Parallels Desktop 8 Launched for Mac, Features Retina Display Support

Parallels today launched Parallels Desktop 8 for Mac, the newest version of their software for running Windows and Mac applications simultaneously on a Mac without rebooting.

People love Macs but many still need to be able to use Windows applications for work, school or hobbies. Now they can enjoy the latest Mountain Lion features in Windows apps with Parallels Desktop 8. Starting August 30, current Parallels Desktop users can upgrade to Parallels Desktop 8 for Mac at www.parallels.com/desktop. For new customers, Parallels Desktop 8 will be available for purchase at retail stores and via the Parallels website on September 4.

New and improved features in Parallels Desktop 8 include:


Life Simplified
● Speak, don't type – Use the new Mountain Lion Dictation tool across both Windows and Mac environments
● Open in Internet Explorer – When a website doesn't render well within Safari, launch it in Internet Explorer with a click of a button
● Drag and drop email attachments – Simply drag and drop files from the desktop onto the Dock icons for Outlook and other Windows email clients to attach and share them
● Multilingual keyboard – Keyboard language changes made on the Mac automatically sync, to simplify switching languages in Windows
● Parallels Wizard – Download and automatically install Windows or other operating systems (OSes) including Google Chrome OS, Ubuntu and Android on your Mac. Parallels Desktop customers have downloaded more than 500,000 copies of Windows using the Parallels Wizard to-date, and many additional customers have moved their Windows PCs to their Mac or added Windows and other OSes
● Bluetooth-sharing – Multiple Windows and Mac devices can now share Bluetooth connections
● Windows apps on OS X Launchpad – Add Windows applications to the Mountain Lion or Lion Launchpad to quickly launch Mac and Windows applications used most
● Consolidated notifications – Integration of Windows notifications into the Mac OS X Notification Center makes it easy to stay updated on Windows virtual machine operations
● Resource monitoring – Disk space and memory usage of virtual machines are conveniently displayed for easy customization and management
● Mountain Lion gestures for Windows apps – Enjoy seamless integration of Mountain Lion gestures with Windows apps such as pinch to zoom, Mission Control, three-finger drag, swipe between full-screen apps, two-finger scroll, Launchpad and rotate

Visually Stunning
● Brilliant Retina display support – Enjoy stunning Retina display resolution in Windows OS and Windows applications to see crisper fonts, vivid photos, images and animations
● No-hassle presentations – The new Presentation Wizard makes presentations interruption-free by disabling screensavers on Mac and Windows, optimizing the full-screen display and automatically adjusting resolution
● Improved graphics – Don't compromise, even with graphically intensive applications

Proven Performance
● Unmatched performance – Enjoy improved Parallels Desktop 8 performance that is up to 30 percent faster for input/output (I/O) operations, 30 percent faster for games and up to 25 percent faster for virtual machine operations such as boot, suspend, shutdown and resume, when compared to Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac**. Parallels Desktop 7 beat the leading competitor in nearly 75 percent of the benchmark tests conducted by MacTech magazine and won 60 percent of the tests by a factor of 10 percent or more.

Availability and Pricing
Parallels Desktop 8 for Mac is available beginning Aug. 30, 2012, as an upgrade for current Parallels Desktop for Mac users. The full version will be available to new customers on www.parallels.com/desktop starting September 4. Packaged software will also be available starting September 4 at Apple retail stores, Apple.com, Amazon.com, Fry's Electronics, MicroCenter and hundreds of other resellers and retail locations nationwide.


The standard retail price (SRP) of Parallels Desktop 8 for Mac is US$79.99, and the Student Edition is available for US$39.99. Parallels Desktop 8 Switch to Mac Edition is US$99.99. Upgrades are starting Aug. 30 for existing Parallels Desktop for Mac customers for US$49.99. Special pricing of US$49.99 for the full version is available to customers currently using VMware Fusion. Details are available online at www.parallels.com/desktop. Subscription offerings including business-class support, ongoing software updates and major version upgrades for Parallels Desktop for Mac Enterprise Edition are available by contacting the Parallels Sales Team at http://www.parallels.com/desktop/volume-licensing (page available Sept 4).

Customers who purchased Parallels Desktop 7 for Mac from an authorized reseller on or after July 25, 2012, are eligible to upgrade to Parallels Desktop 8 for Mac at no additional cost. Customers who purchased from parallels.com or have a registered product activation key will automatically be emailed instructions on how to upgrade to Parallels Desktop 8 at no additional cost. Details are available at http://www.parallels.com/techguarantee2012.