DLGOETZ  Love V4.0 have two licenses. Would like to upgrade to to V5.0 but upgrade price is too steep. Please reduce the upgrade price. As a previous comment stated, $29 is more like it. Anything over that is just not worth it for software that is already doing the job well.  
(Version 5.0.9220.531002)

CELLPLUS  I failed again in installing. I eventually move to Bootcamp and Parallels 4.0.  
(Version 5.0.9220.531002)

AWADO  I quit using Parallels Desktop 4 and won't upgrade to 5. A company as bis as Parallels should offer customer service that can give solutions within a few clicks. I do NOT like to deep search any forums or google around for hours when I paid for that. VirtualBox is free and good enough for me. Downloading their updates does not require any login.  
(Version 5.0.9220.531002)

CELLPLUS  It took only 30 min to decide to go back to 4.0. What is the improvement? Windows was slowed down greatly with 5.0 version.  
(Version 5.0.9220.531002)

D9  Here's why good software can be completely overshadowed by lousy customer service. The following is my email response to Parallels' response (a week later) to my application for their upgrade offer on version 4:

"Well, the offer clearly states none of that. There's not even a single mention of either version 2.5 or 3.0, much less how it wouldn't allow Snow Leopard users. In future, perhaps you should explain things better so as not to waste people's time.

FYI, if you would have checked your records, you'd have seen that I bought Parallels 2 then upgraded to 3. Then, as my invoice showed, purchased Parallels 4 in late August. Seems I more than qualify for your offer, but that's okay. I can go get VMWare Fusion 3 for $20, brand new.

Once again, this is what your offer states on your website as of 11/18/09 (please point me to the area where it state version 2/3 prerequisite):

For customers who upgraded to and registered Parallels Desktop 4.0 for Mac between August 28 and September 30, we value your business and want to provide a special offer to upgrade to Parallels Desktop 5 for Mac. Although you are not eligible for our Grace Period free upgrade program, we’d like to offer you a very special upgrade price.

This offer is available at My Account on our website.

On Wed, Nov 18, 2009 at 3:41 PM, Parallels wrote:

PARALLELS DESKTOP 5 FOR MAC

Thank you for your interest in upgrading to Parallels Desktop 5 for Mac.

We have received and reviewed the form you submitted for the $9.95 upgrade offer. Unfortunately the information you submitted does not qualify for this special offer. This offer was designed for customers who purchased Parallels Desktop for Mac 2.5 and 3.0 from Parallels, then moved to Snow Leopard when it shipped (late August 2009), and then were unable to use their Windows applications in Parallels Desktop for Mac without upgrading to version 4.0.

However, if you are still interested in upgrading to Parallels Desktop 5 for Mac, please visit www.parallels.com for more information.

Parallels Customer Support"

---- That folks is the smell of BS!! VMWare here I come. (Great rebate price @ Buy.com until Nov. 30, '09...$20)

/  
(Version 5.0.9220.531002)

IGREG  P.S. I am checking out VirtualBox.  
(Version 5.0.9220.531002)

IGREG  I just received postcard an email about $40 for upgrade for limited time.

No sale. V.4 working adequately for me in Snow Leopard.

I purchased full V. 4 this past Spring and the upgrade price to upgrade is too much too soon for me.

For $30 maybe.  
(Version 5.0.9220.531002)

MAC ADAM  Have Blue Screen of the Death on MacPro BootCamp XPPro (I was try with one CPU),

Snow Leopard Drivers do not works, after uninstall, parallels Works…

Please resole:

driver_irql_not_less_or_equal

ftdisk.sys

AppleMNT.sys

this update is expansive for the problems when update !!!  
(Version 5.0.9220.531002)

IMINI  I think this round goes to Parallels!

I have compared Parallels Desktop 5 to Fusion 3 and my findings are:

- PD5 feels faster in Vista/Windows 7- virtual machines load and shut down faster, windows scroll smoother, suspend and restore is much faster, videos playback and flash on web pages are smoother

- PD5 supports Compiz in Ubuntu! (Fusion 3 does not)

- Ubuntu 9.10 works very well (Fusion 3 has problems with sound and other things)

- PD5 has many little options not present in Fusion 3 - like what happens after VM shutdown (keep window open, close window or quit PD) etc.

- Unity in Fusion looks nicer than Coherence in PD - has nice rounded corners

- both are stable, no problems whatsoever

Overall version 5 seems to be very much improved. Definitely worth trying before upgrading to Fusion 3.  
(Version 5.0.9220.531002)

BOB_TM  Parallels Desktop is a good program and I've used it on and off for a while, but major upgrades are to frequent and expensive, so I'm leaving Parallels in favor of VirtualBox. Good luck.  
(Version 5.0.9220.531002)

KOINGO SOFTWARE  With WIndows Application sharing disabled, the program seems to remove any documents/aliases/folders from the right side of your Dock, claiming it's removing the Windows Application folder on launch (sometimes second launch). Has anyone found a fix for this?  
(Version 5.0.9220.531002)

CARLOS-SZ  I have an iMac 20”, 2.66 GHz, 4 GB RAM and an ATI video card. I purchased VMware 3 due Windows 7 Aero support (I need Aero due a software I develop). It works but a bit slow and with some screen flickering (e.g. when open Windows start menu or playing with iTunes 9). Now I’m trying Parallels 5 and I imported my Windows 7 VM from VMware. Everything works faster and without any screen flickering. I’m impressed how better Parallels is in my iMac and I’ll probably ended up purchasing it.  
(Version 5.0.9220.531002)

ORION MK. V  Excited about v5. I've been a fan since version 3 of Parallels -- it's worked flawlessly for Windows XP for years. Now that I'll be moving to Windows 7 soon, v5 sounds like a winner. As is always the case with an all new version of Parallels, it's good to wait a week or two for a patch that fixes that "newness" problems.  
(Version 5.0.9220.531002)

BUBBAMAC  V5 runs fine for me and appears to run faster than V4 and the new Fusion.

The only issue I have is on Win7 (which was running fine on V4), the network icon says that the network is disconnected (it is not) and Aero is not working. The wizard to fix Aero said that Desktop Window Manager wasn't running which is why Aero wasn't working; and the wizard supposedly fixed the issue, but it did not. Wizard says the same thing every time I run it. And Desktop Window Manager service is running and nothing in the Eventlog relating to Aero, Themes, etc.

Speedwise, however, I'm very happy. This is using V5 to boot Win7 off of my Bootcamp partition.  
(Version 5.0.9220.531002)

DRG  I couldn't get this version to run. It hangs the minute I launch it. I tried to reinstall it, uninstall and reinstall without success. I even repaired my permissions and tried to reinstall. No go. Went back to V4 and all is okay. Anyone else have this problem?  
(Version 5.0.9220.531002)

KENTR  Version 5 is the best version to date and still leaves the competition behind.

This is the smoothest, fastest most compatible version yet. Crystal mode is great, it's like you're not even using Windows. I like the new Mac Theme look, it reminds me of a theme from the old Kaleidoscope program. It changes all Windows screens and folders to be more Mac-like. Being able to switch views just by clicking the top left corner of the screen is brilliant. This version is more polished than previous versions.

Just to be fair I have tried the new demo of Fusion and it still cannot even run some of the simplest games and programs. The programs either crash or the graphics are slow and choppy. The thing that sets Parallels 5 from all others is compatibility. It has been able to run just about every program and game that I've thrown at it.

Parallels has this virtualization thing down.

I will be upgrading to version 5.  
(Version 5.0.9220.531002)

FUHAYER  i use macbook pro 13.3 but this could not see airport, sound driver and display card. VM had all drivers. do we need to install these drivers by searching net for them ? i could not understand anything with this.  
(Version 5.0.9220.531002)

LEONLEDRAGON  Could they find a most complicated version number ???

I have both licenses - but i prefer VW they are more sober - less CPU usage - more simple interface...  
(Version 5.0.9220.531002)

GAVXYZ  The upgrade this time (from 4 to 5) was much smoother ... of course from 3 to 4 I did decide not backup ... never again! So far so good, and performance seems to be better.  
(Version 5.0.9220.531002)

DRG  I tried to upgrade from V4 and the darn program would hang the minute I launched it. Tried reinstalling, repairing permissions, uninstalling then reinstalling with no resolution.

Finally uninstalled again and reinstalled V4 and it works fine. Has anybody else had this problem? Under the circumstances, I guess I won't be upgrading, saving $$$.  
(Version 5.0.9220.531002)

HAMMO  As usual for me, this Parallels upgrade has been very smooth and I'm already seeing a general improvement in the functionality and speed. Been using the product since first release without any of the incidents that seem to have plagued others.   
(Version 5.0.9220.531002)

IGREG  I too purchased v.4 not long ago at its full price, in May of 2009. Asking me for $50 now to upgrade to v. 5 is excessive.

V. 4 is working adequately for me in Snow Leopard. If v.5 is worth it, I might consider paying $30, but that is my line-in-the-sand. Particularly since I recently paid for the full v.4.

