Articles tagged with: parallels

News Roundup: August 13 - September 22

mossy_11 on Monday, 23 September 2013. Posted in News

The two big guns in Windows or Linux on Mac virtualisation released their yearly upgrades in the previous month. Parallels Desktop 9 includes support for Thunderbolt and FireWire devices, OS X’s PowerNap feature, the Mountain Lion Dictionary gesture, Windows 8.1, and more, all while boasting 40% better disk performance, 25% faster shutdowns, 20% faster suspending, and 3D graphics that’s 15% faster than in Parallels 8. You can buy/trial it and learn more at Parallels’ Desktop product site.


VMware Fusion 6, meanwhile, adds Dictation in Windows; support for up to 16 vCPUs, 8TB disks, and 64GB of RAM; a new user interface; improved Boot Camp support; multiple display support (in OS X Mavericks); Windows 8.1 support; and the usual host of performance improvements and minor feature additions. You can check out all its new features, and try it out, by visiting the VMware Fusion product page.


Nintendo Wii and Gamecube emulator Dolphin version 4.0 came out today. It’s the first stable release in nine months, bringing 2500 changes from Dolphin 3.5 — including a new look (and swanky new icon), beta support for the Wii official online multiplayer, Wii Balance Board and Gamecube Steering Wheel support, new audio emulation code, Fastmem support on OS X, an OpenGL video backend rewrite, and much more. You can get it from the Dolphin download page, while the announcement post is here.


After a long period (three years) without an official release, Sony PlayStation emulator PCSX-Reloaded has been updated to version 1.9.93 beta. People who’ve been using SpeedofMac/ConsoleEmu’s unofficial builds won’t notice much of a difference, but it’s a huge improvement over 1.9.92. See the release notes here for details.

Continue reading for additional updates, including new versions of Mednafen, Q-emuLator, zxsp, PPSSPP, and more.

News Roundup: August 15 - September 15

mossy_11 on Sunday, 16 September 2012. Posted in News

Nintendo 64 emulator Sixtyforce got a rare update recently. Version 0.9.6 adds code-signing, 64-bit Intel support, bug fixes, updated memory protection, USB controller hot-pluggable support, faster texture conversions, basic Conker’s Bad Fur Day support, and loads more. It also drops PowerPC support. See here for the full release notes. Limtc on the forums has reported less jerky performance and better sound. Grab it here, and be sure to let us know how it performs for you. 


Parallels 8 has been released. New features include full Mountain Lion integration—full screen, Mission Control, multi-touch gestures, Launchpad, Notification Center, etc—a presentation wizard, dictation, shared bluetooth, shared trash, drag and drop attachments in Outlook, and some other stuff. You can run Mountain Lion as a guest OS, too (bring on the infinite recursion). It also comes with the usual performance improvements and enhanced security. Check it out here.


There’s heavy competition, though, as VMware Fusion 5 dropped this month. It comes “loaded with more than 70 new features.” There’s Launchpad integration, AirPlay Mirroring, Notification Center support, a new UI, Mountain Lion guest support, Windows 8 “optimization,” USB 3 support, “near-native” performance, improved battery life, faster 3D graphics, one-click snapshots, a new Linux 3D graphics driver, and a new “embedded learning center.” You can peruse the full sales pitch here.


Continue reading for more updates, including new versions of DBGL, VirtualBox, QEMU, Bochs, and others, and an upcoming FS-UAE 2.0 release.

News Round-up: July 4 - August 1

mossy_11 on Sunday, 01 August 2010. Posted in News

magic-trackpadApple has released the Magic Trackpad, a multi-touch trackpad designed for use on desktop computers. It has a size and profile that matches Apple’s most recent keyboards. Priced at US$69, many have labelled the device too expensive, while others wonder if it is the beginning of a paradigm shift away from mouse input. Check out the MacScene forum thread for the community’s take, and see the official product page for more information.


steam_logo1Valve plans to give away some of their code for OpenGL on the Mac in order to accelerate and motivate further development of Mac versions of Steam games. They claim that this will eliminate the “real hard work” in putting games on the Mac.


apple-logoApple announced an update to the iMac line, with speed bumps and a move to discrete graphics cards across all models. They also introduced a new Mac Pro line that promises “up to 50 percent greater performance,” and a 27-inch LED Cinema Display, which will replace the existing 24-inch and 30-inch models. The new Mac Pros will be available “in August” while the Cinema Display is set for a September release.


Apple’s Q3 earnings revealed that the Mac is growing in popularity, despite the recent focus on iOS devices. The iPad has already sold more than 3 million units. The iPhone 4 sold over 8 million units despite its much-publicised antenna problems and limited international release.


Emulator updates after the break.

MacTech: Fusion vs. Parallels

Niemann on Wednesday, 10 February 2010. Posted in News

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In what is one of the most complete and comprehensive comparisons between VMware Fusion and Parallels virtualization software for Mac, MacTech concludes that across the board Parallels outperforms Fusion.  Not only in start up times, normal application execution, disk activity, and compatibility, but also in 3D graphics and gaming.  If you're looking for a solid thorough comparison of these virtualization products, this is the best I've seen.  You can read the entire article here.