AppleInsider has taken a close look at a few features of the upcoming Parallels Desktop 4, which will be Parallels’ answer to the latest release of VMware Fusion 2.0.
“Those aware of the changes say the new release will be Parallels’ first to make good on promise made in early January that it would enable virtualization of Mac OS X Server on Macs already running the operating system, making use of a change in licensing terms with Leopard’s release late last year that permits more than one copy to run at the same time.
Such features have been frequently requested by IT administrators, who on Linux and Windows have already been able to segregate individual apps away from the main operating system in the event of a crash or a security breach.”
Ars Technica adds:
“Desktop 4’s performance will also be beefed up by adding DirectX 9 and OpenGL 2 support, an improved virtualization engine, and support for multiple cores and more RAM.
A makeover for the new version of Parallels Desktop is also in the cards, including a redesigned and simplified interface and more Terminal-based controls. In addition, the team is working on improving the ACPI interface (used for shutdowns and sleeping), and should be adding virtual machine resizing and 64-bit support. Based on those features, the software shouldn’t have a hard time catching up to Fusion, but I hope the team has something else waiting in the wings.”