Parallels Desktop for Mac build 3036 Beta is available for download.

[sandinak]

To mouse or not to mouse

The graphic accelleration "fix" didn't solve my mouse problem .. and i have it on two different Mac's .. a Mac Book Pro ... and a Mac Pro .. same disk image .. I believe it is configuration related.. reminds me of when you set a mouse to be ps-2 instead of intellimouse or other protocols back in the hand-configuration-of-Xwindows days. Tried using slow initialization .. that didn't do anything.

 

[The Mike]

Bugs, bugs, bugs


- The position of the VM PC won't be saved in this beta, especially after
a complete restart of the Parallels Desktop app. Here it's no way to set
the app windows in the *left upper* corner of my desktop! (Unlike Build
1970 and earlier and I don't like full screen for Windows! After a restart
of Parallels Desktop the top of the VM window is mostly *behind* the
menu bar!)

- If you set the flag "Exit application von VM shutdown" it's not possible
to enter the prefs (Edit/Virtual Machine...) of the virtual machine! There
is then just the way via a text editor or by deleting the prefs!

This beta is an alpha...

And where are *real* localized versions? Mac OS X is multilingual, the
most apps as well...

 

[chucker]

- If you set the flag "Exit application von VM shutdown" it's not possible
to enter the prefs (Edit/Virtual Machine...) of the virtual machine! There
is then just the way via a text editor or by deleting the prefs!

Actually, that's not true. If you start the application itself, then open the VM manually from there, you can change its settings.

 

[mark.burton]

Then why do you ask "where was the warning"? The very fact that it's a pre-release is a big warning. You simply don't EVER install a pre-release on a production machine, and if you do, then that's your responsibility and yours alone.

True and I believe I admitted this in my post, but there is much more to it than that.

Known issues are a common accompaniment to beta software releases. If Parallels had tested this I would have expected them to have had the exact same issue. But, as another person has since pointed out, its likely Parallels are using copies of XP which do not need the type of licensing which standard versions do. So I'm sorry if I jumped to the wrong conclusion Parallels.

Still, if we could see a speedy official comment on this and an explanation of who shouldn't and who should expect to be able to use this feature, I'm sure that would be good for everyone reading about this new beta and doing the same as I and many others have done.

Thanks to VTMac, his explanation needs to go on the front page of this thread.

Thanks
Mark

 

[dan]

Running Boot Camp in Virtual Machine will need to reactivate your Windows XP installation.

Will the reactivation go through automatically or do you have to talk to a tech at Microsoft to get approval for it?

I have reactivated 4 or 5 times this morning, and each time I was able to do so automatically. If it stays that way, then the minor annoyance might be worth the convenience and $$ savings of a single installation of Windows. I don't think it would be worth a phone call to Bombay every few days.

 

[xserve]

Both NTFS and FAT32 should work.

Nope, FAT32 won't boot with the current build 3036.

 

[Narin]

* Power On/Power Off/Suspend/Resume/Pause animation. Just try and see. We’re very interested in your feedback about the feature.

I just discovered this quite by accident (hit command-Q by mistake) and I have to say it's really cool! Very mac-like and very impressive, a great little touch.

Also, now that I know I can shut down with a simple cmd-Q I think I'll do it much more often now.

 

[bemaniac]

This has probably already been addressed... but... I am relatively new to Windows XP, and I already have a Boot Camp partition on my computer. If I install Parallels and want to use both Boot camp and Parallels, and I have to re-activate my Windows XP, will it de-activate my activation for Boot Camp? Or will it work fine with both after I've re-activated?

 

[don montalvo]

This has probably already been addressed... but... I am relatively new to Windows XP, and I already have a Boot Camp partition on my computer. If I install Parallels and want to use both Boot camp and Parallels, and I have to re-activate my Windows XP, will it de-activate my activation for Boot Camp? Or will it work fine with both after I've re-activated?

i had to re-activate windows each time i switched back and forth. there's nothing parallels can do about this - this is strictly a microsoft anti-piracy issue. microsoft has already stated they do not intend to allow one license number to boot into windows as well as run in a virtual environment.

any workaround would amount to sponsored piracy.

don

 

[bemaniac]

So basically, if I re-activate to use Windows with Parallels, and then want to boot into windows via boot camp, I'll have to re-activate again?

That's unfortunate, because I really would have liked to be able to switch back and forth.

 

[don montalvo]

So basically, if I re-activate to use Windows with Parallels, and then want to boot into windows via boot camp, I'll have to re-activate again?

