Parallels Desktop – Build 1898 (Mac Pro/iMac Core 2 Duo) – Vista

They’ve just made available a new Parallels Desktop build for Mac Pro/iMac Core 2 Duo users, that includes support for Microsoft Windows Vista:

We have just made available a new build (1898) for Desktop for Mac that substantially improves Mac Pro and 64-bit iMac performance and eliminates kernel panics and major bugs.

For those users who have Mac Pros and 64-bit iMacs with more than 2GB of RAM, you’ve had to manually limit your RAM via the command line in Terminal. In this build, we’ve included a tool that will help you take this action without any command line coding. With a single click you can limit your RAM and make your Mac Pro fully compatible with this build. You can easily revert your memory back at any time to the full configuration with the same tool.

NOTE: Its very important to note that limiting your RAM configuration to run Parallels Desktop will NOT prevent you from running any other OS X application (although they may run slightly slower). It simply helps our hypervisor “play nice” with the Mac Pro.

Originally, I told you that we’d have full PAE support by year’s end. Now, I’m pleased to let you know that we are working on a new RC version that will be compatible with ANY Mac with ANY amount of RAM, and will have it much sooner than originally anticipated. The engineering team tells me that this build should be available in a week or two.

This build also adds support for Windows Vista RC1 as a guest OS, and adds an improved Parallels Tools package for all of the Vista builds that improves mouse movement, and video resolutions, and beefs up networking.

Thank you again to all of our loyal Desktop users and beta testers. Everyone here appreciates your feedback and your patience.

More information can be found in this thread.

It can be downloaded from here.

VMWare Virtualization for Mac OS X Announced

If you have been following virtualization on the Macintosh before now, you know that many have been expecting a VMWare solution for Mac OS X for quite some time. Today, VMWare made it official.

Some of the features:
- Guest OSes: Windows, Linux, NetWare and Solaris
- Runs multiple instances/OSes at the same time
- OS Virtual Images can be shared between different Primary OSes.
- Can run already existing “Virtual Appliances” (pre-built solutions)

You can sign up for the beta here.

Official Press Release at VMWare.com

VMware Announces New Product for Apple Mac OS X Users
New Intel-based Macs will be able to Simultaneously Run Mac OS X, Windows, Linux, NetWare and Solaris

SAN FRANCISCO and PALO ALTO, Calif., August 7, 2006 — VMware, Inc., the global leader in software for industry-standard virtualized desktops and servers, today announced a new product that will enable Intel-based Macs to run x86 operating systems, such as Windows, Linux, NetWare and Solaris, in virtual machines at the same time as Mac OS X. VMware will demo the product today during the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference 2006 in San Francisco.

“We are excited to bring our desktop platform product to Apple Macs. The demand for this has been unbelievable and it is clearly front and center for Mac users,” said Diane Greene, president of VMware. “VMware is in the business of providing the most advanced and robust virtualization platforms as well as phenomenal add-on functionality that leverages our virtualization platform. This announcement brings our desktop platform and add-on capabilities to Mac users, and it will allow them to run a wide variety of operating systems without rebooting. Mac users who also use the PC will be able to use this product to consolidate onto the Mac.”

The new Mac product is based on VMware’s robust and advanced virtualization technology, shipping for more than seven years and used by more than four million people today. Moving forward, virtual machines created with any of VMware’s products will run on Intel-based Macs and, similarly, non-Mac OS X virtual machines created with the new product will run on the latest versions of other VMware platform products.
Read more

Photos of WWDC 2006 Banners Posted

Photos of the Moscine Center, San Francisco where the Apple Worldwide Developer’s Conference is being held have been posted on flickr.

Of note is the very prominent “64 bit” icon on the main banner.

These come via one digital life.

Rumors: Apple to Move Quickly to Merom/Core 2 Duo

AppleInsider is reporting that Apple is going to move quickly to Merom-based systems. Merom, as you know, is the mobile version of Intel’s Core 2 Duo CPU.

Quote:

The Cupertino, Calif.-based company has seen its share of the US notebook market double to 12 percent since announcing its first Intel-based notebook, the MacBook Pro, back in January.

In the three-month period ending July 1st, Apple reported record-setting shipments of Mac systems, including nearly 800,000 notebooks — 75 percent of which the company estimated were Intel-based.

So far, the success of Apple’s Intel systems has hinged on a single line of processors, the 32-bit Core Duo series formerly code-named Yonah. But in recent weeks, Intel has rolled-out far more capable chips in its 64-bit line of Core 2 Duo processors, including a mobile variant known by its code-named Merom.

The news has lead to widespread speculation over precisely when and where the new mobile chips will take their seat in Apple’s product lines.

According to a source familiar with the Mac maker’s plans, the company is slated to receive mass shipments of the new Merom Core 2 Duo processors by the first week of September and plans to be amongst the first PC manufacturers to introduce systems based on the new chips.

Intel Woodcrest CPUs & Virtualization

There is an interesting article at Anandtech about Intel’s upcoming dual-core Xeon server chip, “Woodcrest”, which could find its way into the PowerMac G5′s successor as well as Xserve setups.

This was an interesting little comment made by the Anandtech writers:

While we were there we were presented with the normal marketing hoorah, what product launch is without that? But we also had some quite interesting presentations like Virtualization, and where Intel sees that market going (it’s going sky-high for those that haven’t been keeping up with it).

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