Parallels

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• OS X Mavericks

Getting TextExpander, BetterTouchTool and Parallels to behave with Mavericks

Scott Buscemi Jun 15 2013 - 9:04 pm PT

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Since the new OS X Mavericks is just a few days old, bugs and incompatible applications are to be expected until developers have time to run through the new APIs and patch up their apps. In the meantime, some non-functioning apps can be fixed with simple work-arounds or downloads.

Over the next couple of months, expect a few sites to pop up with app compatibility charts for the new OS. If you’ve found an application that doesn’t work without an available fix, feel free to leave a comment below with the information.

TextExpander & BetterTouchTool

My dependence on TextExpander is insane. I have even set up my email signature through TextExpander (so I can choose when it displays with just a couple of key strokes). Finding out that TextExpander is thrown off by Mavericks was a bit disappointing, but iDownloadBlog posted the details on how to make it work. In short, the application tells you to go through “Universal Access” in System Preferences, but you actually need to go inside “Security & Privacy”.

This work-around also works for BetterTouchTool, the app I use for simple Window Snapping and creating additional multi-touch gestures for the Magic Trackpad / Mouse. Check out iDownloadBlog’s step-by-step instructions.

Parallels

Parallels, my favorite operating system virtualization software, isn’t able to open any virtual machines when you first try opening up the application on Mavericks.

However, Parallels provides a simple workaround on their Knowledge Base until they can update the app in the near future. The company has provided a “startPD” script that gets the application and all associated virtual machines up and running again. Update: Parallels has been updated to work with Mavericks.

We’ll keep our eyes peeled for any other workarounds and update this post as they become available.

• Apps
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Parallels 8 beats out VMware Fusion 5 in extensive benchmark analysis

Jordan Kahn Jan 30 2013 - 10:08 am PT

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MacTech Magazine, which recently announced its upcoming MacTech BootCamp II, today looked at two of the most popular virtualization products for Mac with an in-depth benchmarking analysis of the most recent versions of Parallels Desktop 8 and VMware Fusion 5. We have seen Parallels 8 come out on top in benchmarks from previous reports, but this is by far the most comprehensive comparison.

MacTech put the two apps to the test in a number of areas including launching various OSes, application performance, 3D graphics tests, Retina Support, and much more. The conclusion: Parallels Desktop 8 won on the majority of general tests and 62 percent of 3D graphics tests.

In the vast majority of our overall tests, Parallels Desktop 8 won. Again, if you count up the general tests (including the top 3D graphics scores), Parallels won 56% of the tests by 10% or more. If you include all the tests where Parallels was at least 5% faster, as well as the balance of the 3DMark06 graphics tests, Parallels increased the lead further.

We recommend checking out MacTech’s lengthy analysis.

Parallels 8 for Mac currently sells for $55 on Amazon, while VMware Fusion 5 is available for as low as $46.99.

• Mac
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Ending today: First Parallels 8 bundle with Snagit, Virus Barrier, MacOptimizer, Rubbernet: Just $59

9to5 Staff Nov 28 2012 - 10:53 am PT

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From 9to5Toys.com:

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Mac bundle season continues with a big one from StackSocial. Dubbed the Mac Utility Bundle, they’ve managed to knock $20 off the price of Parallels ($79 regular price) alone and added 4 more helpful utilities to boot. Great way to start off any Mac purchase you may be doing this holiday season.

Details below or on StackSocial.
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• MacBook
• Enterprise
• Microsoft Windows
• Parallels
• Windows 8

Parallels 8 is a clear winner vs. VMware Fusion 5 in Ars shootout

9to5 Staff Sep 23 2012 - 3:30 pm PT

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Ars put Parallels 8 against VMware Fusion this week and found there is not much of a contest between the two virtualization powerhouses. Parallels 8 out-gunned VMware across the board (as previous benchmarks have shown) performance-wise and adds full support for Retina displays and dictation among other features.

Neither Parallels Desktop 8 or VMWare Fusion 5 are loaded to the gills with new features, so the PD8 update from version 7 is only a must-have if you are looking for Windows 8 or retina MacBook support in Windows 7 or 8. If you need retina support, this is your best option since Parallels did the extra work and made it a better retina experience than in VMWare Fusion 5. The Mountain Lion dictation and experimental DirectX 10 support show that, while Parallels tends to have more frequent paid updates and a higher price-tag, they try to earn the extra value with well thought out features and engineering. Apart from the bugs I saw in Mountain Lion 8, I think Parallels Desktop 8 earns that extra cost with its solid performance, far superior Linux OpenGL support, and existing feature set. But if your needs are more big-business-oriented, VMWare Fusion 5 Pro might be more your thing.