My 1 star poor rating is based entirely on the upgrade price, not on the functionality of either v. 4 or 5.  
(Version 5.0.9220.531002)

JIMW  Sorry folks but I have to do this. After the nightmare of the Parallels 4 initial upgrade, their lack of quality support; having issues with most of the updates; a recent crash during a snapshot that required picking up a much earlier Time Machine backup in order to get it work again; an now a full paid upgrade required to restore decent performance in less than a year after Parallels 4, I have to take the gloves off. Here is my one star rating. I only wish I could make it lower. I had to give features an average rating to be honest and fair.   
(Version 5.0.9220.531002)

MAJOR MAUSER  I have both Parallels 5 and Vmware Fusion running XP and Win 7. For Games and Apps that use graphics like Bumptop and games Like Operation Flashpoint Dragon Rising, ARMA II, Shock Force Marines the simple FACT is that Parallels 5 can run these programs and VMware Fusion 3 STILL CAN NOT. Parallels has come a long way and for this App to have less than a 5 sar rating is absurd. Importing virtual machines from Vmware works. The little interface additions are very welcome, just makes it easy to get back and forth to OS X. Performance even on Operation Flashpoint Dragon Rising is surprisingly good. I'm very very happy with this Build of Parallels 5. For the first time in a while I am sorry I am a vmware 2.0 owner. When I can't run a program on an emulator its useless. Vmware only allows you to use 128mb of Virual Vram. Parallels 5 allows 256. Parallels 4 & 5 are just better at running anything that requires heavy graphics support...  
(Version 5.0.9220.531002)

OCTBIT  Total crap. I purchased 4.0 a little over 2 months ago and am outside any grace period for the upgrade. Most apps seem to offer at least a 1 year free upgrade period. You'd think they'd at least do some sort of reasonable discount. Heck, you'll be able to get a new license on Amazon for $50 in a few weeks. Just make sure you understand what you're getting into with this company.

I purchased Fusion over 2 years ago, and just paid $40 (happily) to upgrade to version 3. Fortunately, net-net, it's a better product.  
(Version 5.0.9220.531002)

GARY30  I upgraded from Parallels Desktop 4. I like the new interface, but take issue with the claim of PD 5 being 3X faster than PD 4 for my Windows XP SP3 virtual machine. I run it on a MBP Pro Unibody 17 in Windowed mode (not coherence).

Also, I use a small, boring collection of Windows accounting and vehicle routing apps. So maybe their claims concern gaming or other more demanding things, or for other modes of operation. For me though, speed is no better than parity with PD 4 based on stopwatch tests for application launches, restore from pause, etc

They seem like a good enough company by present standards, better at support than most and not as good as some. But remember that they need to sort problems with Windows' various versions and flavors as well as their own builds. Not easy by any means.  
(Version 5.0.9220.531002)

DONPERREAULT  I commented earlier about how I thought Parallels upgrade price was high.

I just read for "Customers who purchased Parallels Desktop 4 for Mac on or after October 1st, 2009 are eligible for a free upgrade to the new version." That means if you spent $79.95 on Sept 31st, 2009 for Parallels, you would have to fork over another $50.00 to get the upgrade. That is sad!  
(Version 5.0.9220.531002)

MARK NELSON  The just released version 5 is not a 64bit app. It does not appear to run any faster than v4. on my 10.6 machine. VMWARE Fusion 3 is at least partially a 64bit app, the VM environment runs 64bit the Fusion extensions do not... Also It drives me nuts that one has to create a account and be sent a email with the download link to get updates..  
(Version 5.0.9220.531002)

WEBMOTIVA  That's ok but it needs a new icon. The actual icon is too ugly. OMG  
(Version 5.0.9220.531002)

ERIC DURBROW  Parallels 4 seems to have keyboard problems on my machine. That is it seems to get confused with the Command key-Control key translation. I've given up on tech support (along with any hope for a rebate). I suggest people use VirtualBox (free) or VMWare Fusion (cheaper).  
(Version 4.0.3848)

JIMW  In regards to the 3848 update I plan to take a "wait and see" approach to it for at least a month. Right now my previous update is running just fine thank-you on 10.6.1 after many hours of frustration and anguish over its installation along with the well documented abysmal support that the company provides as indicated in other messages on this forum.Historlly the majority of Parallels updates have been problematic for me and others. My personal view is that it stems from a lack of effectiveness and professionalism in their QA procedures.

Judging from the description and lack of meaningful information as to precisely what was changed or fixed, I get the impression the the primary change was in the area of performance. For that I can wait a bit, rather than potentially wasting my entire weekend struggling with this update.

Hopefully I am wrong about my concerns for this update and that others, braver than I, will report back exclaiming how easy and free of problems this update was and how Parallels provided phenomenal support for any issues.

However if history is a good predictor of future results - I don't think so.

Please Parallels - Prove me wrong!  
(Version 4.0.3848)

IGREG  I am not having any serious trouble with the application, but their support system stinks. It is impersonal and unusable for me. I even tried to post in their forums but their site seems to have a dual login process and it is only partially working for me. I login Parallels site, but then when I try to login to be able to post in their forums I get a weird message that my User Name already exists. Well no kidding, it is me. Why will their site let me login to their site and even see my account info but not let me post in their forums?

Because of poor support I can only give an overall Neutral rating and neither recommend or not recommend Parallels.  
(Version 4.0.3846)

KENTR  Works great in Snow Leopard!

Fast and Stable.

Thanks.  
(Version 4.0.3846)

SANCHAI  This is my support request to parallels!!!

I have upgraded from parallels 4.0.3844 to the new build 4.0.3846 when my OS was 10.5.8. After many crashes when attempting to install Parallels Tools to WIndows, I managed to get Parallels 4.0.3846 installed on my system.

After installation, I tested run WIndows under parallels, it work. But when I shut down mac OSX 10.5.58, reboot, press Option key and select to boot into Windows directly from Bootcamp (not via Paralles), the problem started.

At boot, Chkdsk run to check dist consistency and found error in index (details similar to one I will show later). I wait for Chkdsk to finished, reboot, press Option key, then boot into Windiws. This time the boot is fine and my Windows Vista run OK.

At this point, I thought that there is no problem, and proceed to upgrade to Snow Leopard (10.6). the upgrade process is fine. Windows run under Parallels fine. But when I shut down Mac OSX, reboot, press Option key, then boot intoWindows, the same problem occurred. Chkdsk run every time!!!

Whenever I used Mac OS, shut down, then restart the WIndows Vista by pressing Option key at Macbook Pro startup, Chkdsk will run every time, checking integrity of the Windows boot partition. I have to wait for more than 20 minutes before Chkdsk fix all errors, then reboot, and press Options key to get back into Windows Vista without Chkdsk running.

When I shut down Windows, and restart without going into Snow Leoprad, the boot process go OK without Chkdsk running.

But whenever I shut down Winodws and use Snow Leopard (whether or not parallels is used), then get back in to startup Windows, Chkdsk run again. This is very annoying, and never occured in the previous build 4.0.3844

During Chkdsk session, the following errors occured and being fixed:

Deleting index entry ._501 in index $I30 of file 9028

Deleting index entry 501 in index $I30 of file 9028

and after all process finished, Chkdsk stated that: There is a blank space that allocated as used, and has been fixed.

The problem is repeatable. The same index and file to be deleted by Chkdsk remain unchanged every time I boot Windows under bootcamp after using Mac OS. If I reboot Windows many many times without using Mac OS, the error never occur.

I remembered that Parallels 4.0 initial build also have this kind of problem. After upgrade from 3.0 to 4.0, Chkdsk won't run at startup when it had been scheduled. I reported support ticket to Parallels at that time, and the problem had been fixed in later build.

I'm very confident that it's Parallels 4.0.3846 that cause this problem? and How to correct it?

I suspected that parallels alter disk in WIndows Vista that cause Chkdsk to run when startup in bottcamp. When I start WIndows in Parallels 4.0.3846 under Snow Leopard, the startup is OK

Help me solve this problem, and respond please!!!! I wasted too much time with Parallels already. I'm very loyal to Parallels. So don't let me down. I want explanation and solution!!!! Please get back to me soonest.

Thank in advance for support  
(Version 4.0.3846)

JIMW  One of my major issues with Virtual Box, is that Sun, the owner of Virtual Box, was recently purchased by Oracle who is not known for their generosity. As such, I would not be surprised to hear soon that the free version of Virtual Box is going away, or that that part of the company has been sold off. So at this point it is a product that I do not wish to put my time and effort into setting up only to possibly soon find out it is no longer supported by updates or the free version becomes an expensive paid version.   
(Version 4.0.3846)

DVH  Update installation went smoothly. Parallels Tools updated Win XP SP3 with no difficulties.

FYI Apparently Parallels does not provide a direct download link for the latest update. You'll need to log into your Parallels account and they will email you a link to your download. They'll send you a trial key but if you have a permanent license key - it isn't needed.  
(Version 4.0.3846)

PEDRO FARDILHA  Hi Kentr.

I cannot talk about your experience with them, I was simply giving mine.

For me, actually Parallels is the worst of the 3.

it's the one who gave me more trouble accessing my old PC devices like my serial Garmin GPS, among others.

And regarding VirtualBox, it installed just fine on my Macs and it runs without any problems.

Actually it's the one with the smallest performance penalty (again, I didn't do any type of extensive benchmarking, it's just my personal perspective considering the CPU charge that Activity Monitor show's when I have any of them doing the same type of tasks).

And frankly as long as you don't want do to more than you do with Parallels or Fusion, VirtualBox it's not complicated at all to install.

My reference to the manual was just in case you really want to push more for it, for instance I have VirtualBox running headless on one of my macs and I needed to check on the manual what was the command that I should use to make it run that way.

Last: the price! Right now I don't find anything on either Fusion or Parallels that could justify paying for either of them.

Best regards

Pedro Fardilha  
(Version 4.0.3846)

SANCHAI  Failed Parallels Tools installation from Parallels Desktop make disk error in Windows partition (MFT errors). This problem resulted from crashes of the installatyion of Paralles Tools.

What I have to do is to run chsdsk /f to fix error. And it took me another hour for the chkdsk to finished.

Thank you Parallels for releasing buggy software all the times. I'm so glad I paid for Paralles!  
(Version 4.0.3846)

SANCHAI  Yes, I have a nightmare in upgrading Parralels 4.0 build 3844 to this new built 3846. The problem is crash when my Vista SP2 on bootcamp partition started in Parallels. A number of blue screen of death ocuured when booting.

