Parallels Workstation 2.1 for Mac OS X Beta4 is ready for download!

[Ben @ Parallels]

Hi guys -

I'm proud to let you all know that Parallels Workstation 2.1 for Mac OS X Beta4 is now available for download!

Thanks to the help of our thousands of beta testers, we hammered our many of the bugs found in betas 1, 2, and 3, and were able to include several important new features, including:


Support for full screen mode
Dual-monitor support
Improved real CD/DVD support
Improved, easier to use interface
Better sound support, including a fix for Windows 2000 guest OS
Networking kernel panics fixes
Bridged networking issues fixes
WiFi networking issues fixes
Fixes for some of the issues encountered when entering "Sleep" mode when a VM is running
Many other minor bug fixesThere is one known issue with Beta4 that we're already working on: If you have a real CD or DVD connected to a VM, you may have problems ejecting the disk. Simply disconnect the CD from the VM, and you should be able to eject the disk as normal.

Ready to get started with the new version? Get it at the Parallels Download Center! (http://www.parallels.com/en/download/mac/)

[maverick808]

Absolutely amazing! Can't get over what a great company Parallels is working so hard on this.

Please please please get USB working soon as it's the only thing stopping me from buying.

[Manatee]

I'm not sure if this is the appropriate place to say that I'd have gladly paid three times as much for this software. It is inspiring to see people work so hard and pay such close attention to their customers. This is a great model for success, and I hope Parallels gets a lot of press and catches on in a big way.

[bceverly]

When I download it, it won't mount on my 17" iMac Core Duo. Is there a different link you can provide me?

Thanks!

[Olivier]

Incredible! This is what you are! I have used other virtualizations solutions for years, on Windows and Linux and Mac OS X. And this one has performance levels that I never saw on any machine to date. :)

[Faz]

I am running Windows XP on my iMac and I just wanted to know if there was a projected time frame for the Apple's USB modem support.
Thanks

[narrowcaster]

The Beta 4 download disk will not mount on my 20" iMac. The error message says it's not recognized.

I have Beta 3 and it has worked great, but I have noticed the CD issue. I can't wait to see it full screen on Beta 4.

[divsorbit]

Hey Ben,
Thanks for the great product. I am trying to install the beta4 but keep getting mount error on my macbook pro.
Div

[Andrew @ Parallels]

The Beta 4 download disk will not mount on my 20" iMac. The error message says it's not recognized.

I have Beta 3 and it has worked great, but I have noticed the CD issue. I can't wait to see it full screen on Beta 4.
Please try to download again. We had problems with website and your DMG is probably corrupted.

[Andrew @ Parallels]

I am running Windows XP on my iMac and I just wanted to know if there was a projected time frame for the Apple's USB modem support.
Thanks
When we have USB support in Parallels you'll be able to see it in your guest Windows XP. But to use it in guest Windows XP you should have XP drivers for Apple USB modem. Do you know does it have it?

[bceverly]

Hi,

I'm trying to download Beta 4 and just tried again after reading the posting earlier in this thread. Unfortunately it still is saying that the DMG file is corrupted on this end.

Any ideas? Should I be grabbing it from a different page other than the "Download" one?

Thanks in advance!

[jayv]

You guys are doing a great job. I was excited to see full-screen support now, But why isn't there are setting in the windows video drivers for the native res of MacBook Pro 1400x900?

[Andrew @ Parallels]

Hi,

I'm trying to download Beta 4 and just tried again after reading the posting earlier in this thread. Unfortunately it still is saying that the DMG file is corrupted on this end.

Any ideas? Should I be grabbing it from a different page other than the "Download" one?

Thanks in advance!
Try this link please:
ftp://ftp.parallels.com/beta/Parallels-2.1.1658.58-Mac.dmg

[Andrew @ Parallels]

You guys are doing a great job. I was excited to see full-screen support now, But why isn't there are setting in the windows video drivers for the native res of MacBook Pro 1400x900?
Yes - it will be possible in the next update. Please keep in touch.

[Marc]

Full screen feature is very nice. But I don't like that it messes around with the resolution on native MacOSX. This rearrange Icons on the Desktop and shortens the open windows of the other applications. I don't know if this is configurable.

One more thing: when not in full screen mode the window of the vm should never ever be larger than the available screen size; if it's bigger it should have scroll bars. This would be easier to get to the panel in Linux, or the task bar in Windows.