That's unfortunate, because I really would have liked to be able to switch back and forth.

yep, it's an antipiracy issue - microsoft's doing. take it up with them. i don't boot into windows. if i need to run windows, i have a dell c400 i can use. the value of virtualization can't be understated.

vmware just announced thier public beta - keep in mind that they're owned by emc...the same folks who allowed retrospect to wither (who would trust a company that flat out lies?).

don

 

[BillInSoBe]

Coherence Bugs.

In my testing I've noticed a couple Coherence bugs. I realize this is the first public beta so I figured I'd post these to see if there's anything you can do about them.

I've been using Coherence without any significant issues.

1. Coherence windows aren't always cut out correctly. Some applications have odd shapes and just trimming everything outside of the main window doesn't work perfectly. Media Player 10 is the perfect example. You can always see the Windows background when the window edges auto-hide.

2. If I configure the Windows Start bar to Auto-Hide it doesn't always work. I've been using the start bar on the left side and top. Both experience the same issue. Seems like the start bar doesn't know you've moved off of it. It doesn't auto-hide all of the time. Running an app from Windows will hide the start bar again. When you close the app the start bar pops back up again and won't auto-hide.

3. When using Coherence if you click on the Windows Start Button and you click somewhere on the desktop the Start Menu is still displayed. If you click anywhere off the start menu is should close again. This means if you accidentially click on the start menu you need to click the start button again to close it. This isn't correct Windows functionality.

4. I've also seen issues where the start-bar won't come back even through I hover over it. This mainly occurs after I've switched the focus to another application and the start bar is hidden. If I choose Parallels from the Dock I can hover and get the Windows start bar again.

5. You can't see coherence windows anywhere near the Apple Dock. If you move a window down next to the dock all you see if black. Coherence windows should be allowed to freely move about your display without any visual issues.

6. If you place the Windows start bar on either of the sides it won't stretch to the entire height of the screen. I believe this has something to do with the fact that coherent windows cannot be displayed in the same line of space the dock occupies.

7. Multi-mon and support for large displays is critical. Full resolution with no scaling and full color depth. Many of us have been using multi-mon so we'd have access to both our Mac desktop and Windows at the same time. It would be great to use Coherence in a multi-mon environement.

You've got a killer app. Many thanx for all of the hard work.

 

[sseligson]

Anyone have any answers on below, I want to load in win now but not sure if I should do NTFS or FAT32

I just upgraded to a macbook pro.

I had a mcbook. right now i am not using boot camp but I am using Parallels.

I now want to use boot camp so I only need one installed version of windows.

Is the best thing to do, delete my parallels program and start from scratch using boot camp, the install the new build of paralels?

I can't salvage my existing parallels installation right?


if the above is correct, how do I uninstall the old parallels and windows?

If I recall the old version on parallels let me dynamically resize the size of the windows hard drive. If I do boot camp, does this feature not work and am I locked into the size I parition the drive to with boot camp?

Which should I use NTSC of FAT32? If NTSC, do I have compatibilty issues with files?

 

[Leforban]

Hello

Don't know if question had already been asked. But i have installed the paralles Tools via bootcamp, i have an NTFS partition, but when i try to boot the virtual machine i have this message. http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/5489/image1ww6.jpg

Sorry i am french. ==> Windows can't boot, problem of material configuration. Impossible to read the selected boot device ...


Is there a solution. Thx.

 

[bayz]

I can't choose "Use Boot Camp".

Same here. This is THE new feature that I want, and it doesn't work!

 

[mungler]

am i the only person in the world whose mouse and keyboard are frozen in parallels when booting the Boot Camp partition?

i REALLY dont want to have to reinstall windows, as it took me all weekend to get my environment sorted out and get all the software on there i need.

i can boot to desktop in parallels, but the mouse and keyboard do nothing. plugging in an external keyboard gives me the 5-10 sec message. plugging in a USB mouse works fine - when i assign it to parallels i get the windows new device sound etc, but the pointer still wont move.

anyone?!? anyone at parallels??? help!

 

[Tony-Bologne]

Observations & Suggestions

Let me start off by saying that this is an awesome product that continues to improve by leaps and bounds! Too bad more software companies are not more like your's!

Note: Feedback based primarily on XPSP2 unless otherwise noted (I also have Fedora & Ubuntu Linux VMs).​

Issues

Using "Exit application on VM shutdown" with Auto-run Enabled
I selected the option to close the "Exit application on VM shutdown" plus I also have the VM set to auto-run so now I can't make any changes to the VM settings since I'm in a cycle where changes can't be made with the VM running but if I close it it completely closes and when I open it auto-runs. Any way around this?

