Parallels

VirtualBox receives major update

It's no secret you can run various flavors of Windows on Intel Macs using Apple's Bootcamp or other popular virtualization software options like Parallels Desktop and VMware Fusion. Any of these work great if you need to run Windows software on your Mac or even test beta software worry free, but a fairly recent discovery of mine might be a better choice. VirtualBox is the free, cross-platform, open-source virtualization software I used to get the Windows 7 beta running on a Mac, and it just received a major update.

VirtualBox 3.0 (Windows or Mac) lets you create … Read more

The virtualized client is coming

LAS VEGAS--The Day One keynotes at Citrix Synergy 2009 were about users and desktops. Today was nominally about data centers and clouds--of which there were a variety of announcements. However, Citrix's XenClient ("Project Independence") loomed large as well.

Of the products discussed on stage, XenClient is perhaps furthest from being a fully realized product. But is also offers an intriguing window into how the PC as we know it is likely to fundamentally change over the coming years.

XenClient is a "Type 1" native hypervisor that sits on a PC and hosts one or more … Read more

Webware Radar: Google adds third-party ad widgets to DoubleClick

Adgregate Markets, a company that allows users to access advertisements through banner widgets, has signed a deal with Google DoubleClick, the company announced Tuesday. The company's ShopAds widget, which displays ads and sale information on a Web page in place of a banner, is now available to all Google DoubleClick users. Whenever a user views the widget and sees something they'd like to buy, they can click on the ad in the widget and automatically "add it to the cart." They can then buy the product without leaving the page they're on.

Neither Adgregate Markets … Read more

Nothing But Software has the Parallels Desktop for Mac for $44.49, after $35.50 savings.

Save $35.5 on the Parallels Desktop for Mac from Nothing But Software >> Regular price is $79.99 >> Sale price is $44.49 >> Savings $35.5 (44.38%) >> Click here for deal

Supercomputing wrap-up

At some point during the flight over the Pacific from Tokyo, I seriously questioned my decision to take a detour rather than heading straight to Boston and home. It wasn't that I had no interest in attending the Supercomputing show, SC08, being held in Austin last week. It's just that I was coming off of what was already a two-week trip to Japan. However, Supercomputing has been getting more and more buzz in recent years--and I hadn't been able to attend previously because of conflicts--so duty beckoned.

I was glad I made it. It was an immensely … Read more

Performance key to new Parallels Desktop for Mac

Parallels has released the newest edition of its virtualization software for the Mac, promising dramatic performance improvements for those running both Windows and Mac OS on their systems.

Parallels Desktop for Mac 4.0 is 50 percent faster than the older version and has "silenced our critics with regards to performance," according to Parallels' Rawee Kambhiranond. The software allows Mac users to run Mac OS X and Windows side by side on their desktop, without having to reboot to switch between the two operating systems as enabled by Apple's Boot Camp technology.

Version 4.0 brings the … Read more

A rock star tries to understand his world-famous physicist Dad

I'm not in the habit of watching PBS or science programs. I am not smart enough and I'm always afraid PBS will ask me for money.

However, last night, as part of its Nova series, PBS showed an extraordinary documentary entitled Parallel Worlds, Parallel Lives. It featured, Mark Everett, better known as E, the lead singer of the indie/alternative/just plain very, very good band EELS.

As a child, his father didn't talk to him very much. He didn't hug him at all. In fact, pretty much the first time Mark had any physical contact … Read more

Migrating and resizing a Boot Camp partition

Monday, I wrote about the process of upgrading the hard disk on my Apple MacBook Pro, and the as-yet unsolved problem of migrating the 20GB Boot Camp partition on the old hard disk--along with its Windows Vista installation--to a 32GB partition on the new drive. (See "Another new hard disk...and an unsolved problem.")

Well, it's all working now. As I've always said about the Mac, most things are either easy or impossible...and this one turned out to be easy.

My thanks to my friend EDN senior technical editor Brian Dipert who provided half of … Read more

The Real Deal 112: Virtualization

Tom describes what virtualization is, and what his experiences with it have been. Listen now: Download today's podcast