
  Non-responsive mouse and keyboard during the installation of Mac OS X Server guest OS.
• Crash on boot from hard disk drive after exiting PXE boot (from Acronis PXE server).
• PANIC @38.3 (access to monitor space) when booting Mac OS X VM with 8 GB RAM.
• Cannot delete the VM folder via prlctl after starting or stopping the VM.
• The dispatcher service stops responding when stopping or shutting down a VM if one of the running VMs is in invalid state.
• Parallels Management Console crashes after closing it on certain Mac OS X hosts.
• Unable to switch between VMs being in full screen from Mac OS X Dock.

This new update is available here and through the Check Updates function within the Preference option in the Parallels Management Console.  Please note that Build 2173 is in English only.