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Parallels 3.0 announced

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Parallels 3.0 announced - now with 3D support!

Linkage

-$39.99 upgrade price until June 6, 2007
-50+ features & 100+ fixes (Enhanced Boot Camp support, better USB & printer sharing, Coherence 2.0)
-DirectX & OpenGL 3D acceleration support
-SmartSelect - configure which app opens certain file types (ex. open Docs with Word under Windows instead of OS X)
-SnapShots - store and load VM states
-Parallels Explorer - copy files into or out of your virtual disk images or your Boot Camp partition

Looks awesome. 3D Support & SmartSelect are two big features that I know I'll be using. It's a bummer to have to pay the upgrade price since I already own Parallels, but the new features should make it worth it.

Running Quake 4 under Parallels
 
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That sounds good to me.

I might dish out the Money for the Upgrade, we'll see.
 
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If the DirectX and OpenGL 3D support works well, I'll definitely pay for the upgrade. If not, then I'll continue using my current build since I don't really game that often on Windows, and rebooting via Boot Camp isn't THAT big of a deal for me. It would be nice to stop using Boot Camp though, so hopefully it will work well.
 
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I'll wait and see how well the 3D support works and then decide. Any reliable product reviews out yet?
 

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I'll wait and see how well the 3D support works and then decide. Any reliable product reviews out yet?

I don't believe so. I think kaidomac is quoting the same email I just received - which I believe was a barb to get you to pre-order. The actual product has not been released yet.

Parallels 3.0 sounds really good. I'm a little ticked that I just spent $80 on it 3 months ago, only to have to spend another $40 to get the latest version. I understand there's a lot of new features, but I was surprised to see that nonetheless.

I wish VMWare Fusion was released already, it's been in beta and fairly stable for a long time now. Most of the feature-set is identical (including 3D video support).

What to do... what to do...? I wonder if they really will yank the offer for existing customers after the release. I'd really like to see it before I pay for it.

EDIT: The email seems to indicate that after 6/6, the upgrade price goes to $50.
 
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I agree and see the price increase for upgrading as a real negative for the company. They shouldn't let their greed or the marketing people have too much control.

I don't have Parallels yet as I've been waiting for 3D support, but if I did and interested in getting an upgrade, I would be pretty mad and let them know about it. I've never seen this kind of tactic with any other software provider.
 
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Yeah, I'm honestly not too crazy about the whole "pre-order now before you know if it works well or not to get your upgrade for less" tactic either, since I just purchased Parallels in January. That being said, I'll really happy with the current product, and since I'm not really much of a gamer (just the occassional game here and there) it isn't a big deal for me to have to reboot into Windows XP via Boot Camp right now.

IF the 3D support works really well, then I will probably spend the $50 to upgrade at some point, but I'm not going to pay for the upgrade without some indication as to how well it works first. Especially since it isn't really that important to me. We'll see how it goes...
 
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I agree and see the price increase for upgrading as a real negative for the company. They shouldn't let their greed or the marketing people have too much control.

I don't have Parallels yet as I've been waiting for 3D support, but if I did and interested in getting an upgrade, I would be pretty mad and let them know about it. I've never seen this kind of tactic with any other software provider.

I agree that it's a negative, but I can see where they are coming from. They're not a huge company and haven't been around as long as the big boys like VMware (or at least haven't been popular as long). Paying for upgrades will allow them to generate more income for more people and more development.

The upgrade price after the promotional period is only $10 more, so I think I'll wait to see how good it really is before jumping onboard.
 
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One thing that I'll caution people about with upgrading (because I figured it out the hard way) is that different versions of Parallels emulate different hardware. There's enough difference between some versions to cause Windows to trigger re-activation.

I installed the version that came on the CD I bought on one of my machines and then copied the disk image that I'd burnt to a DVD. When it booted, Windows went nuts and told me I had to reactivate. When I downloaded the build with which I'd created the image (3188) and deleted and recopied the disk image, it worked fine.

So, I've now made sure I keep the install package I downloaded for that version so I'll always have it. I guess it's possible that the new version will emulate mostly the same hardware, it's also possible you may end up having to call Microsoft to get Windows activated again.

The bright side is everyone that's told me they've had to call MS because of Windows activation has pretty much received an activation key with very few questions asked.
 
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I'm not sure what all the concerns and negatives about their pricing or getting a better deal if you pre-order. From my experience, Parallels has been a very good company with very stable software even in beta.

As far as concern about them actually charging for upgrades? Come on folks, they are a business with employees and overhead. They aren't doing this out of the goodness of their hearts. They are doing it to earn a living and don't owe us anything for free or what we think the cost should be. It takes time and money to produce these products.

I'm just amazed at how well the current product works. I use it all the time. I gladly shelled out my $39 for the upgrade to save money on something I know I'd buy later if they live up to their past performance (which I suspect they will).
 
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I'm a little doubtful of the benefit of having Parallels running 3D graphics though. You have OS X -> Parallels -> Windows all running to make this work. You'd get better results if you simply ran Windows natively through Boot Camp. Unless you a playing a game that is old enough that the overhead doesn't detract from resources it needs, you're going to want to run in Boot Camp. And really that goes for any graphics intensive application, not just games.
 
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We're going to be carrying it over at YourMacStore...as soon as we get some copies, I'll see if we can get it reviewed post haste on our blog for y'all. :)
 
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I'm a little doubtful of the benefit of having Parallels running 3D graphics though. You have OS X -> Parallels -> Windows all running to make this work. You'd get better results if you simply ran Windows natively through Boot Camp. Unless you a playing a game that is old enough that the overhead doesn't detract from resources it needs, you're going to want to run in Boot Camp. And really that goes for any graphics intensive application, not just games.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VWU4...07/06/quake4-running-in-vm-via-parallels.html

Pretty good. I'm getting this upgrade.
 
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So thats where TechTV ended up.
Oh how I miss the days of old.
G4TV will never amount to anything :Not-Amused:
 

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Alright, moments to go before zero hour and I caved and ordered it. You win again, Parallels... ;)

I guess that's what happens when you make such a darn fine product.
 
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I'm really impressed. I now see no reason to ever own a windows machine.
 

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