Parallels Workstation is a commercial desktop virtualization program that lets you run multiple Operating systems on the single physical computer and you can easily switch between them without rebooting.
For instance, you could be running Windows Vista and but some of your programs (like your old Tally accounting software) require Windows 2000 or XP. In that case you can download Parallels Workstation, create a virtual machine for Windows XP and run it over Windows Vista just like any another software program. You can also use Parallels Workstation to run Linux on a Windows machine or vice versa.
If you are planning to rebuild a computer, it is recommended that you use a virtualization program like Parallels Workstation for all experimentation work - i.e., any software that you plan to use on a temporary or trial basis should be installed on the virtual machine and not on the main computer.
Parallels Workstation sells for $50 but you can request a licensed activation key for free using this Lunarpages offer. Key in your email address and they’ll immediately send you the download links for the trial version and serial number to convert the trial into a full retail version.
Virtual machines are very helpful for web designers as well as it lets you test websites on different browsers - you can have a virtual machine with IE 8 and another one with IE 6 while your main desktop is running the latest IE 7.
In case the above offer expires by the time you read this, you can always download the free Virtual PC (Microsoft) or Sun’s VirtualBox which is available for Mac as well. [via]
Find this article at: http://www.labnol.org/software/download-parallels-workstation-free/6297/
web: http://www.labnol.org/ email: amit@labnol.org
Reader Comments
I didn’t find Virtual PC to be very amusing. For good performance I prefer Sun Virtual Box, it’s fast good and easy to use. Virtual PC is very slow. However, I never tried Parallels Workstation as it’s not free :). Thanx for information. I just downloaded it. Will try it out.
Written by Suyash Ramineni on 01.01.09
HI Amit — 2 things please –
1. I looked at the Parallels link. Under Supported OSes it gives Windows XP with SP2. I have SP3 does that mean it won’t work properly?
2. Is there a Parallels (or other partitioner) that will let me run Mac OS X on my PC? It always seems to go the other way.
Written by Sue Hellman on 01.02.09
Parallels for Windows/Linux isn’t that great of an app. From my experience with Parallels, I wouldn’t use it even if offered for free(like this offer), VirtualBox is loads better and faster
Written by Sathya on 01.02.09
@ Sue Hellman: Sp3 should work fine as it is essentially Sp2 only but only updated with all the security updates since SP2. So, there is no difference in reality between the two.
Written by Akshay Jain on 01.04.09
Microsoft Virtual PC - its free you know, has most of the features you need from a virtualization standpoint.
VM Ware - Great but expensive.
Written by oxyboy on 02.14.09