It took me 5 attempts that took me 4 hours before I managed to get Parallels Tools installed on my Vista SP2 bootcamp partition. The process to update Parallels Tools took more than one hour.

And after completing the installation of Parallels Tools, the startup of Windows under Parallels seems not very stable. It crash sometimes.

It always be a nightmare to upgrade Parallels Desktop!!! This happen to me many many times since version 3. May be it's a time to ditch both Windows and Parallels out of my MacBook Pro!!!

Be careful and patient for the upgrade. I warn you!!!  
(Version 4.0.3846)

JIMW  This new version was an installation nightmare on 2 computers running XP = a MacPro and an iMac. Each time Parallels tools failed to install properly. It took me most of a day to get it running on the iMac and a half day on the MacPro. The issue was primary failure of the mouse drive to install properly. Multiple reinstalls of Tools - about 10 of them finally fixed the issue on the iMac. The MacPro was worse as multiple installs left me without mouse operation in Windows. Luckily I had 2, So I configured my wireless Logitech to a USB device and was able to finally fix the issue. It involves updating the virtual mouse driver with a PS/2 Mouse. Ignore the error your get about system space and just reboot and reinstall Tools. You should uninstall Tools (Software control panel) before exchanging the mouse driver.

Another issue: If you are running Parallels 3 and upgrade to Snow Leopard your are out of luck in running Parallels. It will not start. Also be sure that your Windows is shutdown, not just suspended before install Snow Leopard. If you do not do this you will not be able to install Parallels 4 without trashing your virtual image unless you can mount your drive on another machine (hard or network) and shutdown the virtual image by running Parallels 3 from Leopard (10.5. I found this out the hard way.

Hope this nightmare helps someone. I would say try another virtual program but from what I have seen so far, none of them give decent support. As far as Parallels Forum, it is primarily people asking questions with few answers - the blind leading the blind. For Parallels is sound economics. If you can get customers to support themselves rather than the company offering the support, it means more profit. Its a great business model if you can get away with it - minimal support and superficial QA to increase profits at the expense of their customers sanity.

Please - will someone offer a stable, well QA'ed virtual product with good support at a fair price. I would gladly pay twice what Parallels and VMWare charges for a great stable product with good support. Is anyone listening?  
(Version 4.0.3846)

JOELLEVIN  Please please please make a new application icon. The current one hurts my sanity.  
(Version 4.0.3846)

MACTECHHEAD  Worked perfectly for me in the past and still working perfectly.

No problems to report and no complaints.

The best emulator of the lot if you don't need raw speed that Boot Camp offers and much nicer to have 2 OS's running side by side instead of just one.

Excellent support too. Reported a bug and it was squashed in the next update!  
(Version 4.0.3846)

US8  If you are looking for a dead simple yet high-performance way to run MS Windows on your Mac look no further than Parallels 4.0.

The installation experience could not have been easier or faster and the my Macbook Pro is simply the fastest Windows machine I have ever run.

As a web / software developer and MSDN subscriber, I need to use best of breed applications, regardless of the OS they were designed. I'm always running a mix of Mac and PC apps simultaneously. Right now here's what's open and running - Entourage, Photoshop CS3 (Mac), Expression 2, Transmit, Text Wrangler, Skype, Adium, MS Word, MS Excel, iPhoto, iTunes, Safari 4.0.2, IE8, Firefox Mac and PC (with loads of tabs open on all of them), MS RDC and Flash.

Before Parallels, I had to jump back and forth from Mac to PC all throughout the day. Now 95%, of everything I regularly need to do, I now do on one machine with Mac and PC application working seamlessly side by side.

I can't speak for others, but my 4.0 install is rock solid with none of the ill effects reported with coherence locking up or jagged dragging or any such thing. Just pure virtual OS goodness in every byte.

While I've got a Macbook Pro4,1 with 2.5GHz Core 2 Duo, 4GB of 667 MHz DDR2 SDRAM and OS X 10.5.7.

Of course, ymmv. But I wouldn't think by very much.

Good luck to you!

--kenn  
(Version 4.0.3844)

M-RICK  The crappiest support !

Take the money and then it is finished for you if you have a problem ...

Don't dare to install one of the latest Linux distrib using the last xorg ... there are months the users are waiting for an update, but Parallels teams is not considering nothing and just keeping silence while there it works well in VMware and VirtualBox.  
(Version 4.0.3844)

MARCO2600  Really happy with this program. I think it's a little better than VMWare IMO. I couldn't get COHERENCE mode working under VMware..

The price was right with the mupromo deal!  
(Version 4.0.3844)

STILL_SPARKLING  Anyone know what the deal is when the Parallels drive refuses to show up under the Startup Disk? I installed Parallels 4.0.3844 on a spare internal drive running Leopard in my MacPro and everything was fine. Windows 7 RC1 installed also without a hitch. A few hours later, I rebooted with my main drive as the startup disk and the Parallels drive was nowhere to be found -- just an icon with a question mark on it that says Network Startup.

The next day, I reformatted the Parallels drive and reinstalled Leopard on it, then reinstalled Parallels, then reinstalled Win 7. After playing around for a few hours to make sure everything was working, I rebooted back to my main HD and again, the Parallels drive disappeared. Double U Tee Eff?! This suuux.

Any help anyone can offer would be greatly appreciated.  
(Version 4.0.3844)

OLOTH01  is there anly option to get a german verison of Parallesls 4.0 from the last bundle??  
(Version 4.0.3844)

MIKEDFUNK  I used Parallels at work to simply debug web apps in Internet Explorer. I have a Mac Pro 2 x 2.66 Ghz with 3 GB ram with the latest leopard install. I had MAJOR problems with Parallels 4. When I left it running beyond when my computer went to sleep I would get an unresponsive machine after a while and would restart. When I restarted my user account would not show up in the login options.

The first time this happened I did a time machine restore, losing some work in the process and taking valuable time out of my day. The second time I realized there was a problem with time machine and it hadn't backed up in ages. Turns out my user folder was still there but it had been "un-blessed" and was not showing up in the list of users. I couldn't even log in as a guest user, the option was missing from the login screen. I eventually found a way to create a new user with a command in single user mode I found on the web and transferred all my files to the new user account.

Before you attribute the problem to something else understand I am careful to keep up with maintenance and run a lean, minimal system. I run Onyx regularly, zap pram regularly. The only thing I run in my menubar is SoundSource. I update Leopard every time an update is released. I had Windows XP installed with all the updates available and ran that the same way.

I have since ditched Parallels in favor of Virtual Box. It runs well on my machine and has almost all of the features of Parallels but for FREE. Coherence, shared networking, saved machine state, file sharing between machines, even cmd-c and cmd-v work. Parallels not only jacked my machine twice but it was also slow and buggy. Sometimes the save state file would get corrupted. Early on in v3 I tried to use parallels with the boot camp partition - that was a nightmare too. It didn't save the machine state and often wouldn't even start up. The coherence mode always had choppy dragging of windows and still does. I gave Parallels a fair shot with versions 2, 3, and 4 and finally got sick and tired of the slow startup even with a saved state, spinning beach ball, and eventually it destabilizing my entire system. I would not use Parallels now even if it was free.  
(Version 4.0.3844)

UNXADM  Really disappointed in the lack of frequent updates to support new operating systems. Virtualbox has already updated there software twice since the release of Ubuntu 9.04. Parallels can't even get their updated tools out. They are probably working on the next version of Parallels and figuring out how to get more upgrade cash out of people.  
(Version 4.0.3844)

PWIGBH  Okay! For all those out there that have problems with Parallels.

I run the 2w.x version everyday at wok on a MacBook Pro running 10.4.11 with MS Office 2003, ODBC to SQL server, Sybase, Oracle and I run Outlook with one minor glitch. When I scroll up too fast in excel I have to restart excel of the screen draws funny. That's it! I works like a charm! I will say it one more time. MacBook Pro 2.4 ghz 4meg or ram Parallels 2.x version running for 1 year 5 months very little to no problems. Great software! I'm a Mac user since MacOS 1.0 to system 7 to Mac OS 8, thru MacOS 9.0.4 all the way to 10.5.7. Parallels has been the second best software I've ever used. Yes! I have a Mac Pro 2 x 3 Dual Core Intel Zeon with the latest Parallels and I install Windows 2000, MS SQL Server 2007, with IIS install, PHP, PEAR , ODBC, MS Office 2003 and it workd better than on a real PC.

I write this so other can see what can be done if you do it right.

On a Mac that is!!!

Enjoy or Crash and Burn!  
(Version 4.0.3844)

OSOS10  While Parallels 4.0 works fine on my MacBook Pro 2.5, it is fairly responsive, works at a reasonable speed, and the connectivity with the MAC is fine too - I JUST HATE THIS PROGRAM. I am a light user of M$ Windows and more than 90% of the time I am not working in parallel. I want to turn Parallels on only when I WANT TO, and I want it ALWAYS in WINDOW mode (NO Coherence mode). However, Parallels knows better, THEY START PARALLELS whenever they decide (there are these two red parallel lines added to some icons - I have no control of that) and BOOM - here comes PARALLELS. MOREOVER - in these case it launches in the awful Coherence mode and a notification “YOU ARE WORKING IN COHERENCE MODE” (no one asks me if I want that - and no one cares what I set in the preferences). Immediately afterwards I am being asked (thanks a lot) if I want to let Windows\Parallels to access my entire HD - which I certainly don’t. Then, when I go back to Window mode - the setting of the window is OF COURSE full screen (and not my default 1024x752). Developers of Parallels - IF I WANTED WINDOWS I would just go and buy a Windows machine. The point is that I don’t want windows, and I use it only when there is a file that doesn’t fit MAC. Remember how OS-X asked us if we want to launch Classic Mode BEFORE booting classic environment (even if we double clicked a classic application of file), that’s the way it should be ! Here take your 1 star as this is what you deserve.  
(Version 4.0.3844)

KENTR  With this latest update Parallels has returned as the champ!