Keep up the good work (I have already per-ordered).

[bceverly]

Works!

Thanks so much!

[davidahn]

Full screen feature is very nice. But I don't like that it messes around with the resolution on native MacOSX. This rearrange Icons on the Desktop and shortens the open windows of the other applications. I don't know if this is configurable.

One more thing: when not in full screen mode the window of the vm should never ever be larger than the available screen size; if it's bigger it should have scroll bars. This would be easier to get to the panel in Linux, or the task bar in Windows.

Keep up the good work (I have already per-ordered).

I'm sure if you auto-panned on the edges, larger screen sizes shouldn't be a problem.

David

[Faz]

When we have USB support in Parallels you'll be able to see it in your guest Windows XP. But to use it in guest Windows XP you should have XP drivers for Apple USB modem. Do you know does it have it?

Good question, I don't know the answer to that one. Hoping you would know
:)

[mbeyer]

Nicely done. MUCH better. Thanks guys.

[aarebalos]

Great product guys. The only think I need to retire my old Dell is USB support. When do you guys plan to support USB?
Thanks!

[Andrew @ Parallels]

Were are working hard on USB and going to deliver it prior to release.

[mitchman]

My iMac Core Duo 1.83GHz locked up during installation of beta 4 just as for previous betas. Is this still expected/known?

That aside, beta4 looks good! I just tried to print, since my last kernel panic under beta 3 occurred during printing. No panics this time, just nice printed output :)

[mhv10]

Hi,
just curious if there is ever an implicit need to un-install & re-install the Parallel Tools inside my Windows VM instances? I just did this because I was paranoid, but should I assume it isn't necessary unless otherwise stated?

With Beta4, I'm also getting the "another app has already enabled VMX mode" warning. I never saw that with Beta3 but I haven't tracked down which other app might have enabled it.

And thanks for the quick turnaround on the networking kernel panics!

[Andrew @ Parallels]

Hi,
just curious if there is ever an implicit need to un-install & re-install the Parallel Tools inside my Windows VM instances? I just did this because I was paranoid, but should I assume it isn't necessary unless otherwise stated?

With Beta4, I'm also getting the "another app has already enabled VMX mode" warning. I never saw that with Beta3 but I haven't tracked down which other app might have enabled it.

And thanks for the quick turnaround on the networking kernel panics!
1. No need to reinstall Parallels Tools yet. We definetely notify you when it will be needed.
2. Does cold host restart fix "another app has already enabled VMX mode" message?

[sunnfun]

My iMac Core Duo 1.83GHz locked up during installation of beta 4 just as for previous betas. Is this still expected/known?

That aside, beta4 looks good! I just tried to print, since my last kernel panic under beta 3 occurred during printing. No panics this time, just nice printed output :)

I second this, my MBPro 2.0 locked up during "Finishing installation", only a hard reset helped. Was the first time though, Beta 1,2 and 3 installed fine.

[mike3k]

Simply beautiful! I've been running XP in beta 4 since yesterday afternoon and haven't seen a single kernel panic. With beta 3 I would get several by noon, even when the machine is sitting idle. The mac/windows integration is BEAUTIFUL! Copying & pasting between the OSes is great.

I also saw the lockup during installation on my MacBook Pro, but it unfroze on its own after a few minutes and finished the installation successfully.

The only thing I don't like is full screen mode is UGLY on my MBP. The screen is blurry at non-native resolutions, plus it screws up the window positions on my mac desktop when it changes screen resolutions. On my iMac, I get the Windows screen centered with a black border - why doesn't it do the same on the MBP? That would be a lot less ugly than switching resolutions. The ideal way would be to change the guest OS resolution to the native resolution when going full screen and switching back when going back to a window.

[Scott Willsey]

I second this, my MBPro 2.0 locked up during "Finishing installation", only a hard reset helped. Was the first time though, Beta 1,2 and 3 installed fine.

Same here with beta 4, my mac mini locked up solid during install. Hard booted, tried installation again, and it worked fine.

I do have to concur with the statements about the full screen mode - can't wait for the native resolutions. As is, it's not real useful. I need 1920 x 1200 for fullscreen mode with my monitor. :)

[jimh]

I really appreciate the full screen support and am looking forward to the native resolutions.

When I was playing around with this, I noticed that my hot corners for Expose still work, even though I can't click on a different window and have it end up on top - no big deal there when I am running in full screen.

