Parallels Improves Mac OS X Leopard Compatibility, Windows XP & Windows Vista Performance with New Beta Version
Company Celebrates Leopard Launch with Apple Gift Card Promotion for New and Existing Customers
RENTON, Wash. - October 29th, 2007 - Parallels, Inc., has released a new beta version of its award-winning Parallels Desktop for Mac, the world's leading desktop virtualization product, that is certified to work with Mac OS X "Leopard", delivering better performance and enhanced usability when running both Windows Vista and XP on a Mac. The new build enables current Parallels Desktop users to upgrade to Leopard more easily, and makes it simple for new users to start using OS X and Windows simultaneously.
Parallels also announced a special Leopard-related offer . From now through November 6th, 2007, new customers who purchase Parallels Desktop 3.0 will receive a $20 Apple Gift Card from Parallels good toward future purchases. Existing customers who upgrade from Parallels Desktop 2.5 to Parallels Desktop 3.0 will receive a $10 Apple gift card.
Faster and More Feature-Rich
The new beta version substantially improves Windows Vista and Windows XP performance and offers several features and enhancements that further blur the lines between Windows and Mac applications - making the choice to switch to a Mac easy.
Highlights include:
o Parallels Transporter, which enables users to migrate their entire PC system to a Parallels virtual machine, now supports the migration of Windows from a Boot Camp partition to a Parallels virtual Disk Image. Using this tool, a user can safely migrate from a static Boot Camp partition to an expanding Parallels virtual machine, saving gigs of hard drive space.
o Complete integration with Spaces, Leopard's new multi-desktop tool. Users can use Coherence across multiple spaces, or work with OSes in full-screen mode in an individual space.
o Improved 3D performance provides users with a better 3D graphic experience for both DirectX and OpenGL games and applications.
A complete list of new features is available at www.parallels.com/products/desktop/beta.
"Parallels Desktop's 100 percent compatibility with Leopard is key to achieving our goal of ensuring that our products are always ready to exceed the evolving needs of our more than 650,000 customers," said Serguei Beloussov, CEO of SWsoft. "Apple is a very important partner for SWsoft, and we are pleased that our software has played, and continues to play, a key role in the continued success and growth of the Mac platform."
"As we stated publicly weeks ago, current version of Parallels Desktop 3.0 core functionality is compatible with Leopard and offers great speed and solid stability," said Benjamin Rudolph, Director of Communications, SWsoft. We're taking this opportunity to make the product even more integrated and seamless with Apple's impressive new OS, to introduce several important new features, and to substantially improves the performance of both Windows XP and Vista virtual machines."
Simple math: Buy Parallels 3.0, get $20.00
As part Parallels' Leopard-related celebration, the company is launching a special offer running from today through November 6th, 2007 in which new customers who purchase Parallels for Mac 3.0 will receive a $20 Apple Gift Card good toward future purchases at Apple's online and retail stores. The special offer includes incentives for current customers as well; customers who upgrade from Parallels Desktop 2.5 to Parallels Desktop 3.0 will receive a $10 Apple Gift Card.
New and existing users can take advantage of the special offers by visiting www.parallels.com/products/desktop. New users are also welcome to download and test a free, fully-functional copy of Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac for 15 days.
All Parallels Desktop 3.0 for Mac registered customers will receive the final release version of the update free and automatically via Parallels Desktop's integrated automatic updates tool.
Continued Momentum for an Industry-Leading Desktop Virtualization Product
Since its initial launch in June 2006, Parallels Desktop for Mac has sold more than 650,000 copies and has been recognized with MacWorld Magazine's "Editor's Choice" Award (the "Eddy"), PC World Magazine's "Innovation of the Year" Award, and was the first non-Apple product to ever win the MacWorld Magazine Reader's Choice Award. Parallels Desktop for Mac was also named "Best in Show" at the 2007 MacWorld Expo and at the 2007 London MacLiveExpo, and in May 2007 was ranked #6 and a "Reader Favorite" on PC World Magazine's "100 Best Products of 2007" list. The product is available at the Apple Store, Amazon.com, CompUSA, Fry's Electronics, MicroCenter, Office Depot, Staples, select Best Buy locations, and hundreds of other retailers worldwide.
About Parallels
Parallels, an SWsoft company, provides innovative desktop and server virtualization software for Windows, the Macintosh, and Linux. Recently ranked #6 on PC World's "100 Best Products of 2007" list and already used by more than half a million people worldwide, Parallels virtualization technology is revolutionizing the way we use computers. For more information, please visit www.parallels.com.
About SWsoft
SWsoft is a global leader in virtualization and automation software that helps consumers, businesses, and service providers optimize their use of technology. The company's software powers more than 130,000 servers and 650,000 desktops worldwide. The SWsoft product line includes Virtuozzo - the leading operating system virtualization solution, Parallels - the leading desktop virtualization product and Plesk - the leading server automation software. Founded in 1999, the company has offices throughout North America, Europe and Asia. For more information, visit www.swsoft.com.