Smooth graphics, squashed bugs, and overall great performance.

I new they would fix it up right.  
(Version 4.0.3844)

PHILBY  Contrary to other reviewers ans commenters here, I never had a problem with Parallels 4. Its gotten nicely fast, and has been very stable and easy to use for me. I've been switching between Parallels and VMWare for a while, and liked Parallels better in the end, as it feels faster and more mac-like (icons, Pref panel).

The only trouble I had was with a disk image I transported from VMWare - things were very slow for a minute or two right after booting this image. Recreating the Win XP image from scratch solved this.

I also just discovered Parallels "Clone to Template" feature - which may mean never having to touch the Win XP install DVD again.  
(Version 4.0.3844)

MBHOCKEY  Has the bug where the yellow minimize widget disappears upon switching spaced to/from Parallels occupying its own full-screen space been resolved yet???  
(Version 4.0.3844)

JHT69  After needing to reinstall my OS, I tried to reinstall Parallels only for it to tell me that my new copy of Windows XP Pro had a corrupted disc. I attempted this twice with the same results. I didn't have time to waste as I needed to complete a work project using Windows only software app. I found VMWare Fusion 2.0 from Apple's site and downloaded a trial version...it booted up my WXP Pro with no problem and I bought a copy of fusion the next day.

I just wish I had found Fusion BEFORE I bought into all the garbage promo quotes on the outside of the Parallels box. It's true you can't judge a book by its cover. The guy at the Apple store was right....skip Parallels and go with Fusion. The upside is that I get to send in a few proof of purchase items and will get 30.00 cash back from VMWare...an expensive lesson, but one softened by Fusion.  
(Version 4.0.3810)

BRYANGRANT  I was starting to think the problem was with me, not the software. Then I ran across this thread of reviews. I can echo most the issues people have stated since Parallels 2.0. I am SO glad I have not upgraded to 4, since I thought it was a farce, and from these reviews.. it appears to be just that... vaporware.

I post this comment in hopes that someone knows a good workaround.

It relates to Parallels3. And.. by the way since the past few updates, the coherence and Tools do not function very well. Lots of little new bugs.

Is this their way of encouraging people to upgrade? It is encouraging me to try anything else BUT Parallels.

Here is the review I have been posting elsewhere..

"Beware of claims of adding space to drive.

Despite their advertising claims that may mislead you to believe otherwise, Parallels does NOT ship with enough tools to add space to your primary bootable drive (C) drive in Windows.

Their homepage states -

"Instantly Maximize Disk SpaceParallels Image Tools — Easily resize VM partitions with virtual hard disk capacity changes."

Since most people will not bother to have more than one drive in a virtual machine, . most people will thusly not be able to add space to the drive!

You could use Partition Magic, but it costs $69.95, and is NOT included with Parallels.

So.. if you are MOST people, and trying to use Windoze for one reason or other.. and you only have the one primary bootable partition.. you are out of luck.

The best part is that I asked them about this limitation in my first inquiry to support. After 13 emails from them suggesting I could actually do it, they then claimed to have been telling me all along that I could NOT do it.. when I as the one who highlighted this limitation to begin with, and was asking if there was a work around!!

It helps, when hiring a support staff, to have them at least be able to read and respond in the customers own language. What do you think?!"  
(Version 4.0.3810)

KENTR  I find it fascinating that users are outraged to find bugs in a new version. I learned a long time ago to not upgrade to a new version until at least some kinks have been worked out. I think at this point the program is stable and works fine for me.  
(Version 4.0.3810)

YESUAINI99  I've had many problems with Parallels since 2.0.

I don't know how they justify another upgrade charge for no significant advance in features or functions.

One thing it still falls far behind VMWare Fusion is the fact Fusion supports other languages much better. In my Chinese edition WinXP, (which I installed on both Parallels and Fusion in my MBP), some software in Parallels simply can not run (because everything you see are in scrambled codes, not chinese characters.) But Fusion provides smooth flow of some of the languages I've tried to run on it.

Addition to this language issue every time after some update patch is installed, the internet stops working inside Parallels.

I've almost decided to quit and remove Parallels and my last attempt to use it somehow the internet came back working again without any reason (I've done no modification to Parallels in any way.)

I am reluctant to give them money to try something that has failed me in the last 2 upgrades.

Tell me how you justify another 40 bucks?  
(Version 4.0.3810)

DALESKI  I spent 4 hours over the weekend attempting to get parallels working with my xp bootcamp partition on my macbook pro with a 64gb ssd.

After trying multiple suggestions from various forums (none of which worked) I went back to vmware fusion and it worked flawlessly first time.

Parallels maybe faster in a lot of respects than vmware fusion but at least fusion works.

How can a company charge money for a product which has so many flaws is beyond me.  
(Version 4.0.3810)

JJMAC  Version 3 is faster then 4 .... I have iMac 2.0 and .... a lot of peoples here said that is opposite!

Please tell me how you employ computer ... or is something wrong with my computer and preferences!!

thx

jjmac66@gmail.com  
(Version 4.0.3810)

G4JAY  If you got Xp installed on a Bootcamp partition, STAY AWAY from 4.x. I've been plagued with constant BSOD on booting XP Pro. Yet... XP boots fine via bootcamp or VMware fusion (which I dont like). I'm reverting back to Parallels 3.x. It may be slower than 4.0, but it's at least STABLE!  
(Version 4.0.3810)

MISHA  I've been using Parallels 4 since its release, primarily with a Windows XP SP3 installation on Boot Camp (I prefer to use Boot Camp for the very few times I can actually spare a moment to play a game since some that I play require DirectX 10 and Shader 3—Parallels 4 only supports DirectX 9 and Shader 2).

I haven't had a single major issue with Parallels 4 whatsoever. The initial release had a few bugs and there were times the VM would seemingly freeze up for a bit, but that went away with first update. Since then, it's been a smooth ride whenever I've needed to run Windows apps.

Having said that, I'm a fairly lightweight Parallels user. I use it for networking and printing but nothing as involved as what it's capable of handling, although I am running it on an 8-core Mac Pro and it's GREAT to be able to give it 4 of those cores to work with as everything I use in Windows absolutely flies (and I notice no performance hit to Mac OS X).

I will say that I wish MacDrive 6 played nicely with it, but I'm not sure if that's a Parallels shortcoming or a MacDrive shortcoming.  
(Version 4.0.3810)

BILL_601  If you're looking to upgrade a Parallels 3.X installation - WAIT!

I'm running a 2.4 GHz MacBook Pro and I let Parallels go for over 12 hours trying to update my Parallels 3.X virtual machine (Windows XP). It was hung up on Step 3 of 4. It finally locked up the computer (the clock even froze) and I had to shut down and restart. Then it hung up again on Step 4. Force Quit and tried again. Then it finally finished.

It's running fine now that it's updated the virtual machine. So perhaps if you're doing an initial install it might be fine. But I'd let them post another revision or so before I'd try doing an update of an existing Parallels 3.X installation.

One other note: Windows XP decided the changes from the 3.X to the 4.X virtual machine were too drastic and made me re-activate the product. So be prepared to have to deal with that.  
(Version 4.0.3810)

REPEATER75  The new release (4.0.3810) seems to have gotten a lot of the wrinkles ironed out. I had some performance issues when doing some intensive things in the host OS while Parallels 4 was running that didn't happen with Parallels 3. Now I am glad I made the upgrade as the performance is really quite good for me. If you've been waiting for a more stable version of the 4.X series, I think this one is pretty solid.  
(Version 4.0.3810)

ALDUSP  I've hated always having two computers on my desk. The one I love (MacBook Pro 17"), and the big old cream-colored Buick I needed to have for a few specific programs (PC). Now I can jump back and forth between OSX and Windows XP on my mac and have picked up some MUCH needed desk real estate (I donated my PC). Parallels 4 has given me no grief whatsoever (2 and 3 did). A few things I like - it allows me to share a desktop with both OS's, Parallels marks the PC app's with two red stripes for easy visibility, it has never crashed running Windows XP (knock on wood).  
(Version 4.0.3540)

MUDFLAPPER  Sorry...forgot to rate.

---------------------

I'm currently testing PD4 and, I have to say, I'm loving it. 4.x is much faster and much less of a resource hog than 3.x. The extensive preferences are out nicely and logically. The install/conversion from 3.x took an hour or so, but it was relatively easy. The UI has been updated as well, and it looks quite good.

Nice job.  
(Version 4.0.3540)

MUDFLAPPER  I'm currently testing PD4 and, I have to say, I'm loving it. 4.x is much faster and much less of a resource hog than 3.x. The extensive preferences are out nicely and logically. The install/conversion from 3.x took an hour or so, but it was relatively easy. The UI has been updated as well, and it looks quite good.

Nice job.  
(Version 4.0.3540)

KOSOVAR1  And just so I can feel better about being sold some snake oil, let me mention a couple of more annoying problems with Parallels. These might also be attributable to MICROSOFT (but no surprise there).

On my seventh or eighth re-installation of Parallels Desktop/Windows Vista to try to get a "working" system, I thought I had succeeded. With this newest version of Parallels, I discovered there seemed to be no way that Parallels Desktop was able to use the Boot Camp partition of Vista. This was pretty simple in version 3. I may be wrong, but it seems not to be an option anymore in version 4. I'd be interested in getting some guidance on this since I can't find it in the Parallels documentation. The result is that I now have the Boot Camp partition and a separate VM installation of Vista for Parallels use. This takes up so much space on my 250 Gig MacBook Pro drive.

