Of interest to us is that they took a look at running Parallels Desktop 6 on the MacBook Airs and using the Parallels WorldBench as one of the benchmarks, with the results for the Multitasking tests posted.

The 11-inch MacBook Air (2011 model) with the Core i7 upgrade (available only through the online Apple Store) saw a 25% increase in the Parallels WorldBench benchmarks versus the normal Core i5. The Core i7 upgrade for the 11-inch model costs $150.

With the 13-inch MacBook Air (2011 model), the $100 Core i7 upgrade only saw a 10% increase in the Parallels WorldBench benchmark.

Parallels Worldbench Benchmarks (lower is better)

2011 11-inch MacBook Air with 1.8GHz Core i7: 331
2011 11-inch MacBook Air with 1.6GHz Core i5: 443
Mid 2010 11-inch MacBook Air with 1.4GHz Core 2 Do: 640

2011 13-inch MacBook Air with 1.8GHz Core i7: 325 Parallels WorldBench
2011 13-inch MacBook Air with 1.7GHz Core i5: 361
Mid 2010 13-inch MacBook Air with 1.86GHz Core 2 Duo: 475

If you look at the full article, the update in graphics chipsets from the NVIDIA graphics to the Intel HD 3000 graphics was possibly a step back in some areas, but the CPU updates are definitely a major upgrade. Now obviously everything shouldn’t be based on how well VM software runs, whether it’s Parallels Desktop or VMWare Fusion, and with the 11-inch MacBook Air, you don’t have much screen real estate to begin with, but there are plenty of people who need VM software for a few tasks here and there, and the 11-inch MacBook Air has definitely come a very long way and is a very suitable machine.

Do keep in mind that the MacBook Air’s Thunderbolt port is apparently only able to handle one external display. On the other hand, given the lack of space on the MacBook Airs (64GB – 128GB standard on the 11-inch MBAs), Thunderbolt is fast enough that you could store your VM sessions on an external drive accessed through the Thunderbolt interface.

Now whether the Core i7 updates, costing $150 for the 11-inch model or $100 for the 13-inch model, are worth it is hard to say. Macworld has not published battery benchmarks either. My take is that it’s worth the cost, especially on the 11-inch MacBook Air. From a long term point of view, it’s worth it if you plan on using it for a few years and then upgrading to a newer model – the resale value will be much higher with the Core i7.

Full article: Macworld

SWsoft, the company that makes the popular Parallels virtualization software for Apple Macintoshes, is preparing an encore for Apple servers, The VAR Guy hears. The move could provide customers with an innovative solution for running Windows, Mac OS and Linux side by side on a departmental or small business server. And that could give Apple server sales a boost.

Rarely has a company “out innovated” Apple on its own platforms. But the existing Parallels Desktop for Mac is widely considered a better solution than Apple’s own Boot Camp software for running Windows and Mac OS X on Apple hardware. Those in the know suspect SWsoft will have another hit on its hands when the company extends its software to departmental and small business servers.

* Fixed guest Win98 extensive CPU usage when in idle state.
* Updated bundled Kaspersky Internet Security package.

Update: Changes between Build 3186 and 3188.

These are minor updates that won’t affect many users.

This release consists of mainly bug fixes going back to the previous Release Candidates and introduces no new features since the final Release Candidate.

New and improved features added since the last Final Release/2.0:

* Parallels Coherence – Launch and run Windows applications directly from your Mac desktop!
* Parallels Transporter – Migrate your entire real Windows PC to your new Mac, without reinstalling Windows or any applications!
* Wide OS support – Including full compatibility with OS X “Leopard” and support for Windows Vista
* Shared Networking – Seamlessly connect your virtual machines to the internet without any manual network reconfiguration
* USB 2.0 support – “Plug and play” popular USB 2.0 devices like printers, scanners, and external hard drives, and use them at full native speed!
* Installation Assistant built-in tool included – Now installing Windows on a Mac takes just 3 easy steps. It’s even easier than installing it on a PC!
* Drag and Drop – Drag and drop files and folders of any size between OS X and Windows
* Graphic performance support – Start taking advantages of using Intel’s Virtualization Technology that drives rock solid stability and blazingly fast performance
* Boot Camp Support – Use a Windows XP Boot Camp partition as a virtual hard disk in Parallels Desktop for Mac
* Improved Shared Folders performance – Open folders and files faster, and transfer data across OSes with almost zero lag

