Brief Hands-On Report--Parallels Desktop for Mac v2.5 Final (Build 3186)

We finally got a completed download of the stand-alone update after another half-dozen tries. We kept on trying to get the stand-alone update because for some reason, automatic update did not work with our copy of v2.5 release candidate 3 (Build 3170).

We uninstalled Build 3170 and then installed Build 3186. After having problems installing a new version over an old, we've adopted this slightly lengthier procedure but have never had a problem with it.

After installation, we updated the Parallels Tools (drivers) for our Windows XP SP2 and Vista Ultimate RC1 virtual machines. Then we updated XP and Vista. No problems were encountered.

Several hours use of both XP and Vista unearthed no problems. We note, however, that applications on XP run very much faster than on Vista. This may be at least partially an artifact of running the expiring RC1 of Vista. A final production copy of Vista Ultimate should arrive today by UPS.

The coherence mode is really cool. It's hard to tell that Windows apps are actually running on XP or Vista and not Mac OS X. Their icons show up in the dock and just their window shows over the Mac desktop like any other Mac application.

The new USB 2.0 capability worked well with one exception. We "installed" our iPod but did not reformat it for Windows when that dialog box showed up. A thumb drive plugged into our MacBook Pro C2D was installed and we could see the files. The only problem we had was with our 5-button Microsoft IntelliMouse Explorer. When we added it to Vista the cursor froze. We did not try it on Windows XP out of fear of a repeat.

Parallels Desktop for Mac is really terrific. If you used VirtualPC in the past, forget that experience, good or bad. Desktop for Mac is in another class all by itself. If you need to use Windows extensively or just from time to time, we highly recommend Parallels Desktop for Mac. [Bill Fox]