An annoying (but not deal-breaking) bug is that when I try to install the Vista VM icon in the dock, it won't settle in. Instead, every program icon it gets dragged across starts bobbing and starts up. Already my system is starving for memory and CPU resources and then all these extra programs start up. The result is that they whole system locks up.

The real deal-breaker bug or fault (which may be a Microsoft issue, bit which Parallels should have addressed) is that because since I have Vista installed in a Boot Camp partition and in a VM, when I boot into the second system, Vista dials home to Mama Microsoft and insists that I purchase a second activation code for the Vista installation I'm attempting to run on the SECOND COMPUTER! So, trying to run Vista two different ways (as a VM and as a Boot Camp partition is blocked. No fuc**** way am I going to waste time trying to explain to MS customer service rep that I am not running the same copy of VIsta on two different machines. I'd rather have a root canal performed. And judging by the experiences of others here who tried to get help from Parallels customer/tech support, I'd not waste my valuable time with them either.

And to mention a final problem that made me eventually toss everything: After installing the Vista VM, I've tried several times to install all the system and security updates for Vista. Apparently, even with a relatively fast MacBook Pro with 2 gigs of RAM and a wideband internet connection, this is more than Vista/Parallels Desktop can handle. The update installation crawled to a stop after about half an hour. I waited several hours and was forced to shut down Vista. The Parallels DT program dutifully warned me that all changes will be lost. This failure was repeated every time after several attempts to bring the new installation of Vista up to date. It means that I cannot update Vista, even after it took several days work to finally get a successful installation

Considering all the installation problems, days (weeks) of fighting bugs and stability issues, and the mind-numbing slowness of Vista under Parallels for the short periods of time when I can get a working system going, I am trashing Parallels altogether. Running VIsta under Boot Camp will have to be enough. Better to battle with one devil (Microsoft) than two (Microsoft and Parallels)!  
(Version 4.0.3540)

BRIAN KENDIG  If you need the latest update for version 3, you can download it here:

http://download.parallels.com/v3/en/GA/Parallels-Desktop-5626-Mac-en.dmg  
(Version 4.0.3540)

MORT8104  OK, I liked Parallels 3. I used it to run Visual Studio on my Mac (I'm a developer) without having to BootCamp.

My only real gripe was that I couldn't run many games in it due to the patchy 3D support.

That has all changed with Parallels 4. It has full support for DirectX9, and even better, it allows you to control the amount of RAM assigned to the virtual graphics card.

Just to put this in perspective... I run a MacBook 13.3" with an Intel GMA950 GPU. That system is not capable of running Spore under MacOSX since the amount of shared RAM the GPU is allowed to address is limited to 64Mb. Under Parallels 4, I just gave my virtual GPU 128Mb of RAM and booted up Spore. Guess what... it runs like a dream. Really impressive.

There is now, imho, no reason at all to go the BootCamp route at all.

My upgrade from Parallels 3 to 4 with the early adopters discount cost me a mere $47 USD which I think is a small price to pay for this kind of convenience.

Parallels has really increased the usefulness and lifespan of my WhiteBook. I no longer feel such a driving urge to go out and buy one of the shiny new 15" MBPs.  
(Version 4.0.3540)

KOSOVAR1  I don't know whether to blame Microsoft or Parallels for the instabilities and crappy performance. I bought versions 2 and 3 of Parallels and wasted $300 on a copy of Vista. I have to say that with these versions, I always had trouble trouble. The installations went OK, but performance of Vista in a VM was pretty pathetic using my MacBook Pro (2.33 Core 2 Duo processor with 2 Gigs RAM).Ubuntu Linux was speedier of course. My main complaint with using Parallels with both Linux and Vista, was that every few weeks, the stems would become unstable and then unuseable. Reinstallatilons were performed, but the same tired story repeated over and over. Even booting Vista natively in Boot Camp didn't remove the instabilities with Linux and Vista. I waited for version 4 to come out, eagerly installed it and converted my Vista VM to version 4. Same instability. So, I threw out everything, removed the old Bootcamp partition, and attempted a new reinstallation of Vista. I created a partition under Boot Camp, but this time couldn't install Vista,getting an error message saying that files were corrupted or unavailable. I was using a pristine, legitimate copy of Vista Home Premium for goodness sakes! As a last ditch effort, I tried to install Vista only as a VM, which yielded the same error message. Point? For the past couple of years struggling with Parallels and Microsoft, I've only experienced countless hopurs of frustration and thrown god money after bad.   
(Version 4.0.3540)

MACX.DK  I'm using build 4.0.3540 with my Boot Camp drive (Win XP Pro SP2, and was running just fine with BC and Parallels Desktop v3).

Installation did not give me any problem, but running my Windows did! After upgrade, and the installation of Parallels Security software all hell broke loose! :/

Windows boot just as fast as in version 3, but the desktop has longer hangtime that Michael Jordan. Every click, drag or selection are slow. After a few minutes I get an hour glass though the CPUs (tried with 2 and 4) are doing about 0-2% and the HD are idle. At this point the only thing I can do is reset or quit Parallels Desktop.

I think I will downgrade to v3 and run on 2 CPUs again :(  
(Version 4.0.3540)

SEF6  I'm using Parallels on a desktop and a laptop. Before 4.0.354 the desktop was OK, minor interface issues. The laptop was awful, constantly "losing" Hard Drive 1.

.0354 has solved all issues on both machines. Mac integration is smooth. Great job, nice response to the needed fixes.  
(Version 4.0.3540)

AYDINYULUG  First 4.0 release made 3.0 hard disc useless so had to go back to 3.0 and use a backup. It may be best to skip the first few 4.0 releases.

Aydin  
(Version 4.0.3540)

JIMW  This is the latest edition of the Parallels installation nightmare. I tried installing this 'update' over the previous Parallels 4.0 release. I had finally gotten that to work after several frustrating days of effort (see previous comments) This 'update' corrupted the working installation. In particular, it blew the previously working Parallels Tools out of the water. My mouse quit working again and Parallels Tools had a different install error after each attempt to get it reinstalled again. After another 2-3 hours of continual work I finally have it working again. Here is what it took to do this:

- About 30+ Windows reboots and several Mac reboots

- Several removal and reinstallation of the Microsoft PS/2 Mouse Driver

- Complete removal of the previous Parallels 4 installation and reinstallation of the update

- Reactivation of Microsoft Windows XP.

While the release notes state that they fixed the Virtual PC conversion issue, you could not validate that by my experience.

Makes you wonder if this company ever heard of Software QA or Beta Testing, much less doing it.   
(Version 4.0.3540)

DRAW  > It crashed during updating from version 3

> Now it often hangs up (I don´t use curious software),

> I don't see any "dramatic improvement in speed" and

> Updating ONLY works if you fully registrate at parallels.

This definitively all we know from other OS.

Welcome to Windows, its stormy there, who dreams of Windows become nice running on a Mac.

It was a try, but now I took the decision to close my window (it becomes winter time ;-)), going straight back to use just OS X.  
(Version 4.0.3540)

LEMERLOT  I've tried to upgrade from Parallels v3 to v4... - and the nightmare started.

Now I have to downgrade to v3 again since v4 never worked – only showing me a blue screen with my formerly rock solid XP Bootcamp partition.

If you look in Parallels' forums you'll understand why I only can give you one advice: Do yourself a big favor and wait with the upgrade until the next version which (hopefully) works...   
(Version 4.0.3522)

BRUSETH  They did a terrific job of ‘tuning this up.’ It’s faster, and just plain better in so many ways. And extremely stable! Very cool. Thanks for this update.  
(Version 4.0.3522)

ALEX-BR  I bought Parallels 4 (upgrade from 3) as soon as I heard about the release. I was very excited, and everything was fine during installation (no problems converting my Parallels 3 virtual machine with XP)...

But now something very strange is happening to me:

If Parallels 4 is running, my internet connection does not work in both systems: OS X and XP (virtual machine).

Anyone here had this issue?

Thanks!  
(Version 4.0.3522)

SURFSPIRIT  I tried VMWare Fusion, Parallels Desktop and VirtualBox. I went from Parallels to Fusion because Fusion was faster, but well I must say, not so well Mac OS Integrated as Parallels.

Then I changed again to VirtualBox, which is free and very fast and robust, but well It really misses the Mac OS X integration!

Then Parallels released Version 4, I was reluctant to try it again, so much work for nothing, but I donwload the Parallels Version 4 tryout and it really beats all the competition.

It´s very very fast! The Mac OS X integration is absolutely the best I have seen and CPU cycles and the overall CPU need is the lowest of all the virtual machines I ever tested. It's great that now the virtual windows don't waste cpu cycles when not using it, I don't even have to pause the virtual machine.

And with Parallels 4 your desktop folder, documents folder, is the same as the one in Mac OS making it really easy to use! It uses all the CPU cores that you want, and it really has graphic 3d acceleration.! Virtual Machines finally got mature, and the first one to get into this stage is Parallels Desktop 4!  
(Version 4.0.3522)

NAOH  Well, for all those out there who have had trouble migrating their virtual machines to Parallels Desktop 4, it appears the problem is at least in part due to VirtualPC. The issue is apparently mainly affecting virtual machines that have previously been migrated from VirtualPC.

According to a document on the Parallels KnowledgeBase, the solution involves replacing the mouse driver for the default Windows driver, and then restarting the computer before applying the Parallels tools again.

It appears to be the VirtualPC mouse drivers that refuse to budge which are causing the problem. (The VirtualPC Virtual Machine Additions won't have been removed from the system unless you have made a special effort to remove them prior to migrating the system to Parallels.)

