I've been using VMWare Workstation since version 1.x and one thing the current product supports that is very handy is Snapshots. I didn't see this capability in the Parallels Desktop for Mac product user manual. Did I miss it? Can someone from Parallels comment on weather they plan to add it? Also, is there a way to revert to a previous state when you shutdown the Guest OS, essentially tossing the changes you made in your latest session? thanks
I don't know what Snapshots are, but if they're screenshots, just open Parallels and go into VM > Console Screenshot. Is that what you're looking for?
There's no snapshot capability per se, but you can get the same effect by shutting down the VM and making a copy of the .hdd file(s). To revert, replace the .hdd file(s) with the copy/copies.
if i'm not wrong, there is no need to "shut down" before you get a backup of HDD file done. Just suspend it, copy and paste in a backup area and remember to name it properly will do However, that will result in massive and messy backup management issue in the future, if you're dealing with multiple VMs.
If you suspend and back up the .hdd file (without shutting down), you have a copy of the running system. Booting from that copy later (otherwise why bother) is equivalent to pulling the plug and then restarting. Some OSs will handle this better than others. Probably better to do a clean shutdown to make sure any disk changes are flushed and the filesystem is marked as cleanly dismounted.