VMware Fusion might fit better into cross-platform installations or for folks with legacy VMware images.

Parallels 8 is available for download or trial here for $79. VMware starts at $49.
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Parallels 8 vs. VMWare Fusion 5 Benchmarks

Élyse Betters Sep 4 2012 - 10:55 am PT

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The Mac Observer just benchmarked Parallels Desktop 8 against its main Mac Desktop virtualization competitor, VMware Fusion 5.

Both applications were configured to virtualize Windows on a 2011 27-inch iMac running on OS X 10.8.1 at 3.4 GHz with 16 GB of RAM for this showdown. The comparison specifically measured their ability to handle the 64-bit versions of Windows 7 Professional and Windows 8 Pro.

Check out the results below: 

The conclusion:

From a purely performance-based perspective, Parallels has won this year’s competition of virtualization software on OS X. The good news for consumers, however, is that Fusion is not far behind in most categories and, while Parallels is indeed faster, Fusion is often fast enough for common tasks.

You can get Parallels 8 here or VMware Fusion 5 here.

Go to The Mac Observer for the full breakdown and more graphs. 

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• Apps
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• Mac OS X
• Microsoft Windows

Poll: Which Mac software do you use for virtualization (Parallels, VMware Fusion, Virtual Box…)?

Seth Weintraub Aug 23 2012 - 9:02 am PT

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Both Parallels and VMware announced new versions of their software over the last 12 hours. Which software do you use to run Windows applications, if any? Do you Virtualize Linux or other builds of MacOS X?

Leave comments on your experience.

For the record, I have been using Parallels to deal with @#$% QuickBooks most recently, but off and on for years overall. VMware has also impressed me when I have tried it. Both products are so much better than the slow SoftWindows- type solutions we had in the PowerPC days.

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Deals: Learn To Code Video Bootcamp Bundle: $99, Mac Variety Bundle: $39

9to5 Staff Aug 14 2012 - 11:59 pm PT

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From 9to5Toys.com:

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The fine folks at Stack Social have another deal up their sleeve this week. For $99 you get Step by Step crash course videos on a variety of different programming tracks. Freebie courses are available to those who sign in early and they are even giving away an ‘iPhone 5’.   Courses offered include:

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StackSocial also offers the $39 Mini Bundle which includes:

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• PDF Editor Pro ($100) – edit and enhance your PDFs with optical character recognition.
• CrossOverXI ($40) – run Windows applications on your Intel Mac.
• Invoice 3 ($40) – create and manage your invoices.
• Fantashow ($50) – making your own movie has never been easier.
• Logoist ($40) – create logos, title art, icons, banners, web site elements, greeting card headings and more.
• iClip ($19) – get past the limitations of a single clipboard.
• Speed Download 5 ($25) – speed up your download times so you can get your assets faster.
• Watchmac ($20) – monitor your Mac for possible security infringements.

Related articles

• $50 iStack Mac Bundle ends today, includes SnagIt, Disk Drill Pro, Parallels, Paint Supreme, more
• $50 iStack Mac Bundle includes SnagIt, Disk Drill Pro, Parallels, Paint Supreme, more (+Retina MacBook Pro Giveaway!)
• StackSocial Offers The Mac Variety Bundle with 8 Mac Apps for 88% Off
• The iStack Mac Bundle downloads for $50: Parallels 7, SnagIt, more
• Apps and updates: Sparrow for Mac, Tap Tap, BBC, and more

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$50 iStack Mac Bundle ends today, includes SnagIt, Disk Drill Pro, Parallels, Paint Supreme, more

9to5 Staff Jul 26 2012 - 5:49 am PT

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From 9to5Toys.com:

The iStack Mac Bundle from StackSocial includes over $730 worth of goods for just $49.99.  That’s over a 93% savings off MSRP…and it ends tonight! (They also have a pretty impressive “Creative Bundle” that is ongoing to check out)

What do they have on offer?