The KnowledgeBase article can be found at this URL: http://kb.parallels.com/en/5735

I just followed the instructions on my installation, and it worked!  
(Version 4.0.3522)

YOSHI-LONDON  I had parallels 3 to run Windows XP in my MacBookPro 2.4 GHz C2D with 4GB memory and was not very happy with its speed. It was memory eater and affected mac system quite a bit. Because of that recently I was seriously thinking to migrate to Fusion2 as it got a fantastic reviews everywhere. However, I found parallels 4 released and thought to give a try by upgrading. It took about 90 min to install and convert window Xp image file for Parallels 4. I was almost out of patient, but I managed. Boy, this was a true upgrade of user experience. Speed gain is truly fantastic. It is not also memory hungry as well. Cohesive mode without task bar is also good and useful. I can now keep running parallels/WinXP all the time as it does not affect MacOSX stability and usability. However, this is not without any bugs. For example, it seems to conflict with space of OSX. I designated Parallels in space 2 and MS-Word2008 for Mac in Space 1, but MS-Word2008 always go to space 2 and vise versa. At the end, I turned off Space. Also when I moved application windows of XP with mouse, there are a little bit of delay. But these problem is too small when you get such a dramatic speed gain. It seems that many people are having problems to install it, but once it is installed correctly (be patient!!) it works well with Windows XP at least. I highly recommend it!  
(Version 4.0.3522)

A J BENAMU  I am a paid costumer of version 3 and I stupidly paid for version 4. It works great with Windows, but it hangs and freezes my mac on any Linux distro. I have not been able to install any linux guest OS.  
(Version 4.0.3522)

SURFSPIRIT  Finally, very fast, and no cpu hog! Great Version! Recomended, I used VirtualBox because it was faster than VMWare and Parallels, but now Parallels 4 is the one, Mac OS integration is the best! It's truth that VirtualBox is free, but Parallels 4 is a good choice for the money at last!  
(Version 4.0.3522)

NAOH  I have a similar experience to JIMW with regards to the Parallels tools not installing.

The issue appears to be with the installer running out of available space on the hard drive.

I have tried this on two separate virtual machines, and they both fail at the same point.

I suspect that the issue is either with the virtual disk not growing as it should when additional space is needed, or the installer having a fault of some type.

My intention is to try with a brand new installation of Windows, and see if the tools installer has problems then.

At the moment I would recommend that anyone who is upgrading waits for the next release, as they should have a fresh version of the tools then and the most glaring bugs should have been addressed.

(Yes, I guess I am an optimist.)  
(Version 4.0.3522)

JIMW  This is a paid upgrade, even for 3.0 users Minimum cost is $40. Understanding a determining what to purchase is very confusing. The download store automatically opt you in for a $7 download privilege that you do not need if you backup the download or burn it to a CD. Unfortunately it is not obvious how to opt out of this and the site provides no information to do this. It took 2 phone calls, several transfers, and an hour of time just to contact Tech Support to find out about this. Installation of the product after download is a very lengthy process and can be very problematic. In my case I lost all cursor control in Windows, and could not get Parallels tools to install properly. It also required me to reactivate Windows. Getting in touch with Tech Support is a nightmare from you know where. They do not want to talk to you unless you are willing to pay for it, even if it is an initial installation. Free support is only via email with no expectation of when they will get back to you. When I protested this policy I was transferred to support where I waited for over a half hour before being hung up by the system which indicated it was too busy to take my call. Given the install made my Windows XP unusable and I could not get any help to resolve it. I called customer service and was finally able to speak to a live person. When I asked for a supervisor I was told that they had all gone home. So I demanded my update licensed be canceled and I be given a refund, which they did with no protest. They did not seem to care whether I remained their customer or bought their competitors product. Unfortunately I thought I could simply delete the product and support files and reload Parallels 3 from Time Machine. Not so as it would not work. So I tried to reinstall Parallels 3 from an update image but it would not let me, complaining that server software was still present but providing no clue as to how to resolve it. A Google search on the subject was of little help. I finally resorted to reinstalling Parallels 4 then immediately uninstalling it with its uninstaller. That trick finally allowed me to reinstall Parallels 3. In any case please, for your own good, do not even think of Upgrading to Parallels 4 unless you are sure you have a complete backup of your Windows installation from Parallels 3. Additionally if you have more than a single license, you have to order each update as a separate order. Since I never got Parallels 4 to work properly I have no idea how it compares to Parallels 3.

In summary, upgrading to Parallels 4 can be extremely problematic and turn into your worst nightmare. Installation Tech Support, based in India, is virtually nonexistent if you need it in a timely manner.

Recommendations: I would suggest avoiding the current upgrade at all costs unless it absolutely necessary that you need to preform it, unless you want to be a Beta Tester, or a masochist.. If you still want to upgrade, I would suggest waiting for the next update, when hopefully they will have worked out some of the bugs. Right now given its installation performance and Tech Support issues, I do not feel it is ready for 'Prime Time.' It is a costly upgrade, even with the discount, and given its problems and support accessibility, a savings of $20 off the suggest price simply is not worth the pain of being an early implementer. As for my own plans. for now I will continue to use Parallels 3, and given Parallels current level of Tech Support, I am going to take a serious look and VMFusion. I see no reason to pay for or support Parallels products in the future, given the grief they have caused me today unless they improve their support access and and the products stability.   
(Version 4.0.3522)

IMPISH500  Thoughts about Parallels 4... Been running Parallels for over an hour now, haven't heard the fans on my MacBook (2.0 GHz Core 2 Duo, Black, 2 GB RAM) spin up once. When I was running Parallels 3 the fans would be running all the time. The option in Parallels 4 for running the VM's with either a single core or dual cores, plus passing the acpi data from the mac hardware to the VM's is a wonderful addition to Parallels (now I can check my battery's charge/discharge rate in the VM's with out having to switch another "space" (feature of 10.5).

Now I start hearing the fans (updating Fedora 9 in Parallels) has triggered the fans to spin up...

Parallels, keep up the good work... :)  
(Version 4.0.3522)

EVAL  I had to manually add the ACPI driver from the Windows XP CD in order to finish the hardware setup, and then Windows Activation worked.  
(Version 4.0.3522)

EVAL  Apparently the manual upgrade process requires three restarts, and the failure message is unclear. Ignore it, and click OK, then manually start the upgrade process from the virtual CD, you will see the four stages proceed, one after each restart once you get the "Upgrade failed" error. I still had to manually install Parallel Tools after that (even though the upgrade screen indicated that it was doing this as part of step 4). Windows XP displayed an error saying that the hardware has significantly changed, and required re-Activation, which failed.  
(Version 4.0.3522)

EVAL  I would hold off on upgrading until they have the issues fixed.

As others have reported, my Windows XP upgrade didn't complete automatically, the manual process isn't going as describe, and the troubleshooting guide is not providing the desired answers. I'm stuck at "Unable to upgrade the virtual machine." until support gets back to me.

It seems they are prepared for people to have this problem, rather than solving it before release.  
(Version 4.0.3522)

CHIEFTED  My earlier review, for those that couldn't guess, was done in IE using the dual processor feature that I wrote about.

You can see what it did to my entry, now wondering what it did to my virtual machine.  
(Version 4.0.3522)

ERIC DURBROW  People thinking of Parallels: First, there are cheaper alternatives such as VMFusion and VirtualBox. Second, the tech support is quite poor. Buyer beware!  
(Version 4.0.3522)

FVDG  Problems problems...

Got an error on my Windows XP convert... and that was it, won't start XP anymore

will NOT install Parallels tools under Vista either, how many times you choose the install tools command it does NOTHING

Nor ready for prime time this release. Stay away!!  
(Version 4.0.3522)

CHIEFTED  Well be a loyal Parallels user since it first came out for personal use. I still use

VMWare Fusion at work because I could use both processors. So when Parallels announced

that they would also have this same functionality I thought great.

Today I purchased my upgrade copy.

Boy I sorta wish I didn't.

First I know I won't be using this at work. The upgrade to long, longer than it should least

I think so.

I am running my personal copy on the new MacBook (aluminum "brick" version).

When setting the configuration to use both processors, its slow, pokey, the tracking of the

mouse is for crap (read the mouse is jumping all over the place), typing on the keyboard

is again for crap (slow to register characters, etc).

In the single processor mode its ok. Just like version 3.0 was.

I know one thing I won't be installing this version on any of the 100 plus Mac here at work. I will probably stay with VMWare Fusion till the folks a Parallels can fix the dual processor issues.  
(Version 4.0.3522)

REAL MEN RIDE SINGLESPEEDS  I've used the product since the early days and I'm now on version 3.0 on a 2.1ghz Core Duo / 1 gig ram. I'm an occasional user as I sometimes need to run Windows applications to work with MS databases. I think these guys did a great job in leading the way for us Mac users to free ourselves from the throbbing fans and ugly unreliable world that is PC hardware. The product is easy enough to use and does the job. I haven't suffered compatability issues and moving files from OSX to Windows has worked flawlessly.

However, you need extreme patience as the application can take an age to load and in the process will bring your Mac to a crawl. When its loaded it runs okay, but switching back to the Mac desktop you need to learn patience. Perhaps, I've been unfortunate, but I've also suffered serious unrecoverable system crashes. So, I'd recommend ensuring Time Machine is up to date and that you have a bootable image somewhere (I recommend SuperDuper for this) - just in case.

The performance issues and occasional crash might just be down to local issues with my machine (which has been rock solid outside of using Parallels) or some configuration problem.

Overall, I'd recommend this product and I'll continue to use it but alongside with my 1 tb backup disk.  
(Version 3.0.5626)

SHOTGUNWEDDINGS  Speedier and more robust, never had any major bugs , so all in all the extra speed is a great improvement for me.

And those of you with problems, why aren't you asking your questions on the developer's forum? Where bugs are actually read and fixed.  
(Version 3.0.5626)

CERNIUK  Have been steadily using this product from its inception. As they jumped on the Mac market, they earned my loyalty but...