It might be nice to have a setting to not allow auto-run if the auto exit is selected and vice versa unless you make other program changes such as the ability to change the settings and apply to the VM when restarted.

Numbers & related keys will not work on the Mac Numeric Keypad
This is probably more of a wish list item rather than a program issue. Your website states the following, "Keyboard support – use all of the keys on your Mac keyboard, such as the eject CD button, right-left and Shift/Ctrl/Alt (option)/Windows keys, in any virtual machine" (URL= http://www.parallels.com/en/products/desktop/), however, the actual number & math function keys do not work on the 10-key pad of my Apple Wireless Keyboard (only the upper most keys Volume Up/Down, Mute, and Eject). This is very ackward in numeric intensive apps like Excel, Money and others.

USB devices will not work
My iMac's built-in iSight shows in the list but I always get the "wait 5-10 seconds" message even when no other program is using the camera.

Also, I always get a "Device removal" error dialogue when trying to activate my external USB HD. Then Windows XP shows that the device was found but I can't see it in My Computer and it doesn't seem to be available anywhere such as Save As dialogues, etc. Once fixed, it would be nice if the external HD & iSight were automatically available to the VM rather than having to reactivate them each time.

No sound in Fedora Linux
This may be an issue with the OS rather than the VM but no sounds will play in Fedora Linux but they do with Ubuntu Linux and of course Win XPSP2.

VM does not go back to the Property Sheet Screen after Fedora Linux is Shutdown
The screen remains unchangeds after the system halt commands and does not return to the Properties Sheet screen as after shutting down Windows.

Ubuntu Linux will not boot after upgrading to Parallels Beta 3036
OS loading stops with a kernal panic. I will attempt to recreate this VM to see if that resolves the issue (I don't have any data or programs that would be missed).

Wish List

Parallels Tools for all OS VMs
Apply the Windows VM features to other VMs such as Linux. I would love to be able to have the Parallels Tools features available in Linux e.g. moving from Linux without have to release the window, copy & paste features, etc.

Save VM without Changes
It would also be nice to "borrow" the Microsoft Virtual PC feature to "save without changes". This could be helpful if testing software.especially since the Windows System Restore is deactivated by a group policy (granted System Restore is not the best way to undo something).

Mac OS VMs
Would be nice to also be able to run Mac OS in a VM. This would be good if you wanted multiple OS versions on the same machine without having to have separate partitions and having to boot into another OS. I know Windows folks that use Microsoft Virtual PC to run multiple instances of Windows or multiple OS versions that benefit greatly so why not with Mac OS?


Thank you!
Tony

 

[mnguy]

Complete Solution

Great beta! That said I'm somewhat sad to see that complete device support is not enabled. We should realize that it's been mentioned this is the last FREE upgrade.

Now, I haven't yet run the beta (downloading now), but a complete solution would include USB 2 seamless integration, CD & DVD burning support, SMP support (duh!!!), and wouldn't it be nice to write to NTFS (Mac Drive is only ok).

Granted the majority hasn't "voted" for what seem to be power user features, but come on guys be better, support developers and users alike - give us a complete solution!!!!

Burning Buring Buring
Why can't I use all my cores - Ahhhhhhh!

 

[BillInSoBe]

Exit Application on VM Shutdown with Auto-run Enabled.

Using "Exit application on VM shutdown" with Auto-run Enabled
I selected the option to close the "Exit application on VM shutdown" plus I also have the VM set to auto-run so now I can't make any changes to the VM settings since I'm in a cycle where changes can't be made with the VM running but if I close it it completely closes and when I open it auto-runs. Any way around this?

It might be nice to have a setting to not allow auto-run if the auto exit is selected and vice versa unless you make other program changes such as the ability to change the settings and apply to the VM when restarted.

This is a HUGE problem. How are we supposed to make change to the VM once this is configured? I start Parallels and it start the VM. I shut down and it exits Parallels.

Attempting to stop the VM before it boots doesn't do any good. Parallels still exits. Pausing the VM doesn't do any good.

We're stuck in an endless loop.

 

[Platinum Samples]

Just a "me too" post -- I'll be waiting until the Parallels Tools and MacDrive can coexist in Boot Camp (not Boot Camp VM) -- I require MacDrive to work with Pro Tools HD in Boot Camp.