Parallels is at it again. If you thought they were simply focused on the Parallels Desktop for Mac solution, you thought wrong.

The company announced that it is beginning another one of its now famous public beta testing runs, this time for Parallels Workstation 2.2 for Windows and Linux. The new platform is expected to deliver faster performance, better OS stability and stronger virtual machine isolation than the previous versions.

The product enables users to simultaneously run quite a number of different guest operating systems that include one of any version of Windows, any Linux distribution, Solaris, FreeBSD, NetBSD, OS/2, eComStation or DOS. All of this can be run on top of any computer running Microsoft Windows 2000, XP, or 2003, or any version of Linux.

The Parallels Workstation 2.2 Beta includes a number of key improvements, such as:

• A new, more user-friendly look and feel


• Support for AMD Secure Virtual Machine Technology (SVM) for better virtual machine performance and stability


• Better USB support, including support for USB devices that run Windows Mobile 2005


• Better networking, including automatic bridging to the available network via the default adapter, WiFi support in Linux, and the ability to change network and bridge type "on the fly"


• An easy-to-set-up, easy-to-use shared folders utility that lets users quickly share files and folders between operating systems and programs


• Broader guest OS support, including stronger support for Sun Solaris and full support for NetBSD


• Improved full-screen mode in which guest OSes are automatically re-sized to the native screen resolution for a perfect full-screen fit


• Better video support, including support for dynamic primary OS video modes, custom video modes, and 32 bpp video modes


• Full Unicode support lets users name files in any language


• Better sound playback and recording in virtual machines


• An improved Parallels Tools package makes using Parallels Workstation even more comfortable and convenient, and a more powerful Parallels Image tool helps users quickly create .iso images and re-size virtual hard drives

To view a complete list of new features and upgrades, visit the following Web site.

Parallels is allowing both current customers as well as new users to download and evaluate the beta of this product for free. Visit the following Web site for download.

Posted by David Marshall on August 24, 2006 08:09 PM