But this led me to wonder if Parallels is just making a borderless window with exclusive ownership that uses the full screen or if they are taking advantage of the special calls that really dedicates the entire display space to Parallels. From my understanding this second method gives a noticiable performance enhancment to an app that needs excluse access to the full display.

Perhaps this is the case and I just am not understanding things. Works well regardless.

jim

[sbatson]

I agree with the desire for USB support. I have a USB Floppy Drive and other USB devices I'd really like to use with XP in a VM. Otherwise, this thing is really shaping up nicely, I love it!!!

Steve

[Scott Willsey]

I have a USB Floppy Drive

What is this floppy of which you speak? :D

[ScottTFrazer]

Good question, I don't know the answer to that one. Hoping you would know
:)

Given that the bootcamp drivers specifically state the Apple USB Modem will _not_ work, I'd guess there are no WinXP drivers for that device.

[mhv10]

1. No need to reinstall Parallels Tools yet. We definetely notify you when it will be needed.
2. Does cold host restart fix "another app has already enabled VMX mode" message?


Andrew, thanks for the info on Parallels Tools.

And yes, a restart of my iMac eliminated the VMX mode message. I tried restarting all the apps that were running at the time I first got the message, and after the reboot even with all of them running, I don't see that message anymore.

Thanks!

[mrfearless47]

I'm relatively new to the Parallels world for the MacIntel. I installed beta 4 a few days ago and have noticed one recurrent problem. I am required by my work to attend a "virtual" meeting once per week. This meeting is video streamed and must be watched using MSIE and WMP 9 or higher. I've got WinXP SP2 installed as the guest OS on my MacBook Pro. When I fire up MSIE and find the video feed, WMP loads and the feed starts playing for about 5 - 8 minutes (typically this feed is 3 hours long). About 10 minutes in, with nothing else going on, I can hear the hard drive start up and all the sounds that go along with rebooting an OSX machine. Then in a span of a few moments, the system reboots, OS X returns and any hint of Parallels having been loaded has vanished. Since this is one of my MAJOR needs for a WinXP install, I'd like to see this software combination work. If it is any comfort, I have problems with this same combination if I use BootCamp. There is something unwholesome about MSIE and WMP that keeps tripping up OS X.

Here's hoping you can get to the bottom of this problem.

[Andrew @ Parallels]

Thanks - we will try to reproduce.

[n9yty]

Sorry to interject, but if you are having the problem under Boot Camp, then it has nothing to do with OSX or probably even Parallels, it's a glitch in the interaction of Explorer and WMP. Under Boot Camp you are running straight on the hardware, no emulation at all, and OSX is not even part of the picture.

[mrfearless47]

You misunderstand. The spontaneous reboots ONLY occur under Parallels while running MSIE and WMP. The problems with MSiE and WMP in bootcamp are completely different and involve unstable video. I was merely commenting that the combination of MSIE and WMP is toxic to both Parallels and Bootcamp, but in entirely different ways. Sorry if I didn't make that clearer. In Parallels, I don't have any problems with MSIE and WMP streaming the video; just the problem that after about 10 minutes, the machines spontaneously reboots. In Bootcamp, the video quality for MSIE and WMP is so poor that it is useless to try using them.

[mrfearless47]

I'm sorry if I wasn't clearer. The problems with MSIE and WMP are completely different in Parallels and BootCamp. In Parallels, the video quality and audio quality work fine; it is just that after about 10 minutes into a stream, the computer spontaneously reboots OSX and returns me to a fresh state. In Bootcamp, MSIE and WMP suffer from garbled video and audio and no amount of tinkering can produce a useable stream. I merely remark that there is something toxic about the combination of MSIE and WMP right now, but that it affects Parallels and Bootcamp in different, but equally unusable ways.

[opticon]

Will you develop a graphics driver that will enable Windows to visually function the way it would with the correct video driver? Meaning, a native ATI driver? Users would also be able to change their settings to 32 bit instead of 24. Your team is developing fixes and such at an accelerated rate, I figure it is only a matter of time before this software is fully stable and heavily distrubuted.

Keep up the good work!

[Isaacj]

Does Beta 4 support sound input??.

Thanks ^_^.

--
Isaacj

[Andrew @ Parallels]

Does Beta 4 support sound input??.

Thanks ^_^.

--
Isaacj

Unfortunately not. But this feature is in our roadmap.