We have had numerous problems and currently issues like making a Macbook Air (1.8Ghz) useless when launching parallels has broken the camels back. Not sure what it is doing or what it is triggering but opening parallels can take from 5 to 20 minutes on a 2GB RAM 1.8GHz MacBook Air or MacBook 15" Core2Duo freezing the entire system until it finally comes up.

Ironically 2.0 versions don't do this.

Then the issue of use with broadband cards. Thought it was solved but it hits us right between the eyes every once in a while. Today, Parallels is complaining about networking against a verizon broadband card again so uninstall and reinstall.

Lastly, the shared folder is so slow and has a number of incompatibilities such that installing software from it frequently fails with some kind of pathname issue. Copying the software into the "C" drive and installing works but then removing and compressing hte "C" drive is extra work.

The two other alternatives are under review now to replace Parallels, my old friend.  
(Version 3.0.5608)

HORATIO  I dreamt yesterday, or was there for a couple of minutes a Paralels Desktop 4.0 public beta, that disappeared a little bit later  
(Version 3.0.5608)

JALBOS  Works perfectly and fast with Windows Fundamentals for Legacy PCs  
(Version 3.0.5608)

ANDU  working great again! Thanks to the developers  
(Version 3.0.5608)

RPITCAIRN  Well I tried again. Downloaded the update and installed this time. So I tried opening the software for the first time. Get a request for an activation code. Serial number does not work and there is no activation code on the user's manual, so I am stuck. Looked in the manual to see how to contact tech support and went online. Guess what? Have to pay $30 ahead of time to talk to a live person! So I tried their link for "free email support". Guess what again? Can't access that without the activation code. Crazy making. I have paid for this software, can't use it. Can't get any help with installation. I should have know better than to buy anything other than a Mac program. I would advise anyone thinking of using this software to be aware of very lousy tech support. Guess I won't be using it after all.  
(Version 3.0.5608)

RPITCAIRN  Tried to open for updating Parallels on my MacBook Air. Will not open. Tried twice, unresponsive, have to force quit.  
(Version 3.0.5604)

SHOTGUNWEDDINGS  Looks like the OSX 10.5.3 update broke something with Parallels Desktop 3.0.5600.

When I leave my windows or programs open in Parallels Desktop they start flashing like crazy. Happens when I switch from Parallels Desktop to any Mac program or the Finder and switch back to Parallels Desktop. Basically if anything overlaps Parallels Desktop's window it goes nuts when I switch back to it.

Temporary fix : Resize the Parallels Desktop window or switch from full screen to window and back.  
(Version 3.0.5600)

ADRIANBOLT  None of the links appear to be working.  
(Version 3.0.5600)

GARY30  Downloaded and installed on May 9 over previous version running under 10.5.2 on a MBP. Virtual machine was XP-SP2. You must reinstall Parallels Tools after the update. I do this as a matter of course, but some probably don't and not doing so would definitely cause problems.

Once my XP-SP2 installation was confirmed good, I installed Microsoft's new service pack, SP3. Other than taking almost two hours it went fine and the machine is stable.

It looks like Parallels made significant strides in reducing Parallels CPU usage with this version and that is welcome.  
(Version 3.0.5600)

HERVé 5  downloaded one day ago, no trouble up to now with this update.

don't forget to shut down all your hosted machines before upgrading Parallels itself: in the past I skipped this, and when re-awakening a windows nt in the newer Parallels context I once got a crash (of windows, not the mac), which is almost logical if one thinks about it.

(but as it's soo easy not to restart VMs...)  
(Version 3.0.5600)

BLEE  I use both VMWare Fusion (Work) and Parallels (Home). I like them both and I think both are about neck and neck. There are stability problems with both nothing major but they will both crash from time to time and when I say crash I mean the entire program just quits. I notice it less and less as each version is released. Would I recommend one over the other not really it's a matter of personal preference. I will say one thing... I have had one of my VM Image get corrupt on VM Ware Fusion... I think it was a fluke.  
(Version 3.0.5600)

SHOTGUNWEDDINGS  Works fine for me. Been running Windows XP since Desktop Parallels was still in Beta stages.

This is far more convieniant than Boot Camp for me and far more stable than the alternatives.

I'm also not using any funky hardware from the windows side, so I have no issues with network or wireless, since its all done through my iMac's hardware. Shared network or wireless both work fine with Parallels.

And the SP3 update went smoothly too. No problems.  
(Version 3.0.5600)

CALPROMOGUY  I have had Parallels since mid-FEB08 having converted from a Wintel box to MacOS in January. I need Windows IE7 to connect to my back-office operations. I started by using BootCamp. Parallels was recommended to me as an alternative and the reviews looked reasonable - not great, but not bad. What a mistake. It is unstable and has required multiple re-installs. Their support is terrible. And yes, I paid for support(!) and they still do not reply or support the product. Support was paid for in late April with a fulfillment date given - only after pestering them for the date - which was missed - and still not fulfilled. My installation is Windows Vista within 3.0.5584. My office runs wireless to a 2WIRE ATT modem and the Mac side never breaks. The internet connection on the Parallels/Vista breaks constantly - and they have NO clue as to why. File sharing has never worked correctly. I have spent way too much time on it. I am dumping this stuff ASAP - and hopefully, get a refund for my software and support fees. I hope VMWare Fusion 1.1 for MacOS is better and that they support their product.  
(Version 3.0.5584)

FLOKINOU  I just bought it with the Macupdate Bundle. The activation code only seems to be working with the english version (?) anyway it doesn't work with the french one. A bit annoying.  
(Version 3.0.5584)

XYPHER  Just bought this as part of MU Promo, your comment about Bootcamp is worrying me. Could you tell me what spec machine you are using please?  
(Version 3.0.5584)

STOODI  I had problems with "English Grammar in Use" cd-rom from Cambridge University Press. It is secured by "Secure Disk" or something like this. Vmware Fusion works with this disk without problems, so I think guys from Parallels should fix this.   
(Version 3.0.5584)

JARRET777  Do not touch this software with a 9,000 foot pole. Seriously! After having my bootcamp hosed several times and ZERO support from Parallels... I'm outta here and heading to fusion. I urge you all to join me.

If you install parallels to use a bootcamp install, the next time you use that bootcamp install you will hose parallels and have to uninstall/reinstall. So if you do not mind carrying your software disk with you to resinstall EVERY farking time... dump this lame company that can't even provide off-shore level technical support.  
(Version 3.0.5584)

KOMOTAYLOR  I like the fact that Parallels keeps innovating and it shows! The product gets far better with each build. I love Parallels Desktop for Mac and its extensive features. Not to mention set up is easy!  
(Version 3.0.5584)

MANOPHAT  Very good !!!

But GUI not beautiful.  
(Version 3.0.5584)

IPECK  Wow.. works very smoothly and fast, exept for built in isight and mic that doesnt work. Internet works fine (lan) exept for wireless (airport). Video seem to be well aupported. Drag n drop between disks goes well too.

Love it.

iMac, Leopard 10.5.1, core 2 duo, 2ghz, 1 go ram, running xp pro sp2.  
(Version 3.0.5584)

FRIEDDYLAN  Parallels hosed my WinXP (BootCamp) install again..

I removed the Parallel tools from my BootCamp volume and it replaced my DX files with some lame Wine version of files (according to the system) that refuses to be removed or replaced. This is the third time this has happened causing me to reinstall Windows. I'm done with bug reports, I'm done with reinstalls and I'm done with Parallels. My VmWare Fusion installs never harmed the system. I'm dropping this once and for all. If only VMWare was as granular with their settings like Parallels is..  
(Version 3.0.5584)

ORION MK. V  New version works as promised and fixes the drag-n-drop issue.  
(Version 3.0.5584)

7H31LL3G4L  install Ubuntu 7.10 no work...

please look my screenshot...

:(

http://ponkan.quickshareit.com/share/immagine13f409.png

Bye...  
(Version 3.0.5584)

LIKOS  Will this work with a bootcamp partition?

(I know a bootcamp partition can be converted to work but I wan't to keep the bootcamp partition and sometimes use it without rebooting.)

If it parallels can use a bootcamp partition what are your experiences using this method?  
(Version 3.0.5582)

EASER  Okay, this may be a stupid question, but I'm unclear. Is Parallels a virtual Windows program? If I buy it, does it give me Windows? Or do I have to also buy Windows in addition to Parallels? And if it's a virtual program, how does it compare to the old Virtual PC program? Many thanks.  
(Version 3.0.5582)

LEMERLOT  Wow, I'm impressed.

After having installed Parallels Desktop 3.0 Build 5580 I didn't expect very much. But seems the Parallels team worked hard because this version rocks. I am even able now to use my Treo 650 Smartphone remotely on my Mac via USB and PDA Reach (for Windows) for the first time - AND in Parallels' Coherence mode - best of both worlds - so convenient and cool!

Since Parallels so far never was able to handle this USB task I wanted to switch to VM Ware Fusion. But with Parallels' Build 5580 this isn't necessary any more. Parallels Build 5580 is now very snappy and fast again so I have no reason for switching any more. In a perfect world I would wish that it would support both processors of my MacBook Pro Core2Duo - but hey, who's perfect?

I can highly recommend Parallels Desktop now again - it's worth every Dollar!

Cheers from Switzerland

Jo   
(Version 3.0.5580)

ORION MK. V  Latest build installed and runs fine. I don't notice any improvements, but it seems stable thus far.  
(Version 3.0.5570b)

MOOG MODULAR  Downloaded this twice from two different sources. Neither worked. Possibly their installer.

Regardless, it always launched saying it was missing a driver.

Didn't say which one.

So I bought Leopard just for Bootcamp.