• Awesome anchor app in Parallels Desktop 7
• A $299 iOS App Development video tutorial for the first 5000 customers
• Half of the apps never been in a bundle: SnagIt, Clarify, TextSoap, and Paint Supreme
• They’re giving away a RETINA MACBOOK PRO for FREE to 1 lucky winner
• They’re giving away the Breeze Mac app for FREE to everyone for a tweet

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Here are the full details on all 11 apps:
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• Apps
• iOS
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• Twitter

Apps & updates: Tweetbot Alpha 3, IM+ Pro, Viber, more

Jordan Kahn Jul 24 2012 - 6:40 am PT

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There are more than a few apps and updates today worth mentioning, starting with the latest update for the recently launched Tweetbot for Mac Alpha:

Tweetbot Alpha 3: After rolling out a huge update a couple of days ago for notifications, keyboard shortcuts and other performance enhancements, Tweetbot Alpha 3 is officially available for download/update today. It brings the ability to switch usernames/accounts from within the New Tweet compose window. Clicking a small profile image within the “new tweet” pop-up lets you switch between accounts on the fly. The update also included a hashtag popover fix.

IM+ Pro version 7.0: Perhaps the biggest new feature included in today’s update to one of the most popular iOS IM clients is “Metacontacts,” which is the ability to “merge multiple accounts of one contact into a metacontact” and reduce clutter while increasing efficiency for multiple account users. Another big new feature is iCloud support for syncing IM+ settings across multiple iOS devices, as well as support for additional IM services like Gadu-Gadu and MeinVZ. Unfortunately, version 7.0 will also drop support for iOS 3.x, and it now only works on iOS 4 and up.

Viber version 2.2.0: A huge update today goes to the iOS client for the 90 million-strong Viber service, which allows users worldwide to make free calls and send texts and photos without advertising. Included in the update is a completely refreshed UI that brings group messaging, custom backgrounds for any conversation, profile photos in the Contacts list, and a time stamp for every message. In addition, you will now be able to view recently joined users from the Contacts screen. Viber also promises better sound quality and a new voice engine.

Sky News International for iPad: Released today on the App Store to join the already available for iPhone version, Sky News now has a dedicated iPad app for its international edition with breaking news, top stories, and live streaming of Sky News TV in full screen.

Plesk Manager version 1.2.0: Parallels’ app for monitoring and controlling servers running Parallels Plesk Panel 10.4.4 and Plesk Panel Power Pack was updated today with push notifications, a logs viewer, a new skin, an embedded panel view for iPad, an “improved user experience for VPS owners,” and a troubleshooting section.

Sparrow version 1.3.1: A small update for Sparrow’s iPhone app today includes several bug fixes.

Related articles

• Tweetbot for Mac alpha updated with notifications, keyboard shortcuts, performance improvements (9to5mac.com)
• Quick Review: Tweetbot for Mac finally arrives in public alpha, download now! (9to5mac.com)

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Parallels celebrates its birthday by dropping price to $28, giving away iPads and other schwag

9to5 Staff Jun 28 2012 - 6:00 am PT

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From 9to5Toys.com:

From 9am-11am PT, Parallels drops the price of its flagship Parallels 7 desktop virtualization product to just $28 to celebrate its 6th birthday. The price will increase 5% every 2 hours, so obviously you’ll want to jump on this soon. Parallels is the best-selling, most-trusted solution for running Windows applications on your Mac – without rebooting.

It is also nice for running Linux or even another instance of the Mac OS and for $28 why not?
As an added bonus, Parallels is giving away a few ‘party favors’: just by sharing, you’ll have a chance to win an iPad 3, Parallels Mobile, and Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac.

More information is also available at the Parallels Consumer Tech Blog, or by following Parallels Desktop on Facebook and @ParallelsMac on Twitter.

Update: Originally story said 9am ET.

Related articles

• Parallels app is now iPad 3-optimized with iOS 5 compatibility (9to5mac.com)
• Convertible Flip Case For Apple iPad 2 / New iPad w/ $2 credit for $14 + $3 s&h (9to5toys.com)
• HHI Re-Elegant Stand Case for New iPad for $10 + $3 s&h (9to5toys.com)
• Custom Case for iPad 2, New iPad for $40 + free shipping (9to5toys.com)
• KEYDEX Hard Shell Ventilation Case for iPad 2 / New iPad for $6 + free shipping (9to5toys.com)

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• Pixelmator

Good Deals: Pixelmator is $15 today, $49.99 Parallels (11 Mac app) bundle ends in a few hours

9to5 Staff Jun 19 2012 - 12:28 pm PT

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From 9to5toys.com  (Twitter, Feed) today:

2011 Apple Design award winning image editor Pixelmator is only $15 today at the Mac App Store.  That’s half off and the lowest price we’ve ever seen.

Also, if you are going to put Parallels on your new Mac, MacUpdate has a pretty incredible 11 app bundle for $49.99 (Details). You only have a few hours to hit this one before it expires.