[Macworld]

Post your comments for Parallels Desktop for Mac 4.0 unveiled here

[aaronmarks]

I think you guys jumped the gun on this story a bit since parallels.com isn't showing anything yet.

[drimwit]

Now that's how I like to get my news, before it happens.

[Wizardling]

So is there reason to switch from Fusion 2.0? How good is Parallels 4 in comparison?

[eatatthey]

Parallels rocks. I think there's a 30 day trial available. Give it a go and find out how good it is.

[Cincy]

I had Parallels v. 2 for almost a year. I never could get it to work properly; no communication with the USB port, buggy software responses and multiple "Blue Screens of Death."
I've switched to VMWare Fusion 2.0 and have had no problems with it. No need to try the new Parallels version.

[robmorton]

It would be tough to compare Parallels version 2 to Fusion version 2 since they were not out at the same time. Parallels 3 has worked flawlessly and it was out at the same time as Fusion 1 and 2. Having said that VMware has two things going for it. VMware images can go cross platform and VMware cost me $50 for version 1 and $0 for version 2. Parallels cost $70 for version 1, $50 for version 2, $50 for version 3 and now $40 (I believe) for version 4. So $210 to fully support them vs $50 for VMware. Parallels was out longer, but version 1 was barely usable, version 2 had some glaring holes, version 3 was great. I am thinking that some of those could have been free upgrades like VMware did.

[simdude]

re robmorton:
I agree but suspect the difference here is in the size of these two companies. If Parallels didn't continue to generate income, there probably wouldn't be a version 3 or 4. VMWare is a big company with a huge product line. Their Fusion software generates an insignificant portion of their income so they were probably trying to build market share. Of course, none of this changes your conclusion that it has essentially been a $210 vs $50 difference in cost. But if Parallels is now offering something better, it still may be worth giving the free 30 day trial a shot.

[fribhey]

aaronmarks said:

I think you guys jumped the gun on this story a bit since parallels.com isn't showing anything yet.

they didn't jump the gun. parallels sent out an email announcing parallels 4.0 at 3am, the same time this story was posted. it was parallels who announced it before updating their own site

[AndrewRodney]

Appears the upgrade is $49, not $39....

[kitko]

I seriously can't imagine how someone, who has a Mac and requires virtualization, CAN'T get Parallels to work properly.

[cordobatim]

The upgrade is $39 through the end of November.

[tallscot]

I have an issue with Parallels 3.0 where I download something with Internet Explorer in Vista and when it's finished downloading, it disappears as if it never downloaded. Right now, I can't download in Vista.
The problem with virtualization is I don't know which bugs are with the virtualization software and which bugs are with Windows. Running Boot Camp, it's all Windows.

[gocarlo]

Jim Dalrymple, MacWorld said:

Users that purchased version 3.0 on or after September 1, 2008, qualify for a free upgrade to version 4.0.

I just got Parallels Desktop 3.0 a couple weeks ago. Would love to take advantage of the free upgrade, but I cannot find any reference to it on the Parallels web site.

Anyone else have luck with this?