Changes/Updates (From Parallels.com):
PLEASE REMEMBER: this is Release Candidate software. While this build gives you the rough understanding of the final set of features to be available in Final Release later on, it is still a “Candidate” and thus is still not recommended for production use. Do backup your virtual machines before trying them with this build (from Parallels.com)

* Windows Vista Upgrade support added. If you’re planning to upgrade your Windows XP installation to Vista, shut down your guest OS and go to Actions->Prepare Windows Vista Upgrade… menu item. Parallels Desktop will tune your Virtual Machine and start it. All you need to do is to wait till Windows XP is loaded, insert Windows Vista CD and start the upgrade.

* Global Sharing option is now disabled by default. We believe the feature has received enough testing already. From now on, you make the decision to enable real drag-and-drop or not. The new behavior is :
** On your first drag and drop attempt you will be prompted to choose whether you’d like to enable Global/Local sharing or just copy the file to Windows.

* The difference between Global and Local sharing are:
**Global Sharing – shares the whole Mac filesystem.
**Local Sharing – shares only your Home folder(a nice enhancement request we had received from beta testers.)
NOTE! Global sharing is forcibly disabled for all existing RC1 and RC2 installations upon RC3 upgrade.
* USB fixes. Both stability fixes and new devices support. Feel free to check your favorite device with RC3 and report to us if it still doesn’t work (beta@parallels.com).
* Mac OS X 10.5 “Leopard” experimental support. The best virtualization solution for Mac is now available for early Leopard adopters.
* And many other fixes…

Download here at Parallels.com

Excerpt:

If you care about running Windows on a Mac, you’ve undoubtedly heard that the end user license agreement (EULA) for Windows Vista Home Basic and Home Premium forbids you to use these versions of Microsoft’s latest operating system release with virtualization software—software that allows you to run operating systems other than the Mac OS in a windowed environment within the Mac OS. Such virtualization software includes the popular Parallels Desktop for Mac. What the reports on this matter don’t reveal is whether this is simply a legal restriction or also a technical one….
Cutting briefly to the chase, Vista Home Premium installed perfectly well. Once it was up and running I noticed that the Aero effect was nowhere to be seen—Parallels simply couldn’t emulate the kind of graphic card/power necessary to make it work. I then asked Vista to install the latest Vista updates—something I understood to be a problem for others who tried it.

Vista Home Premium running on a Mac via the latest Parallels Desktop beta

No problem. Vista downloaded the updates, installed them, I restarted, and everything continued to work.

Release Notes/Information from Parallels.com
PLEASE REMEMBER: this is a Release Candidate software. While this build gives you the rough understanding of the final set of features to be available in Final Release later on, it is still a “Candidate” and thus is still not recommended for production use. Do backup your virtual machines before trying them with this build.

This build provides several very important fixes to the problems found in previous Betas and Release candidate:

* The widest list of fixes are USB ones. Web cameras including iSight should work fine since now. Many other devices reported by beta-testers should work as well.
* Another wide list of fixes and improvements are Boot Camp fixes.
* Since RC2 it is possible to utilize Boot Camp partition installed not on the same disk as Mac OS X is.
* Many BSOD conditions are fixed.
* For advanced users it is now possible to edit Boot Camp partitions configurations via VM’s .pvs configuration file (check this thread for details http://forum.parallels.com/post42129-1.html).

