[NPMUG] ars technica does a detailed review of " Parallels 5 for Mac "

[Dave Sevick]

The counter-punch: a review of Parallels Desktop 5
Version 5 of the popular Mac virtualization package, Parallels Desktop, has hit the streets, and Ars puts it through its paces. Gaming performance, Windows 7, content creation, Linux—it's all here, plus the inevitable comparisons to the most recent VMware Fusion release.

By Dave Girard | Last updated November 24, 2009 8:05 AM

http://arstechnica.com/apple/news/2009/11/parallels-desktop-5-review.ars/1

<<< clipped here and fast forward to conclusion by this arstechnica writer >>>

Conclusion
Parallels Desktop 5 should hopefully put Parallels' management at a crossroads, because it's clear they value a deadline that coincides with Windows 7's release more than quality and stability. I think this release might be as bad as version 4's was, and that was the gold standard for software that didn't work like it should have. Parallels is getting good at releasing feature-complete software that has problems at every turn—in other words, beta software. It would be easy to recommend version 5 for all the amazing things that separates it from the competition, but not one of the new features worked flawlessly when tested. OpenGL in Linux, Aero, Crystal mode and even the MacLook theme failed to load at one point. If this continues, you'll see more and more Parallels users jumping ship, and I know it's happening already. Let's hope it doesn't take a dwindling user base for Parallels to start releasing products worthy of consumption, à la QuarkXPress.

Good
Speedy launching and resuming (still)
8-core support (still)
Multi-monitor fullscreen support
Best OpenGL VM implementation in Windows XP (still)
Bad
Extremely buggy across the board
Crystal mode is buggy
Install process still needs polishing
Linux installer assistant creates broken user accounts
Windows Aero glitches
Windows 7 drivers not usable for 3D and games
Linux OpenGL has problems
Mac OS X 10.6 Server doesn't work in my experience
Ugly
Another buggy launch release for Parallels Desktop


-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: http://davesevick.com/pipermail/npmug/attachments/20091126/66f15a3e/attachment.htm