My own opinion is that Parallels is a great app if helping Apple's sales is the point.  
(Version 3.0.5570b)

AQTINC  Point taken, in fact I do agree with your opinion regarding Boot Camp.

However, I've stated before and elsewhere in these forums that in order for MacUpdate to remain a credible source of user information, users need to write reviews with the highest levels of objectivity. You make an assumption that simply isn't true--that most people use these tools to run BootCamp partitions. In fact, the vast majority are running VMs, and often multiple OSes.

I've used both too, and I agree that VMWare does a better job with BC partitions, although not perfect or failproof. Parallels has never worked right in that area, and still doesn't today. However, on VMs, Parallels does offer a more seamless experience than Fusion, as "Coherence" continues to outpace there.

Objectively, I'd say that both have their respective pluses and minuses, and that on balance they are comparable today. For your needs to run BootCamp, I think I would opt for VMWare as you do. Fusion does seem to be more stable than Parallels when running a BC partition, however, neither product fully reproduces the experience of booting into the Windows partition when using Vista (Ultimate), and both can cause crashes that do not happen when booting into Vista as BC was designed to do.

Given that the vast majority of users are in fact running VMs, then Fusion's stability advantage in BC may not be a factor for them.

In my humble opinion, you closing comments came on way too strong to be called objective, and really started to sound like marketing hype.  
(Version 3.0.5570b)

AQTINC  Just wondering if I'm the only one that's beginning to doubt these reviews on Parallels and VMware.

It seems that for both products, so-called "reviews" are posted, almost within minutes of their posting.

Further, it seems odd that in both cases, a review slamming one product, IN THE SAME REVIEW, makes a pitch for the competitor. By the same token, a good review is far too often flawless, when we all know that both products have their own respective issues.

I can't help it, but these reviews are starting to sound too much like both companies have charged their marketing minions with trashing the competition, praising their own, and making blatant sales pitches disguised as "reviews".  
(Version 3.0.5570b)

GASTON  No problems with this beta (iMac CD, 2GB RAM, win 2000).  
(Version 3.0.5570b)

MIXEL  No real problems with it! I'm running the latest version and have been running it in one form or another since I got my RevA Macbook over a year ago.

Only time I had any issues at all were when I was trying experimental Vista stuff which seems ironed out now anyway. I've never seen a kernel panic, and it's never damaged my bootcamp partition. And I use it almost every day.. Hmm.  
(Version 3.0.5570b)

WAL9000  Swsoft did a good job bring Parallels Desktop to market quickly after Apple switched to Intel processors. Unfortunately for their customers, that's about all that's been done well. The program locks up with regularity, and is most kernel panic inducing program I've used.

If you ever find yourself in a situation where you need to force quit Parallels, you should expect your Boot Camp partition to be unbootable. Fortunately, OS X reads NTFS drives, so you'll be able to back it up before you have to erase the partition and reinstall.

And be warned that you won't be able to remove Parallels Tools from your Windows partition unless it's booted as a VM. I found this out the hard way, after doing a clean reinstall when I upgraded to 10.5. The tools were still installed under XP, and Add/Remove Programs throws an error when trying to kill them. As Parallels 2.5 doesn't support Leopard, I am unable to uninstall them without purchasing a $50 upgrade just to get rid of them. So I deleted the files that I could find, but I've no clue what sort of nasty shit it's left in my registry.

Which brings me to my next gripe. I purchased version 2.5 for $80 about 8 months ago. It doesn't work under Leopard, and a $50 dollar upgrade is required. I remember watching an interview with one of the developers (or maybe PR, but I don't think they have PR people), who stated that they weren't in the business of screwing their customers with expensive upgrades. What happened to that?

Regarding support: If you don't mind reinstalling every time something goes wrong, then I heartily recommend this purchase. If you're concerned about the fact that it's unreliable, and would like a bit of support when something goes wrong, you'd best look somewhere else. Emails to the company go unanswered, and the support forums are generally unhelpful, even when they're online.

Buy VMware Fusion. If you're already a Parallels Desktop user, make the switch next time they try to gouge you on updates. It's faster, more reliable, and a far more Mac-like program. You won't be sorry you did.  
(Version 3.0.5570b)

HERVé 5  updated fluently (don't forget to shut down all your hosted machines before though! -and this also allows Parallels to update the "extensions" it adds in the hosted systems...)  
(Version 3.0.5570b)

FOULGER  Installed fine, works fine BUT still splashes jagged blocks of colour over the desktop. The only cure is to "Sweep" a sufficiently large enough widow over the crap and it gets wiped out. Since the last upgrade I've done an archive and install plus a reinstall and the same crap occurs. I suspect but am not sure,that its because I have the X1900 XT video card installed on my Mac Pro (Dell 30" Monitor). I've also installed 10.5.1 since the last upgrade. Hope the uncommunicative Parallels team are reading this - its the only way to communicate!  
(Version 3.0.5570b)

MHENDLEY  I set up a windows partition to dual boot on my new Mac mini that runs Leopard. I was not very familiar with boot camp and I just set up the partition using the disk utility. Does anyone know if it is still possible for me to set up my parallels to work with my windows partition? Or will I have to go back and redo my partitioning with boot camp?  
(Version 3.0.5540)

AUDIOWIZARD  I upgraded to Leopard, and discovered that Parallels 2 wouldn't work properly, I tried to buy Parallels 3, but I got a generic email informing me that my order was rejected...??

I have money in the account! What's up with that?  
(Version 3.0.5540)

FOULGER  It installed OK for me and shortly afterwards I upgraded to Leopard. It still runs OK except it puts all sort of crap on my desktop picture and I have to select and drag over the crap to restore my desktop picture. Also when booting windoze XP I get a message saying my version of McFuse (whatever that is) is too new and I should downgrade to an older version. I try to explain what I get on Macupdate because sure as hell they don't answer E-Mails & thats a fact  
(Version 3.0.5540)

BRIAN KENDIG  Okay, Parallels Desktop 5540 was working okay for me until today. Now it crashes the entire Mac every time I try to start up Windows (I get the 'please hold down the power button for a few seconds' notice), and it's even corrupted Windows - when I try to Boot Camp into Vista, it bluescreens. I think Parallels Desktop just isn't yet ready for prime time.  
(Version 3.0.5540)

MR.ASH  The actual version 5540 doesen't work at all on OSX 10.5 !

From one moment to the other Parallels stoped working and only had errors during program startup.

Also it's impossible to install Parallels again, the installer allways hangs up immediatly. Fixing file permission or deleting related files by hand doesen't work either.

So at the moment Paralles is usless with leopard, it simply doesen't work!  
(Version 3.0.5540)

BRIAN KENDIG  Okay, I finally got Parallels Desktop working, kind of, with the latest build (5540). Again, this is with completely fresh installs of Leopard and Vista under Boot Camp, on a brand-new MacBook Pro with 2GB RAM.

About half the time when I boot into Leopard and immediately try to start Parallels, it gives me an error right away - either that it can't allocate virtual machine memory, or else that it can't communicate with one of its drivers. Sometimes a reboot solves the problem; other times I have to uninstall/reinstall Parallels.

The first time it successfully started booting Vista, Parallels told me not to do anything with the virtual machine until after it had installed its drivers - problem was, it was waiting for Vista while Vista was stuck on a boot menu because the previous attempt to start it had failed. I was eventually able to boot to the Vista desktop, and Parallels installed its drivers, though there were lots of long pauses and confusing "driver not signed, install anyway?" dialog boxes. Finally it appeared that Parallels was finished installing everything, but the Vista session just sat there, so I shut it down and restarted it on my own. Everything *seems* to be running all right now, when it runs.

When Parallels works, I'm generally happy with it, though I wish I could hide the startup window - the Vista splash screen takes up my whole MBP's display while it's starting up, until it goes away and Coherence mode takes over. And it took me a while to figure out how to get rid of the Windows taskbar (why is this setting in a separate menu, and not in the virtual machine configuration settings?).

I really hope there's another patch soon that adds stability with Leopard and Vista.  
(Version 3.0.5540)

BRIAN KENDIG  I have a brand-new MacBook Pro 15" 2.2GHz on which I did a format-and-install of Leopard, and then a clean install of Vista Ultimate via Boot Camp. Nothing else is installed on this computer.

I installed Parallels Desktop 3.0 and updated it to version 5160, the latest supported build. I was able to get it to install its drivers into Vista, but then when it rebooted the Vista session, Vista bluescreened. I can't get Vista to work under Parallels, but it still worked under Boot Camp.

So I tried installing build 5540, the latest beta. This tine, Windows refused to boot because it said the session does not support ACPI. I had to stop the session despite the warning that it might corrupt Boot Camp, and that's what it appears to have done - Vista bluescreens under Parallels and under Boot Camp.

I'm reinstalling Vista from scratch now, and I'll try it again.  
(Version 3.0.5540)

M30318  This thing won't even work. I used my Bootcamp partition. BUt it would not recognize the mouse. So I can't even login. And If i try shutting it down, it will give a me a warning that my bootcamp partition may be corrupted if i shut windows this way.. well.. it does not move the cursor neither with a mouse nor with a track pad .... please get your stuff together and just run a very basic test before you even call it a beta.. i had the same thing since the previous builds and hoped such a simple thing would be fixed..  
(Version 3.0.5540)

FVDG  XP: 'Config_list failed' Blue screen everytime. Vista: won't even start...  
(Version 3.0.5540)

MULLIN  It works geat on my 2007 Macbook *****,

and my 07 iMac

solid, somewhat easy to use,

but it's Dead Useless on my 2005 Mac (big grey alum one) *----

it wont start up at all.

even though the IBM 2.5 GHz DUO, have more guts

than a 2.0GHz Core Duo iMac.  
(Version 3.0.5540)