* Several Coherence improvements:
* Windows’ Start menu is now shown if one clicks Parallels Desktop icon in Dock if user has his “Show Windows Taskbar” option set to off
* VM now remembers if it was last shut down in Coherence mode and starts in it next time
* Clicking on Windows application on Mac now starts VM in Coherence mode with selected application.

* Stability fixes – lots of segmentation fault (Parallels Desktop window closes unexpectedly) conditions are now fixed;
* The nasty memory leak found in live screenshot in dock feature is now fixed.
* And many other fixes…

Several important known issues:
* Mouse pointer may disappear during Parallels Tools upgrade. To have it reappear, right-click your mouse or uncapture and capture again the keyboard input
* Parallels Tools setup does not autostart in Windows NT guest OS. You should manually start the tools installation process.
* Windows 98 does not restart if the process is initiated within guest OS. You should manually restart it.
* Aggressive connecting/disconnecting of multiple USB devices may result in guest BSOD or segmentation fault.
* Some USB devices don’t work yet.

Release Notes:
PLEASE REMEMBER: this is a Release Candidate software. While this build gives you the rough understanding of the final set of features to be available in Final Release later on, it is still a “Candidate” and thus is still not recommended for production use. Do backup your virtual machines before trying them with this build.

This build introduces a new feature and provides several very important fixes to the problems found in previous Betas:

* The widest list of fixes is USB ones! Web cameras should be working since this build. A number of other devices reported non-working by beta-testers in previous builds should work now as well. The known issues list is below:

* iSight doesn’t work yet. You will notice it sending data, but no picture available
* Several other web cameras won’t work with similar symptoms;
* Logitech web cameras are reported not to work with drivers pack versions 10.4 and 10.5;
* Connecting USB 1.1 and USB 2.0 devices to VM simultaneously will most probably lead to both of them not working;
* Some Palm devices will still not to work.

* True “Drag and Drop” functionality – a long awaited feature that lets you seamlessly drag and drop files and folders from Windows to Mac OS X and vice versa. Parallels Desktop now shares the entire Mac file structure between OS X and Windows – no more worrying about which copy of the file is the most recently updated!
* If, for some reason, you need to return to previous “Drag and Drop” implementation, just enter VM Configuration Editor, select Shared Folders and uncheck the “Enable Global Sharing for drag-and-drop” option.
* Stability fixes – lots of segmentation fault (Parallels Desktop window closes unexpectedly) conditions are now fixed – thanks to everyone for reporting those!
* The nasty bug with Suspend/Resume and invalid windows areas handling while in Coherence is now gone.
* And many other less evident fixes…

Please heed the notice at the bottom of the release notes concerning upgrading.

Release Notes:
This beta does not introduce any new functionality, but provides several very important fixes to the problems found in previous Betas:

* Coherence now handles “round” windows like Windows Media Player or Winamp correctly.
* Fullscreen and Coherence mode on secondary monitor fixed.
* Guest pixel size calculation was fixed – applications like MS Access or MS PowerPoint should handle graphs correctly.
* Guest Linux screen resolutions in 24 bit mode fixed.
* Possiblity to switch off Command+ZXCV mapping or swap Control and Command keys introduced (the feature was requested by a number of beta-testers)
* Several USB 2.0 fixes – more bulk devices to work since now. The work on web cameras and other isochronous devices is still in progress.
* And many others…

* VERY IMPORTANT! Beta1 (build 3036) users must boot natively into Boot Camp and uninstall Parallels Tools for Boot Camp prior to running it in Beta3 (build 3106).

NEW! Transporter Beta3 bundled – migrate your real Windows PC, or existing VMware or Virtual PC VMs to Parallels virtual machines! Learn more about Transporter Beta3 >>

* IMPORTANT! Beta1 users MUST upgrade their Transporter package on their Windows source machine before using Transporter in Beta3. Failing to do so may result in a system crash and loss of data

# NEW! Added keyboard remapping configuration